Born evil or just selfish? The main character Cordelia comes across as a horrible person in this psychological novel. Opening up with a dead body in her apartment the story then takes us on journey of her earlier life, her childhood, her marriage and her child which she seems to have abandoned. However is it possible that actually Cordelia suffered post natal depression or psychosis ?
A good read even though I really didn’t like Cordelia!

Another dark and twisted tale from the always excellent Liz Nugent, Skin Deep may have one of the most appalling and unlikable characters I have come across in quite some time, but there is a sharpness to it that made it a book I could not tear myself away from, so much so that I read it in a single sitting. With the dramatic opening I have come to expect from this author, and then a leap in both time and geography to Delia's early years on a remote island off the west coast of Ireland , I was hooked, and desperately needed to know what would make this young girl a cynical, avaricious killer , and as the story unfolded I was certainly not disappointed.
While many of the psychological thrillers I have read recently have veered into ludicrousness , this book kept its feet firmly on the ground and is all the better for it. It is a testament to the authors skill that she can take such an unsympathetic and unlikable character and still make her story compelling and of course, highly entertaining,

I really loved this book. I found it gripping, dark and totally involving. A totally unlikeable and unreliable narrator, yet I became utterly captivated by her story. Highly recommended for a rather sinister and chilling story.

A riveting, twisted tale of narcissism, Skin Deep is a truly disturbing story of Cordelia Russel, the most despicable woman I've came across for a very long time.

Skin Deep is as slow a burn as it gets, without ever turning into a boring recollection of a stunning, but reprehensible woman's life. There aren't many twists, turns or great revelation, but following Cordelia from the age of seven until present is chilling enough without the author having to throw in some sensationalist crap just for the sake of it. If she were a child now, growing up in a well educated family, Cordelia would most likely have been diagnosed with oppositional defiant disorder and possible narcissistic personality disorder before one could say "what a little shit she is".

But as it happens, she grows up on a tiny island, near Westport, Ireland. The islanders are strange, everyone agrees, and Cordelia is possibly Queen of All Strange. When she ends up on the mainland, she puzzles everyone around her. She's quiet, doesn't have many friends, and unbeknownst to most, seems to have a knack for playing people against each other.

Manipulative, cunning and enthralling, once you get under Cordelia's spell, it's nearly impossible to get away.

Is there anything in her past to serve perhaps not an excuse, but an explanation? Grab the book and find out!

With stunning descriptions and evocative prose, Liz Nugent transports you to small Irish towns, bustling London, the beautiful French coast, and inside the mind of a peculiar woman.

I previously read Lying in Wait and really enjoyed it so had high hopes for her next novel. Unfortunately I can’t say the same for this book. I found the beginning so slow it was putting me off reading it. I couldn’t gel with the main character so sadly this is a DNF for me.

Really enjoyed this book, it was a compelling story and I couldn’t put it down. Delia was a troubled character, moulded by her Father and the mysteries of the remote island she grew up on. Completely different to anything I’ve read before and I’d thoroughly recommend it.

Wow, what a book! Utterly mesmerising, completely propulsive and with a voice as stark and bleak as anything I have read.
Cordelia Russell is an astonishing character. She was born beautiful and in her daddy’s eyes she could do no wrong. She was the Queen of Inishcrann, or so he told her most days, though being Queen of a small island with a tiny population was perhaps not the most she could aspire to; but for now it was enough.
She knows she is special and that’s what drives her forward. From an early age she has learnt how to use what she has to get her own way and she does that with barely a thought for her impact on others. In short, Delia is cunning, manipulative, entirely without empathy and both shallow and narcissistic.
All the time I was reading the book I had the nature v nurture argument rolling around in my head, but in the end I have had to conclude that perhaps some people are just born that way. Regardless, Delia is almost certainly a sociopath, if not a psychopath.
As she grows up, she is looked after by a range of people, most for reasons of human kindness, yet for Delia, these people are just a succession of opportunities to get what she wants.
Throughout the book there is an impending sense of disaster, it’s like watching an implosion in slow motion, and that’s where the real suspense lies. Deeply affecting, horrifying and absolutely remorseless, Delia is a character who both compels and horrifies in equal measure.
This is really strong writing with more than one repellent character, but which nevertheless mesmerises the reader. A real triumph of prose writing that completely transfixes the reader and keeps you needing to read to get to the end.

When the rhythm in your heart beats with the sound of the sea you can expect good and evil to come and go with the ebb and flow of the tide. Starting off in poverty on one of Ireland's islands our main character Delia's life takes many turns involving many men and situations and concludes in a dramatic and unpredicted way. A family where history repeats itself in many ways, where beauty turns to its opposite and love has consequences.

