BLOG TOUR: The Sunday Girl - Pip Drysdale

The Girl on the Train meets Before I Go to Sleep in this chilling tale of love gone horribly wrong …

“Some love affairs change you forever. Someone comes into your orbit and swivels you on your axis, like the wind working on a rooftop weather vane. And when they leave, as the wind always does, you are different; you have a new direction. And it’s not always north.”

Any woman who’s ever been involved with a bad, bad man and been dumped will understand what it feels like to be broken, broken-hearted and bent on revenge.

Taylor Bishop is hurt, angry and wants to destroy Angus Hollingsworth in the way he destroyed her: ‘Insidiously. Irreparably. Like a puzzle he’d slowly dissembled … stolen a couple of pieces from, and then discarded, knowing that nobody would ever be able to put it back together ever again.’

So Taylor consults The Art of War and makes a plan. Then she takes the next irrevocable step – one that will change her life forever.

Things start to spiral out of her control – and The Sunday Girl becomes impossible to put down.

What did I think?

There was something about the cover of The Sunday Girl that made me desperate to read it; I think it's the way that parts of the picture are missing so I was intrigued to find the missing pieces and discover the whole story...and what a story it is!  I absolutely loved it; I picked it up one Saturday afternoon and 4 hours later I emerged from behind my book, blinking like a new born kitten as my eyes adjusted to the light.

I love a good revenge story but this is so much more than that; it's very cleverly plotted and the whole story is so finely balanced that it effortlessly swings one way and then the other, making my attempts at second guessing almost redundant.  I couldn't help myself trying to work out all of the what, when, where, how and who but I was enjoying the book so much that I ended up just buckling myself in and enjoying the ride. 

The main characters of Taylor and Angus are portrayed superbly; I couldn't help but detest Angus with every fibre of my being and I rooted for Taylor every step of the way.  Angus has just dumped Taylor but not content with just sticking the knife into her heart, he twists and twists until her already broken heart is shattered.  What Angus doesn't bargain on is Taylor piecing herself back together and transforming into a brand new Taylor; a transformation more akin to Anakin Skywalker becoming Darth Vader than a caterpillar turning into a fragile butterfly, thanks to tactics from Sun Tzu's The Art of War.  War has been declared between Taylor and Angus and there can be only one winner as love and hate collide in this gripping story.

I kept telling myself that I was going to read 'just one more chapter' but there are little ticking time bombs of intrigue placed at the end of many of the chapters, making the book impossible to put down.  With a strong domestic noir feel to the book, I can see why the publishers have said on the cover that this would appeal to fans of The Girl on the Train, however, I think it's even better than The Girl on the Train.  It's so outstanding that I actually had to double-check that it was a debut.

This is definitely a read-in-a-day kind of book, so make The Sunday Girl your Sunday book (I missed that opportunity by reading it on a Saturday).  Make sure you have a few hours spare as you really won't be able to put it down.  Fast-paced, gripping and filled to the brim with intrigue, it's a very accomplished debut and I can't wait to read what Pip Drysdale publishes next.  A highly recommended read and an easy 5 stars from me.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

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About the author:

Pip Drysdale is a writer, actor and musician who grew up in Africa and Australia. At 20 she moved to New York to study acting, worked in indie films and off-off Broadway theatre, started writing songs and made four records. After graduating with a BA in English, Pip moved to London where she dated some interesting men and played shows across Europe. The Sunday Girl is her first novel and she is working on a second. She currently lives in Australia.

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