I'll Never Tell by Philippa East
Genre: Psychological thriller, Family Drama
Read: 23rd January 2023
Published: 5th January 2023
★★ 2.5 stars
DESCRIPTION:
Keep your family close, and your secrets closer…
To the outside world, the Goodlights are perfect.
Julia is a lawyer, Paul a stay-at-home dad who has dedicated his life to helping their daughter Chrissie achieve her dreams as a talented violinist.
But on the night of a prestigious music competition, which has the power to change everything for Chrissie and her family, Chrissie goes missing.
She puts on the performance of a lifetime, then completely disappears. Suddenly every single crack, every single secret that the family is hiding risks being exposed.
Because the Goodlights aren’t perfect. Not even close.
MY THOUGHTS:
A missing teenager...a family with secrets...
This family drama-psychological thriller started out interesting when teenager Chrissie goes missing after a concert in London. Mum Julia is a lawyer and dad Paul is a stay-at-home dad and this rich suburban family lives in an affluent part of Oxford with Chrissie going to a private academy for school. At 16 years old, Chrissie is incredibly gifted having started playing the violin when she was barely at school.
Paul had dreams of becoming a musical virtuoso but his family came from modest beginnings and therefore didn't have the means. He encourages Chrissie to pursue of what he thought were her dreams too...playing, practising and performing...and hopefully gaining a place at an exclusive boarding school academy for musicians. He spends hours upon hours practising with her in her practise room, set up solely for that purpose. And over the ensuing eight months, Chrissie performs and achieves the next step to becoming Young Musician of the Year.
So when they head to London for her to perform in the finals for this prestigious event, the last thing Paul and Julia expect is for Chrissie to disappear. But after an impromptu fire alarm, there is no sign of their daughter and so they head back to Oxford in the hope she has returned home.
But upon arrival, despite Chrissie's bedroom light on, they find her empty room in disarray with her pohne smashed on the floor...and no sign of Chrissie.
As the story flips between "before" and "after" the event, we find her parents' lives are also littered with secrets (some of which make no sense) and a deluge of lies and deception. Little by little, these secrets begin to break the surface as Paul and Julia are put under intense pressure in the wake of Chrissie's disappearance.
The story started off well but then it just meandered off into...I'm not quite sure. The story was weird, as were the family, and I found it all just a little bit confusing. The family is seriously dysfunctional but their level of dysfunctionality was not overly riveting and I found myself longing for it to end. And when it did...I still found there were unanswered questions.
I'LL NEVER TELL is an average read that started off well but lost its pace and spark. In the end I found it was a little waste of my time because I felt nothing was really resolved.
I'm sure it will appeal to readers who enjoy stories of complex family dramas with a slow building tension throughout.
I would like to thank #PhilippaEast, #Netgalley and #HQStories for an ARC of #IllNeverTell in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Philippa grew up in Scotland before moving to Oxford and then London to complete her clinical psychology training. A few years ago, she left the NHS to set up her own part-time practice and dedicate more hours to writing. The result was her debut novel LITTLE WHITE LIES, which was longlisted for The Guardian's Not-The-Booker Prize and shortlisted for the CWA "New Blood" Award 2020.
Released in 2021, Philippa's second book SAFE AND SOUND is another twisty and compelling tale. For a fun preview, check out the video trailer on Philippa's Amazon Author page (best with sound on!). Philippa’s brilliant third book, I'LL NEVER TELL, will release in January 2023 and is available to pre-order via Amazon now. You can hear more about the book via Philippa's latest two Author Update videos on this page.
Philippa now lives in the beautiful Lincolnshire countryside with her spouse and cat. She loves reading (of course!) and long country walks, and she also performs in a local folk duo called The Miracle Cure. Alongside her writing, Philippa continues to work as a psychologist and therapist.
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