Loathsome as Oliver is, the different perspectives are so cleverly crafted you think this a collaborative effort by different writers. Clearly, the author has gone to great efforts in providing so many varied styles. I found myself thinking about the book even when I wasn't reading it. We done Ms Nugent.

What a book! Unraveling Oliver is so interestingly done that I appreciated reading something that felt different. I found it hard to read in places but couldn't put it down for the life of me. I breezed through this book and read it in one sitting. All the different characters really add depth to this story and give it the layers that makes it so great. I look forward to reading whatever Liz Nugent puts out.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A shocking novel about a sociopath who is living a seemingly normal life until he snaps one night and beats his wife almost to death. The proceeding chapters detail his rise to fame and the events that lead to the fateful night that he falls out of character. Told from multiple perspectives, the story of Oliver's past slowly comes together until he is finally completely unravelled. A uniquely told story about the kind of man who might be more common than we think.

"I expected more of a reaction the first time I hit her."
This first line certainly sets the tone for this story!

This is the story of Oliver Ryan, a successful writer of children's books that has beaten his wife so badly that she ends up in a coma.
This story is told not only by Oliver but by a number of people from his past. It is the unravelling of Oliver's life including his particularly heart-breaking and harsh childhood which shapes him into the cold and despicable man he has become.

I was so impressed with the writing in this author's debut novel that I found it difficult to put down.
The audio book has many excellent narrators.

Thank you to Liz Nugent, NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for an arc of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

The book plot was right up my alley - more messed up the better. I definitely appreciate the dark depths authors minds go to write books like this.
I recently picked up NUGENT new book Lying in Wait and can't wait to dig in.
The atmosphere was creepy , characters were creepy yet I loved them.
Thank you for the ARC courtesy of net galley

I’m not sure how I feel about this book, since I didn’t really like it but I also couldn’t stop reading it. I was never truly sucked into the story, and didn’t find any mystery or thrill. Reading this novel was very much like reading a true-life story or even a psychological assessment; a little dull but an interesting message overall. My biggest complaint about this novel would have to be in the writing. I said earlier that I was never sucked into the story, but I also never felt any connection to the characters. Each chapter changes perspectives, giving us background on Oliver throughout the years, but I didn’t find any of them to have a distinctive voice.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and Liz Nugent for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.


Rating 4.5 stars
Wow! I could not put this down!!! It is a short read but so much is jam packed. Don’t worry, it flows beautifully and the mystery unravels (haha) slowly. Very well written with characters that are so delicious that you want to eat them up and go back for seconds! Hmm I might have been reading this under the table while at a family dinner. Sorry folks, but I just had to finish - the suspense was killing me.

First, you have to enjoy novels that tell a story by having each chapter set up as a different character’s point of view. I notice in some reviews people have a hard time with that. I personally love it. Liz Nugent does a really good job so you still might want to give this one a try. I will admit to going back and reading some of the pov’s over again because as I started to put a little more of the story together, I wanted to go back and see how it all tied together. Because it isn’t a thousand pages, I could easily do this without losing the momentum of the story in real time. There was one piece of the mystery that was left hanging and I couldn’t find the answer anywhere. Oliver mentions that his pseudonym was an homage and I couldn’t figure out what he meant. Did anyone figure out what he meant?

So, what’s it all about. Well Oliver, obviously! It starts out with the main event. Oliver hits his wife - POW - and knocks her out cold. Well, to be fair, he beats the crap out of her and she never regains consciousness. We never hear from Alice and can only glean what she is thinking and feeling from other characters. No one really knows Oliver either. His past is shrouded in mystery and he reveals almost nothing about himself. To be fair, most psychopaths don’t. They love to shape themselves into some fantasy of who they think they should be. Oliver doesn’t let anyone in, even the reader. The most emotion Oliver reveals is right in the beginning when he loses control and beats Alice. He is a dark character and finding out how he ticks, why he did what he did is a fascinating tale.

This was a well written, interesting story. The cenral character grows up isolated from people with no one who actually loves him. He attempts to move through life in a way that people would think we'll if him nut he harbours secrets that eventually lead to problems. Definitely a good read!

This was a quick, dark yet enjoyable psychological thriller that I managed to receive an ARC of from Netgalley.

Every chapter of this novel is from the perspective of a different character so it's interesting to see everyone's thoughts on different situations and of course, of Oliver. Unraveling Oliver is quite literally like peeling an onion of Oliver's life and who he actually is. It gets more and more sinister as time goes on with quite a few twists and turns.
I'd definitely recommend giving this one a read. It was very suspenseful and I liked how everything tied together though I do wish they expanded the ending a bit more. I have so many questions that are unanswered!

Oh my goodness! What an opening line,!!!! I really liked the different voices from the current and past people in Oliver’s past that helped create the story behind how a man could beat his wife. Disturbing, captivating and a page turner.

When a book starts with the phrase "I expected more of a reaction the first time I hit her." you know you're in for a ride so you had better buckle up and hang on!

This novel peels away the layers of Oliver and his devoted wife Alice. With each layer you uncover a little bit more of what lead to the fateful day that Oliver Ryan beat Alice into a coma. While she hovers between life and death you hear more from family, friends and acquaintances about what they know about the beloved children's author and his illustrator wife. Each person adding their own unique twist to the storyline.

This is a well-written novel about abuse and what may lead someone to that final poor decision, the decision to raise a hand to a loved one. I enjoyed how each character added to the story a unique twist or clue as to where Oliver's behaviour stemmed from and the impact on each person of that fateful day.

