The Other Couple by Sarah J. Naughton

Combining foggy memories, alternating timelines between the now and the before and something sinister lurking around the edge of remembering, Sarah J. Naughton weaves a dark mystery that might give you second thoughts about your upcoming summer holiday.

Genres: Mystery, Thriller
Published: 22nd March, 2018
Goodreads | Book Depository | Amazon UK
Series: N/A
Rating: 4

This was meant to be the perfect honeymoon.
A five-star beach resort in Vietnam, with white sands, private villas and world-class cuisine.
A chance for newlyweds Asha and Ollie Graveney to recover from a tragedy that has left them on the verge of collapse.
Except things don’t go as planned.
When Asha wakes up in hospital after a brutal attack, her husband is nowhere to be found.
And paradise has turned into a nightmare…

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Oh, you guys! This was one of those books… I knew pretty much from the first page that I’m in for something something good. I’m usually pretty chill when I’m reading, but I found myself frantically poking at my kindle to turn the pages and find out every little dirty detail.

The author creates suspense with the classic use of “that thing that happened in July“, and similar hints, which I know some of you might not like, but I’m a sucker for it. If it’s done well, that is, and damn it was a pretty stressful read, and I mean it in the best possible way.

Asha and Ollie make a lovely couple. Even though they come from different social backgrounds, their love is strong, and they don’t seem to give a shit about disapproving parents, or Ollie’s banker wanker friends who dislike Asha for seemingly no reason whatsoever, other than not being a pretentious toff like them.

On their honeymoon however, Ollie starts acting weird. The lack of intimacy and his insistence of making friends with other couples at the resort and spending all their time with them is driving Asha nuts. Is Ollie hiding something? The poor woman can’t remember. Barely surviving the attack herself, her memories are questionable.

As we switch back and forth between the present, the time before the wedding and the honeymoon, dread slowly creeps in, making this story a highly uncomfortable, but very thrilling read. Although Asha doesn’t think Ollie had any enemies, you kind of wonder whether maybe she does, after you find out what happened at her wedding.

But why is she still alive?

The Other Couple captures the holiday feeling to the point where you can almost feel the sand under your toes, just so it can throw you in utter desperation to figure out what the actual fuck just happened.

A great book to take to the beach with you. Just watch your back!

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. As always, my opinions have not been influenced by this.