Book Synopsis:
Liv keeps a low profile in Sandefjord, Norway: she’s just another tired single mother, trying to make ends meet. She has never told her son about the secrets she carries or the life she lived before he was born. She will do anything to keep him safe.
Anastasia’s life is transformed when she moves from Russia to Milan to work as a model. She’s rich. She’s desired. But there’s a dark side to the high-pressure catwalk shows; the sun-baked Italian palazzos; the drink-fuelled after-parties hosted by powerful men. Soon, she will do anything to escape.
Selma is a journalist in Oslo. She’s investigating scandals in the modelling industry, but can’t get her article published. Then a woman goes missing in Sandefjord. Now Selma is about to uncover the biggest story of her life…
My Review:
This was a dark, gritty and heartbreaking read which is the first book I’ve read by this author.
The story is told from the point of view of four different characters Liv the loving mother of Adrian, Anastasia the model and Selma the journalist. My favourite character by far was the lovely Adrian who I completely fell in love with. He’s got Autism and therefore struggles to make sense of some of the things that are happening in the book. His fear and confusion about what he experiences is almost palpable at times and I dearly wished I could somehow rescue him from everything. His relationship with his mother Liv was truly beautiful and absolutely gorgeous to witness and I had to keep reading to make sure everything turns out ok for them both.
This book is very hard hitting at times and touches on subjects that some people might be uncomfortably with. It was very emotional to read about the darker side of the modelling world and about people’s experience in sex trafficking. There’s some very emotional scenes and some quite graphic violence which I struggled with and meant I had to take a break from the book at times. Despite this I felt the author managed to balance out the book nicely so there were some lighter moments mixed in which stopped the book becoming to much. Tl
I thought this book was very fast paced and drew me in from the first page. I was felt quickly absorbed into the character’s world and found each of their stories equally compelling. The way their stories all came together was very clever and there were lots of dramatic twists right until until the end which kept me guessing.
Huge thanks to Sophie for inviting me onto the blog tour and to the publisher for my copy of this book.
About The Author:
Alex Dah is a half-American, half-Norwegian author. Born in Oslo, she studied Russian and German linguistics with international studies, then went on to complete an MA in creative writing at Bath Spa University and an MSc in business management at Bath University. A committed Francophile, Alex loves to travel, and has so far lived in Moscow, Paris, Stuttgart, Sandefjord, Switzerland, Bath and London. She is the author of three other thrillers: Playdate, The Heart Keeper and The Boy at the Door, which was shortlisted for the CWA Debut Dagger. Follow Alex on Twitter (@alexdahlauthor), Instagram (@authoralex) and Facebook (alexdahlauthor).
Over The Rainbow Blog 