The Other Passenger by Louise Candlish

My first book by Louise was Our House. That was a few years ago, and I STILL think about this book ’til this day. I think about it quite often in fact! Something about her writing just engulfs my brain.

Thank you Atria Books for my gifted copy in exchange for my honest review.

Synopsis: You’re feeling pretty smug about your commute to work by riverboat. No more traffic gridlock or getting stuck on the tube in tunnels (you’re claustrophobic); now you’ve got an iconic Thames view, fresh air ?— a whole lifestyle upgrade. You’ve made new friends onboard — led by your hedonistic young neighbor, Kit ?— and just had your first ‘water rats’ Christmas drinks. But the first day back after Christmas, Kit isn’t on the morning boat. The river landmarks are all the same, but something’s off. You disembark to find the police waiting. Kit’s wife, Melia, has reported him missing and another passenger witnessed the two of you arguing on the last boat home after your drinks. Police say you had a reason to lash out at him. To kill him. You protest. You and Kit are friends ?— ask Melia, she’ll vouch for you. And who exactly is this other passenger pointing the finger? What do they know about your private lives? No, whatever coincidences might have occurred that night, you are innocent, totally innocent. Aren’t you? 

And now I have another book to be thinking on for years to come. This was a hit for me! I think what’s so great about her books, and especially this one, is that she does such a great job throwing you right into the story. I felt like I was right on the riverboat myself! The twist in the end caught me off guard, and I actually enjoyed learning about what happened months after that! Another awesome story.

5/5 Stars

Our House by Louise Candlish

A modern-day premise for this book had intrigued me to put it next on my list!

Thank you netgalley and Berkley publishing for a copy of this in exchange for my review.

Fi (or Fiona) has arrived at her house to find that a whole new family has moved in and all of her belongings are gone. The problem is, she never put her house up for sale and never moved anything out in the first place. Flash forward to a crime podcast where Fi gets to tell her side of the story as well as Bram, her ex-husband. We learn about their soiled relationship and how they try to maintain a stable environment for their kids. The thing is, Bram and the kids are missing and Fi has to try to find them in order to sort out the mess of a life they have left.This is written really quite differently than most books.

It starts off as a script for a crime podcast. I’m a huge fan of crime podcasts for long car trips so this really captured my attention! In fact, the first chapter was so thrilling in itself that I knew it was going to be good! Fi was the one who was talking through the podcast and Bram was written as talking through a word document he wrote. In between their stories were twitter feeds of what people were saying about the podcast. Each chapter was as if you were sitting next to them and they were both telling their own sides to the story. Again, I’m not sure what to make of it. It flowed because they were talking about the same thing, but it got really choppy towards the end of the book when you start to figure out what’s really going on. I enjoyed the twisted ending for sure and would recommend it to others.

3.75/5 Stars