Close To Me: Now a major TV series

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In this domestic thriller debut, a woman with post-traumatic amnesia struggles to regain her memories only to realize that perhaps ignorance was bliss. Now everyone knows I LOVE a dysfunctional family (rumours that this is because it shows my own family in a slightly better light are of course unfounded!!) so I was totally tempted by the blurb of Close To Me which seemed right up my street, with family secrets lying at the heart of this memory loss suspense. The following morning, Jo realises that she has somehow forgotten all that has happened in the past year. Her Son hasn't just left for University, he has in fact left University early. Her Daughter has a boyfriend that the family don't really approve of, but she can't work out why. After forgiving her father, Jo returned home to her family. She then overheard Rob – in an obvious attempt to gaslight her – telling their kids Sass and Finn that he was concerned that she had been imagining things. Despite him repeatedly trying to stop her speaking, Jo then firmly told her kids that she was leaving their father because of his affair. This is novel about a dysfunctional family whose members don't love each other the way they should. We don't really know why or if they ever had a good relationship except for in their holiday pictures. We only know that they seemingly ignore this fact and they keep on interacting with each other until the situation becomes unbearable.

Close To Me by Amanda Reynolds | Waterstones

The story moves easily from past to present and it really worked as the reader gets to learn the events of the past year before Jo actually remembers it and this really adds to the momentum and tense atmosphere of the book overall. There were a few times where I felt that the story dragged out just a little bit, but overall it was a well-paced and riveting read. If you like psychological thrillers with plenty of creepy undertones, then you should definitely read CLOSE TO ME by Amanda Reynolds. Wife and mother Jo Harding ( Gladiator's Connie Nielsen) has to recover a year’s worth of missing memories in Channel 4’s Close To Me following a fall down the stairs that left her with nasty bruises, a grisly head wound and amnesia. What spoilt this for me was the childish and spoilt behaviour of Sasha especially (Jo's 'adult' daughter) and Jo herself. I mean they're just so self absorbed, weepy and whingey. Towards the end of the book they were really pissing me off and I was beginning to lose patience. Move inland, people. That’s my advice, if you don’t want to be murdered (or nearly murdered). Coastal towns are now the most dangerous places on television. I blame Broadchurch mostly, though arguably the rot set in with Murder She Wrote’s Cabot Cove – the seaside town in Maine that had a murder rate roughly 18 times that of 70s New York. Close To Me keeps you guessing, and then just when you think you know, you find another twist in the road. Gripping and suspenseful." - Michelle AdamsWhile the story line is good/intriguing, I was confused by the timeline that switched between Before the fall (with different increments of the months) and After the fall. I felt like I was reading different versions of the same events over and over. I also felt the story was being told by Jo, but I wasn't experiencing it. I was never pulled in or interested in finding out the truth. You know those characters whose thoughts you don’t mind fishing around in? Well, I was kind of bored with Jo’s and didn’t really connect with her. Her thoughts were on a loop that I couldn’t wait to exit from and the conclusion was unsurprising.

Close to Me ending explained | What happened in Christopher

What begins as an intriguing twist on a tired trope ultimately falls prey to ill-defined stakes and underdeveloped characters. Ma. Reynolds has something to say and I look forward to her future works. In CLOSE TO ME she blows the door wide open on familial issues: indifference in relationships, the solitary life couples lead once they are empty nesters, realizing the family glue is the children and no effort has been taken to preserve the first love. Strong, thought provoking messages, unraveled in a tragic setting, but is is an important read. Rob denied pushing her, and then begged her not to leave him. He confessed that they had argued (and said some pretty awful things to each other) and that she had stumbled near the top of the stairs as she went to leave him but he had caught her, before she slipped out of his grasp. Jo realised he was lying to her – and that on that fateful night he had let go of her hand on purpose.What if you couldn't remember the last year of your life? And the people closest to you were lying about what really happened? This is a very addictive read. It isn’t as original as some of the books in it’s genre but the writing is fabulous - engaging and engrossing. Really looking forward to Amanda Reynolds’ next book! When Jo Harding falls down the stairs at home, she wakes up in hospital with partial amnesia - she's lost a whole year of memories.