Skin Deep - what an apt title!

From the outset it was obvious that Delia's beauty was on the outside and that everything good came to her as a result. Until the day of the fire when it was all taken away from her and her ugly past came back to haunt her.

This book had me gripped from the beginning. I couldn't understand how a human being could be so heartless, self-obsessed and cruel and used people for what she could get out of them.. Throughout the book you are constantly asking "is she going to change now? or "when will she get her punishment for what she is doing?" The book is unsettling and uncomfortable in parts but it stays with you during the day until you stay up through the night to finish it to see what way it played out in the end.

The writing is excellent to the point whereI actually felt like I was in Inishcrann, London, Nice and Monaco with Delia..

A lot of the characters in this book are unlikable particularly Delia and its hard to fathom them or understand at times why they behave the way they do. This book is full of twists and turns you are not expecting.

Having read Liz Nugent's other two books (Oliver being my favourite) - I think this book will definitely be another one that will stay in my memory and has been my best read of 2018.. Highly recommend

Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin for letting me read this book in exchange for an honest review.

i was really excited to receive an arc of this book after reading the narrative and it did not disappoint.

the story starts with the main character, delia, waking after another heavy drinking session to find a dead body in her flat. her immediate thoughts are of her own self-preservation as has been her way of thinking from birth. born to a dysfunctional family on a remote and densely populated island near Ireland, delia was idealised by her father and learned to be manipulative and deceitful to get what she wanted from an early age. the story follows her life after a tragic incident renders her an orphan and banished from the island.

the plot is gripping and the author cleverly writes delia’s character in a way that you cannot have any sympathy for her, she causes misery and destruction wherever she goes.

this is definitely a book you must read. many thanks to netgalley and the publishers for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was not really what I was expecting - I must not have read the summary description properly. This was one book that the title really fits the story. This was one book that I found it hard to find any good feelings towards the lead female character. The book progresses like one of those many stories spanning several decades with ups and downs as life progresses I did enjoy reading the book as you do not know how the story will develop until the timeline reaches the event in the first chapter. I found myself thinking about the Peter Sarstedt 1969 single ' Where Do You Go To My Lovely' with the back streets of Naples replaced by Ireland. The twist near the end was very clever and I had not expected. Difficult to get a good conclusion but the author has achieved this. successfully with justice done.

I am sorry as much as I tried, I could not get to grips with the main character Cordelia. She come across as a horrible person in this psychological novel. Opening up with a dead body in her apartment the story then takes us on journey of her earlier life, her childhood, her marriage and her child which she seems to have abandoned.
Maybe it was the character that did it for me or the storyline, but a good tale is spun here.

Great storyline allowing Delia’s story to grow throughout. Interesting to have others viewpoints at various stages

Narcissism
Beauty is only Skin Deep!

What lies beneath?

Skin Deep is a breath-taking, expressive and ultimately heart-breaking novel.

Narrated through the eyes of Delia, the story is a lifelong revelation of a stunningly beautiful, manipulative, narcissistic woman. In Delia’s mind, instilled by her father, she was the Queen of Inishcrann and the world was her oyster. From Ireland to London, to Nice and Monaco, Skin Deep is a roller coaster of a ride from opulent highs to brutal destitute lows. You travel on this journey with Delia, not as a willing companion but as a captivated observer.
“I knew this wasn’t normal. I know that I wasn’t normal. I have never needed people, just the comforts they could offer me”

The characterisation, dialogue and landscape are superbly portrayed, and the manner you partake in this story is due to the wonderful writing of Liz Nugent. The pace never slows and keeps going to the final page.

This is a brilliant book and probably the best book I’ve read this year. Delia is a character you’ll not easily forget.

Many thanks to Penguin Books UK and NetGalley, for an ARC version of the book in return for an honest review.

I wasn't sure what to expect of this book , Id never read anything else by Liz Nugent. It was fantastic, stayed up late finishing it which I haven't done in a long time. The stortline was original and the author brings you right into the story through the voice of the main character. Descriptions of the scenery make it very easy to imagine the setting without deflecting from the main story. An addictive read I will be recommending to everyone.

This is my first taste of a Liz Nugent book and found this psychological thriller an addictive read that left me wanting to read more of her work. I found this book strangely captivating and although non of the characters were appealing or likeable in the slightest, I just had to read on.
There is nothing to like about the lead character Cordelia Russell, she is cruel, selfish and ruthless but her story is intriguing. A well written novel that is thought provoking and different from a lot of books I read personally. This is the story of Cordelia's life that I found truly fascinating.