I give this 3.5/5 stars. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC for a fair and honest review.

4.5 stars! Clever! Gripping! Addictive! Wow – this was really good!

The very first sentence in this novel jaw-droppingly sucked me right into this story. I couldn’t put this book down!

The story revolves around Oliver Ryan – a highly successful children’s author who is married to Alice, the illustrator of his famous children’s series. Told from multiple characters perspectives, this novel unfolds brilliantly. Each character added a new dimension of intrigue and suspense, each revealing clues along the way. The suspense and intensity consistently kept me completely drawn into this story.

The only thing I would have liked to see done differently is that I would have loved to get Alice’s perspective. I think that would have added a compelling layer to this intriguing story.

This is my first book by this author, Liz Nugent, and I can’t wait to read more of her work!

A big thank you to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster Canada and Liz Nugent for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

As I have mentioned before on Clues and Reviews, I struggle with serious cases of FOMO! As soon as I see other bloggers reading (and loving!) a particular book, I make sure that I arrange my schedule so I can add that book to the top of my TBR pile and dive in! This was the case with Unraveling Oliver by Liz Nugent.

When this one published last year, I was oozing with jealousy as I read reviews from other bloggers comparing it to some of my favourite books (You by Caroline Kepnes and Perfect Days by Rapheal Montes). However, this one released in Canada much later, so, when I was finally able to dive into this book, I was ecstatic and filled with anticipation. Was this a well-written book? Absolutely! Was it entertaining? Completely. A solid debut? For sure! Was it everything I thought it would be? Not exactly…

The novel follows Oliver Ryan, a handsome and charismatic writer who also happens to be a sociopath. After beating his wife, Alice, into a coma, Oliver reflects on his violent acts and, in the aftermath, his neighbours, acquaintances and friends of the couple try to understand what happened and what forced this man to unravel.

First and foremost, I did love the many differing perspectives and found that Nugent did an amazing job at ensuring that the plethora of characters did not become confusing. Her narrative voice remained fluid and even though there were multiple characters, it never felt disjointed. I loved the fact that all types of characters were given a narrative voice that represented all stages of Oliver’s life. I found this refreshing and a well-rounded and intimate way to discover a character. I truly did feel, by the end of the novel, that I knew Oliver inside and out.

The multiple characters were one of my favourite features and, at the same time, it was kind of where Unraveling Oliver lost me. I felt like this novel, unlike You or Perfect Days, was more of a character study. In the other novels, I was able to get a first hand, continuous look at how the protagonist/antagonist was feeling due to the singular, first-person point of view. I was able to get into the mind of a psychopath. In this novel, I was able to understand the character but it lacked the gritty and unsettling details. I also felt like halfway through, I started losing interest. I realized he was a sociopath, he was clearly a messed up guy but I just felt like it went on too long with the multiple perspectives.

Don’t get me wrong, I felt like this was a spectacular debut, it just wasn’t exactly what I was expecting. If you like a dark character study, then you will absolutely enjoy this novel. However, if you prefer something a little more unsettling, this may leave you wanting more.

4/5 stars.

This story is set up as a series of accounts from the perspectives of all the different characters about the main character, Oliver, and the events that led up to the horrible scene that kicks off the story. It’s an exploration of the mind of a sociopath that manages to be both disturbing and intriguing. You hate the main character, but you don’t fully understand how much until the end.

Interesting read, not my favorite in regards to this genre. There was an element tad too predictable for me. I would still recommend it to other readers

At the start of the book Oliver, a handsome, charming, successful writer of children's stories, beats his wife into a coma, with complete nonchalance and lack of empathy. As the story unfolds his difficult past is slowly revealed through the points of view of several characters. The reader is introduced to the events that may have shaped this warped personality. A great read, with good character development. Sometimes one could almost feel sympathy for Oliver, given his circumstances, but not too much!

A seemingly devoted couple, Oliver and Alice have a wonderful life, collaborating on award-winning children's books. Until one evening after dinner when Olive beats Alice over the head, putting her into a coma. Twisted layers unwind to reveal a tragic character.

Princess Fuzzypants here:
Sometimes you read a book that is so disturbing yet enthralling that you cannot put it down. This is one such book. Oliver is a sociopath, completely devoid of any human compassion. On the surface he is a handsome, charming successful author. Everyone loves Oliver.
Underneath the superficial, there is a black hole of a man, who, to be fair, was ‘nurtured” into the monster he became by a truly evil father.
As the chapters of the book reveal layer after layer of his background, in the points of view of those closest to him as well as Oliver himself, there are times when the reader might feel some sympathy for him. Usually it is fleeting as some other despicable act ir revealed.
The worst is left to the end, although the brutal beating of his wife into a permanent coma at the beginning of the book is pretty egregious. The POV’s are in the aftermath of the crime but he keeps the worst of it to himself, only to be revealed in the closing chapters.
This is a book that will keep you up reading and then keep you up with nightmares.
I give it five shivery purrs and two paws up.

I tried. I really tried. I even tried to read other books and then return to it, but I couldn’t finish it. DNF @ 79%...

It is not a dark and twisted thriller. It isn’t a thriller at all. It’s more a portrait of a vile and egocentric human being, rendered by different people who knew him once in his life.

I received an e-copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

Twisty plot, unlikable characters, compulsive story. I enjoyed how everything unraveled bit by bit, how the characters were revealed. And the ending was very satisfying.