Book Review: Magpie

By Becky Gulc

‘When Marisa meets Jake, everything falls into place. But then their new lodger Kate arrives.

Something isn’t right about her. It’s the way she looks at Jake, keeps her toothbrush right next to theirs and constantly asks questions about the baby they are trying for. Or maybe it’s all in Marisa’s head. That’s what Jake thinks. And she trusts him, doesn’t she?

But Marisa knows something is wrong, and she is determined to find out why, even if it costs her everything’. (Synopsis courtesy of HarperCollins UK.)

I’m going to start with letting out a big "oooooh"! Because this book was just fantastic! The synopsis above set me up for a great read without spoilers and, wow, what a rollercoaster I went on as a reader.

It would be very hard to say much about this book without revealing spoilers, so I’ll keep it simple. This is a great psychological thriller that is so tumultuous you’ll be wanting to go back and re-read it immediately. I was questioning everything at one point as a reader; surely that couldn’t be right, maybe things will still pan out the way I think they will… Well, it was certainly a captivating read to find out. 

There are some hard-hitting topics in this novel, including sexual violence, mental health issues and struggles to conceive. There are some aspects of the plot relating to some of these that you have to view as a work of fiction rather than something that might legitimately be possible, but that was fine with me and I didn’t overly reflect on this. The topics were covered with sensitivity and detail, allowing real insight into how some of these issues (particularly the struggle to conceive) can impact on a person and couple in so many ways. 

This is a clever, clever book that had me on tenterhooks until the very end. Who to like, who to trust, it’s all so up in the air! Elizabeth was great at making me feel both empathy for the main characters but also dislike/mistrust too, it was never straightforward and I loved that. I really thought I had the ending figured out but was so glad when I didn’t! It was just refreshingly gripping throughout. Wholeheartedly recommend this novel if you enjoy a thriller.

Purchase Magpie here.

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