What We Thought We Knew by Claire Dyer @lovebookstours – #Ad #LBTCrew #BookTwitter #FreeReview #FreeBookReview

If you’re in the mood for a twisty, emotional book, grab your tissues and get ready for a wild one.

About the Book

Four children, three marriages, two secrets, and one unfathomable tragedy: the families at numbers two, four and six Penwood Heights are connected by work, friendship, the loss of a child and a secret truth which has sat in the bedrock of their lives for years.

In the centre of this tight-knit group is Faith, who believes her job is to act as a paperweight, keeping them all safe. And she does this until someone from her past reappears and threatens to sabotage everything.

And, as the pieces fall, these families, these friends, realise that what they thought they knew about one another was nothing more than make-believe. They also discover that trust is illusory and for Faith, at least, that keeping other people’s secrets can be more dangerous than keeping her own.

My Thoughts

It always amazes me, that I accidentally manage to read several books with similar qualities in a row. Frequently they’re for tours or someone has asked me to read them for some reason, so it’s through “no fault of my own” if you will, so it’s weird how it happens. Apparently I’m currently in an emotional binge right now, and I’m really going to have to take a break and get a nice cozy murder mystery or sweet romance in or something, cause whew these authors are really pulling the heartstrings!!

The moral of this story – which is one I’ve read before, but the point is how good the journey is – was definitely that secrets are toxic and can destroy you. And boy, was the journey twisting and surprising at every turn in “What We Thought We Knew.” The author makes you wait for the payoff there, and there are several red herrings for what they thought they knew. Or, rather, there are a LOT of things the crew thought they knew.

This is a multiple point of view book, and I will admit sometimes I was a little confused who was talking. I feel like this is the most POVs I’ve ever seen in one book. This could have been a formatting issue that is fixed in later copies, but in the one I had there was no real break or indication between speakers – so from one paragraph to the next in the same chapter it would change speakers abruptly, which was a little jarring. It wasn’t impossible, but there were six main characters, plus a few more, so it did make it a little difficult sometimes to figure out who was talking.

The characters were all interesting, and we learned more about them as the author peeled back the layers, revealing more and more. I had to know the answers to questions brought up immediately, and ones that kept popping up as the story continued. It was impossible to put down.

I am so grateful to the author and Love Books Tours for including me on the tour, and look forward to seeing more from this author.

Question of the Day

What is the most POVs you’ve seen in a book?

Who’s It For?

If you enjoy an emotional read with lots of drama, this is a read for you. It is full of twists and turns, and each one is more complicated and winding than the last. It does deal with some very difficult subjects, so please look at the content warnings.

Content Warning: Child Loss, Parent Loss, Eating Disorder, Dysfunctional Families, Marital Strife, Infidelity, Betrayal, Adult Situations, Adult Language, Allusions to SI

About the Author

Claire Dyer is an author, poet and creative writing tutor.

Her new novel, ‘What We Thought We Knew’ is publishing in January 2024 and her other novels, ‘The Significant Others of Odie May’, ‘The Last Day’, ‘The Moment’ and ‘The Perfect Affair’ and her FREE short story is ‘Falling for Gatsby’ are published by Matador, The Dome Press and Quercus. Her poetry collections, ‘Interference Effects’, ‘Eleven Rooms’, ‘Yield’ and ‘The Adjustments’ are published by Two Rivers Press.

Claire has an MA in Creative Writing from Royal Holloway, University of London.