Beneath The Watery Moon by Betsy Reavley
Published by Joffe Books
Ebook
Published 1 February 2014
308 pages
Kindle Owner's Lending Library
Annabel is a troubled young woman trying to put her life back together. She takes a trip to the Suffolk coast to clear her head and get away from her stifling mother. When she arrives in the little seaside town she discovers a series of grisly murders have taken place. Then a fateful meeting with Jude, a fascinating man who lives in a world of faded grandeur, takes her on a journey of self-discovery. Although Jude is supportive and kind, Annabel is not sure whether her feelings for him are reciprocated. Yet she finds some peace in his beautiful country house which shelters other damaged souls. But Jude comes under suspicion from the police, and the idyllic community is threatened. Can Annabel escape her past or is her destiny sealed? And why is she haunted by horrific visions when she seems on the verge of finding love and happiness? This is Betsy Reavley's astonishing debut novel which will take you on a shattering journey through Annabel's dreams and nightmares. It contains scenes some readers may find disturbing.
EXTRACTIt wasn't always easy being in my head but I knew nothing else. I wasn't ashamed of my insanity. I didn't see my diagnosis as something reprehensible. It wasn't as if I had caught HIV from using dirty needs to shoot up. People aren't embarrassed to admit they have cancer. My cancer couldn't be seen. It didn't require chemo. My cancer was invisible to microscopes. My cancer ate away at my emotions. My cancer was called something else; it was called manic depression.
WHAT I THOUGHTI really didn't enjoy Beneath The Watery Moon. I'm a fan of the author and was looking forward to reading this. I find myself wondering what the hell I just read. There are some pretty gruesome torture scenes from about the halfway point of this novel. I'm not squeamish at all but I felt like these were over the top and pointless at times. I don't need to be hit over the head with a hammer to get the point. For pages and pages there was nothing going on apart from Annabel being tortured. I need a bit more thank you. The book lost any point after several pages of this and became distasteful. The opening sections of Beneath the Watery Moon were really well written with Annabel joining the commune and falling for Jude. I did think he was being set up to be the killer and am glad (sort of) that he's probably not. Then the author pulls that awful it was just a dream, none of it happened trope and oh dear, Annabel is being tortured and raped every day by a sadist. I felt like I'd read half of two different novels that were stapled together. The latter half of the novel where Annabel is being tortured did not work for me. I felt no connection to Annabel or what was happening. The tone was really weird because it was written in the first person with Annabel's voice. This didn't work for me and I wouldn't recommend it
