Secrets and Lies... The Housewarming by S.E.Lynes

Publisher's Synopsis

"Everyone is going to the housewarming party.
All the same people who lived on the street the day Abi vanished…
Will her mother finally learn the truth?

Ava only left her daughter in the pushchair for five minutes. The buckle was fastened, and she was sure it was safe. But when she came downstairs, the door was open and Abi was gone – she walked down the road, past the Lovegoods’ house, and was never seen again.

A year later, the Lovegoods are planning their long-anticipated housewarming party. Ava doesn’t want to go. She can’t bear to look down that end of the road, to see the place where Abi vanished, and she doesn’t want to spend time with people who don’t share her grief. Her husband Matt persuades her: he’s worried about her. A night out might do her good.

But as her friends and neighbours chat, and the drink and gossip flows, Ava learns something new about the day she has re-lived a thousand times. A throwaway comment which could change everything.

Ava thought she knew every last detail of that day.

She’s about to find out she was wrong…"

My Review

I really don't like sharing Publisher's synopsis because I feel as if a lot of times they give away what the reader should really experience for themselves. The synopsis for this book gives enough, yet, doesn't spoil it for anyone.

Ava's world is rocked when she finds her front door open and her two-year-old daughter, Abi, is nowhere to be seen. What would that feel like? I have had this feeling without a front door open, yet, I found my child under his bed asleep between the dust ruffle and the wall after 40 minutes of frantically searching on my own and then calling the cops where they knew exactly where to look for him. Mind you, I looked under his bed, He was just covered by the dust ruffle it was a nightmare, one that when I started reading this book slammed me to the floor and sucked me dry all over again.

The Housewarming is full of twists and turns, heartbreak and more heartbreak and yet the love of friends old and new don't let you down until... well until it does.

Ms. Lynes does a masterful job of telling Ava and Matt's story, their friendship with Matt's oldest friend Neil and his wife Belle, and the neighbor who tries to help Ava move on over a year from her grief of never knowing what happened to Abi.

I didn't see the book arc even when it was coming, I just didn't see it. Which is to be said the perfect way to create a psychological thriller.

My one complaint is that on the cover of The Housewarming it says that this book is "unputdownable" and yet, I had to gather up my emotions again and again so I step away for an hour or two before I could go back to reading. Because of this claim I had high expectations and about 30% in I lost a bit of focus as the story moved a little slower than the rest of the book, or maybe, just maybe, it was my shared grief with Ava that made the reading slower, I am not sure. I will let you make that decision. If you read this book and agree with me let me know. If you don't agree with me, I'd like to hear that too if you'd be so kind. 😉

The lesson that I learned from this book is we can never underestimate the growing abilities of a toddler so we have to watch them like a hawk does a mouse: every second of their waking moments, which makes for a very tired and distractible mommy. Also, honesty is everything!

S.E. Lynes's The Housewarming is a cautionary tale of the cost to family and friends when you hold secrets, and tell a year worth of lies...

I rate this book 3.5 only for the fact I won't probably read it again as it was too much of a thriller for me.

Thank you Netgalley, and S.E. Lynes for the opportunity to read The Housewarming in lieu of my honest review.