Keep Him Close

I've spent two days ignoring my other books to finish Keep Him Close by Emily Koch. It's marketed as a thriller, but is so much more - a well-written, thought-provoking book about families, relationships, friendship and loss.

Following the tragic death of a young man, this book tracks the journey of two women - the victim's mother and the alleged killer's mother - as they struggle to come to terms with the death and aftermath, and to understand exactly what happened that night.

The book switches mainly between the perspectives of the two mothers, although it occasionally flashes back to the night of the death too. I enjoyed this switching back and forth - it was good to see the development of both characters and the author used first-person for one and third- for the other which meant it never got confusing.

I didn't want to put this book down. The characters were flawed but immensely likeable on the whole and I loved the way that it explored the very different relationships between all the characters and the way that these developed throughout the novel. It covered a number of themes that aren't typically seen in a thriller, which really added some depth to the book. ⭐️ 3.75/5 ⭐️

Keep Him Close is due to be published in March 2020. Thanks to Penguin Random House and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.