I would like to thank Net Galley and Penguin UK for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Skin Deep is strangely compelling and utterly addictive. Distressing at times, there were moments when I questioned why I was reading this, but I found that I could not stop. The story follows Delia and the journey of her life which brought her to the stage where she is stuck in a flat with a dead body. Skin Deep is less about what happens to Delia though and more about Delia herself.

Her ability to make everything about her is staggering and the book is a fascinating insight into the working of her mind. She genuinely sees nothing wrong in the way she treats and uses people. Seeing those around only as commodities and looks for ways they can help her get to where she wants to be.

You will not like Delia. In fact, you will actively dislike her and hope that she truly gets what's coming to her. Her soul is no doubt blackened and there is a darkness and malice in her that I've never encountered in a character before.

Dark, disturbing but a compelling read that will have you turning page after page.

Many thanks to the author and publisher for granting me an eARC of this title via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Now, after reading all 3 of this author's novels, I need to start by quite simply saying, for me, Liz Nugent is at the VERY top of her genre! I read Lying In Wait at the very beginning of 2017 (it was in my top 5 books of that year) and to this day I can still so clearly see my reaction when I was unravelling what was about to happen towards the end - it's one of those reactions that will never leave me! Therefore, I was SO excited to read Skin Deep and my expectations were incredibly high, but I can safely say, Liz, you've smashed it again!

If you've read the author's previous novels Unravelling Oliver and Lying In Wait then you'll know that their beginning sentence instantly pulls you in, shocks you, makes you not just want more, but need more - Skin Deep is no exception! Only when we get towards the end of the book does the author bring us back to that very first chapter and we find out what went on.

I'm not going to say too much at all on the plot, other than, this is quite simply Cordelia's story - we follow her from birth, throughout her whole life. The story feels very authentic with Irish mythology thrown in, and with an ending that sits perfectly well alongside that. Skin Deep isn't just a psychological thriller, it's more a real in depth character study of this one character. She is one of the most despicable characters I've ever come across, you think Lydia in Lying In Wait is bad, wait till you meet our Cordelia! She's wicked, seductive, selfish and nothing but a user; she uses her beauty to just manipulate and scheme her way through life, and no matter who she comes across she manages to somehow destroy their lives - yet she doesn't feel a single flicker of remorse and there is no emotion in her at all, but my god, I just couldn't get enough of her! It takes great skill to keep a reader hooked when a book is so centred around only one character, never mind a character who is so utterly appalling, but Nugent so easily does - and she makes that appalling character equally fascinating to the reader with writing that's so addictive it completely lures you in.

Skin Deep is my book of the year so far. I'd been waiting for something with that punch, which gave me the so called 'book hangover' and this was it! As I say, the author's characters and my reactions to them and their stories are always so memorable to me, and with so many books out there, that's quite something. This is very bleak, and at times rather uncomfortable reading due to some of it's content, but it's brilliantly crafted and really lives up to it's title, proving that beauty really is, sometimes, only just Skin Deep!

Nugent really is the queen of writing such wicked characters! Oliver, Lydia, Cordelia... I'm more than a little bit excited for who is going to be alongside them next!

I'd like to thank the publishers and Netgalley for allowing me to read in exchange for an honest review.

Another great read by Liz Nugent. The main character, Delia is horrid but strangely addictive. The book was well written, fast paced and dark. My only negative is that I thought it slowed down towards the end, hence the 4 stars.

Skin Deep by Liz Nugent is a highly original psychological thriller which centres around the most cold-blooded, unfeeling and damaged individual I’ve ever come across!

After the opening pages show a blood-soaked body, and a panic-stricken observer, we go back to the beginning to a small Irish island named Inishcrann where Delia lived with her parents and brothers; through to the beauty of the French Riviera, where Delia was Cordelia Russell. Living and deceiving everyone she came in contact with, she was obsessed with her beauty - the darkness inside her only lightened by thoughts of her Daddy who loved her. The past wouldn’t leave her, but she wouldn’t acknowledge it either.

Manipulative, obsessive, appalling – Cordelia Russell is a character you should run from; do not let yourself know her as she is only skin deep and aims to use you....

This is my second novel by this author and it is so different to anything I’ve ever read before! I don’t think I liked any of the characters – I know I wished someone would knock Delia off early in the proceedings! (Though of course we wouldn’t have a story then, would we!) I would have to say Skin Deep is one of the best, most horrifying psychological thrillers I’ve read in a long time and recommend it to fans of the same!

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read and review.