The ones to watch: must reads in 2019 (part one)

Crikey, it’s 2019! And if the world of books is anything to go by, what a brilliant year it’s going to be. I swear, there’s some cracking reads coming out which will pull you in, make you think, grip you and entertain you.

I’m not the biggest fan of New Year’s resolutions, but one resolution I’m definitely going to try and keep is to write a new blog post every couple of months telling you about up and coming reads not to be missed.

So here’s my first installment of books to look out for in 2019. All these are coming out soon (January and February). So see what takes your fancy and watch your Amazon list grow and grow.

Happy New ‘reading’ Year everyone. Enjoy! 🙂

The Truths and Triumphs of Grace Atherton by Anstey Harris

Grace Atherton is the ‘other woman’. Having an affair with David for the past eight years, I couldn’t help but be angry and frustrated at Grace’s gullibility. But Grace has a vulnerability that many of us can relate to and I couldn’t help but like her.

The Truths and Triumphs of Grace Atherton is not the story of a seedy affair; rather it is a poignant story of how we interpret personal failure, and how we see ourselves in the world can be very different to how the world actually sees us. It tackles the difficult issues of self-esteem and loneliness but it also celebrates the power of friendship and being true to yourself.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for my advance review copy of The Truths and Triumph’s of Grace Atherton. Grace’s story is one I feel that will resonate with many readers.

The Truths and Triumph’s of Grace Atherton will be published on 10 January 2019.

Red Snow by Will Dean

Just a few days ago I blogged about how Will Dean’s Dark Pines was one of my top reads of 2018. And here I am again raving about the next installment in the Tuva Mooodyson crime series, Red Snow. Dare I say, Red Snow is even better that Dark Pines – more sinister, more chilling, more claustrophobic. I couldn’t put it down.

I’m so lucky to have been invited to be on the UK blog tour of Red Snow and review this great read in more detail (which I’ll be posting on 25 January, so watch this space). But in the meantime what I will say is that I love Tuva, the deaf reporter investigating suicide and murder in Gavrick, the small, isolated Swedish town full of sinister locals. Hey, Tuva in Red Snow even has her own hashtag #Tuva2.

Thank you to Point Blank and Anne Cater from Random Things Tours for arranging my advance copy of Red Snow. It had me hooked.

Red Snow will be published on 10 January 2019.

Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield

Once Upon a River is a truly beautiful, unique and deeply layered book. I blogged about this a few weeks ago, giving it my top rating for five stars because it is utterly brilliant – story telling at its best.

Set in Victorian times and full of an array of rich, compelling characters with an enchanting plot at its core, this is a book brimming with intrigue, folklore and magical realism. I was completely hooked all the way through and so gutted when I finished it. I really did have a serious book hangover afterwards.

Thank you once again to Anne Cater from Random Things Tours for arranging my advance copy of Once Upon a River to review. If you love immersing yourself deep in a story, this is definitely a story that you won’t want to miss.

Once Upon a River will be published in hardback on 17 January 2019. However if you have a Kindle, you can download your ebook now as that’s been available from Amazon since 4 December 2018.

Changeling by Matt Wesolowski

Okay, I’m going to be honest with you – I’ve not finished Changeling yet, but oh crikey, I am hooked! It is chilling me to the bone and I’m loving it. I’ve had to tear myself away just to write this blog post.

Written as a series of podcast episodes, online journalist Scott King investigates the disappearance of Alfie Marsden, a seven-year-old boy. Alfie vanished from his father’s car on Christmas Eve in 1988 when his father stopped on the Wentshire Pass to investigate the car making a knocking sound.

Thirty years on, the mystery of Alfie has never been solved. Was he killed by his father? Or is it anything to do with the chilling tales surrounding the sinister Wentshire Forest; tales involving strange sightings, a witch’s curse and a hidden race of spirits?

As I’ve been invited to be on the UK blog tour of Changeling, I’ll be posting my full review in just a few days, 5 January. So keep your eyes peeled for that. In the meantime I want to thank Anne Cater from Random Things Tours for inviting me to review Changeling – I’m on tender hooks wondering what happened to Alfie.

Changeling will be published on 24 January 2019. For those of you that have a Kindle, you can download your ecopy now from Amazon, as the Kindle ebook was released on 15 November 2018.

The Hidden by Mary Chamberlain

Call me naive or even ignorant but it had never occurred to me that the Nazis sex trafficked during World War II. This, along with the brutality of living in concentration camps and how war can shape and change lives and communities is vividly explored in The Hidden. Yes, at times it is a painful read but it is also such a brilliant read, brimming with humanity and emotion.

Set in Jersey, The Hidden is the story of Dora, a Jewish refugee desperately trying to conceal her true identity when the island is occupied by the Germans during World War II. Although she doesn’t realise it, Dora’s wartime experience is entwined with Joe’s, a young Irish priest also living on the occupied island.

Both Dora and Joe physically survive the brutality of the war. But when a young woman comes knocking at their doors over 40 years later, deep emotional scars are ripped open for both of them.

Inspired by horrific true events and real people, The Hidden is such a skillfully crafted novel portraying the power of silence and guilt. Thank you NetGalley and Point Blank for my advance copy.

Published on 7 February 2019, The Hidden is an unbelievable read that you can’t afford to miss.

Blood Orange by Harriet Tyce

Never before have I read such an explosive, shocking and thought-provoking read. I read it back in September 2018 and I swear, I’ve not stopped going on about it since. It is sheer brilliance and so needs to be adapted for the screen.

Cosmopolitan has cited Blood Orange as the new Girl on the Train, but believe me, it is so much better than that.

A successful barrister, Alison is given her first murder case to defend. With her husband and daughter at home, on the surface Alison has it all. However Alison can’t seem to give up the booze or her sleazy affair. Her life already a mess, things take a dark turn when Alison realises someone is watching her.

I’m going to be reviewing Blood Orange in a lot more detail in a couple of months as I’ve been invited to take part in its UK blog tour. But so far, Blood Orange is definitely my top read of 2019. It’s dark and addictive – believe me, it’s going to be massive this year.

Thank you to Georgina Moore from Headline Publishing for arranging an advance copy of Blood Orange for me. To say I loved this book is a massive understatement.

Blood Orange will be published on 21 February 2019.

I hope you’ve been inspired by my first installment of the ‘ones to watch’ 2019 must reads. I’ve got lots of advance copies of new reads due to be published later in the year, so I’m planning to post my next ‘ones to watch’ installment in early March. So please look out for that.

In the meantime happy reading! 🙂