Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Second Life by S.J. Watson (thoughts)

Summary from Goodreads:

"She loves her husband. She's obsessed by a stranger.

She's a devoted mother. She's prepared to lose everything.

She knows what she's doing. She's out of control.

She's innocent. She's guilty as sin.

She's living two lives. She might lose both . . ."


My Thoughts:

This book!  Oh my goodness, this book put me through the wringer and then back again.  I'm not even sure that I can come up with a coherent sharing of my thoughts but I'm going to have to try.  Well if that isn't vague enough for all of you....let's start at the beginning, shall we?

I basically added this book to my TBR wishlist instantly and based off of the author alone.  I loved Before I Go To Sleep which is this author's first book oh so much, so reading this one was a must just based off that experience alone.  I didn't read a summary of the book.  I just added it to the reading wishlist and then jumped on the opportunity to participate in this blog tour.  In fact, I was kind of hesitant to include the Goodread's summary of this one just because I don't want to take away from others' reading experience in any shape of form.  I'm getting off track though.  With little to no expectations (other than very high hopes) I can tell you that reading this book was a roller-coaster of an experience that I won't be forgetting any time soon.  

This book was completely intense and this started very early on.  From almost the very beginning I began to realize that I didn't really care for the main character.  At all.  In fact, I was almost at the point where I wasn't quite sure if this was going to be the book for me and if I was going to be sorely disappointed.  I persevered though because the pages just seemed to keep turning so easily and I was curious.  You should know me and curiosity at this point when it comes to books.  I couldn't stop reading and all of a sudden I realized that now I'm utterly hooked and there will be no setting this book down.  In actuality, now I'm really enjoying this book and wondering how I could have ever thought otherwise.  The twists and turns were nonstop towards the end.  I flew through the last portion of the book reading nonstop and as fast as I possibly could.  And then that ending.  That ending that had me hating the book all over again.  I'm not even going to lie....I was completely annoyed with the way it all ended.  That has changed though with time as the more I think about it, the more I like it.  

This book was absolutely one of those thrillers where lesson learned is to expect the unexpected.  Ha!  Second Life is a page-turner, is both dark and twisted (which is just the way I like these kind of reads), and kept me guessing until the very last page.  I loved it even when I didn't.  I hate to throw comparisons out there but my reading experience for this one was so similar to when I read Gillian Flynn's books that I couldn't help but mention it.  This is going to be a polarizing read for some but for me it was completely worth the roller-coaster ride that I went on.  Highly recommended!!  Oh, and read this one just so we can discuss it, alright??

Bottom Line:  A reading experience that I am not going to forget any time soon!

Disclosure:  I received a copy of this book thanks to the publisher and NetGalley as part of a TLC blog tour.  Thoughts are my own!

7 comments:

  1. I am glad to hear you liked this one so much, Samantha! I've had my eye on it since I first heard about it.

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  2. Oooooh!!!! I really enjoyed Before I Go to Sleep on audio so I'll have to make sure I get to this one sooner rather than later.

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  3. Wow this sounds fabulous! I know I'd be ignoring the rest of the world while I read frantically to see what happens next.

    Thanks for being a part of the tour!

    - Heather J @ TLC Book Tours

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  4. I enjoyed your enthusiastic review, Sam! I haven't been able to read or blog as much lately. Have a great July 4th holiday!

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  5. Wendy- If you read it, you HAVE to let me know what you think! I am so anxious to hear other reader's thoughts on this one because it was one of those books that I loved at times and hated at others.

    Trish- I am so curious to hear what you think as it is SO different from Before I Go To Sleep. I actually liked the main character in BIGTS but this one made me feel all of the emotions. I read through my review and I am still not sure if I conveyed how many mixed feelings I had for this one. Definitely let me know if you read it!!

    Heather- Thanks for having me on the tour! I cannot wait to visit some of the other participants and see how they felt about this book.

    Suko- I haven't been blogging much either but thank you for always taking the time to visit and say hello to me :) I hope that you and your family had a wonderful 4th as well!!

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  6. Wonderful review! I have to add this one to my radar. I love a good thriller and this one sounds like it would definitely keep me on the edge of my seat.

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  7. This sounds very good! Will have to add it to my wishlist!

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