Caro has issues. Deep-seated disturbing issues that she tends to feed with alcohol, lack of sleep and worry. But the more you learn about Caro the more you may understand that she has earned each and every one of her mental and physical hang-ups. There’s the foreboding old childhood home (no happy memories here), the wicked stepmother, the beautiful and popular older sister, the evil “Pear Drum” childhood horror stories she was punished with, and who’s that little boy in the bright red Power Rangers suit that keeps showing up uninvited?
Caro must return to Derbyshire, her childhood home that she abandoned years ago, forced away by her hateful stepmother. But now that woman, Elizabeth Crowther, has passed away, dead from a terrible fall within Larkstone Farm, the home she usurped from the kids when she married their father. Caro’s sister, whom she hasn’t spoken with in just as many years, also returns for the funeral. Stephanie is still as beautiful and intriguing as ever but has no desire whatsoever to inherit Larkstone or get involved in the cleaning and auctions that must follow to settle the estate. Steph offers full ownership to Caro if she will simply stay and do the organizing and preparation.
Caro hates this home; it’s very unhealthy for her to be there, but she has nowhere to go and tries to make the best of it.
Hated and ignored by most of the townsfolk, Caro slides deeper and deeper into a dark, alcohol-fueled desperation where the childhood horrors haunt her; questions linger about her father and stepmother, and Daniel, a mysterious child who appears in her dreams and drunken visions continues to taunt her.
The only good thing that happens is meeting her neighbor, Craig, a sweet hunk of a guy that was treated like Elizabeth’s son prior to her tragic accident. Craig is all the things Caro has hungered for: patient, kind, loving, a great cook and quite gentle on the eyes.
So why do strange things keep happening, as if there’s a dedicated effort in this horrible home to drive her raving lunatic crazy? How do the dreaded pear drum and its horrible English folktale have such an effect on Caro? And who, if not Caro herself, moved it from the attic to her bedside table? Is this drafty old, freezing farmhouse in Derbyshire determined to drive Caro away?
As events unfold and more is unearthed, Caro slowly begins to remember an entire block of history she had wiped from her childhood memory. And nothing is quite what it has seemed all these years.
(I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. Thank you to Avon Books UK for making it available.)

"The flashy one or the nutcase?"

If ever there was a wicked stepmother, it was Elizabeth, who made a point of letting Caro know she didn't belong, and tormenting her with horrid stories. That may explain why Caro's older sister Steph flew the coop when she was barely old enough. It doesn't explain why decades went by before she would ever bother with her sister again.
Now a grown woman, Caro will uncover the reason why her childhood memories are so sparse and what secrets her own mind has hidden from her, as she heads back to her childhood home to clear it out after Elizabeth's death. The locals are less than welcoming, and a charming neighbor who rents the cottage on her property may know more about Caro's past than she does.
This was a twisty psychological thriller with lots of suspense and a bit of romance thrown in.

First of all, I want to congratulate Sophie on this amazing first novel. Definitely a page-turner for anyone who loves or wants to read a good psychological thriller.

After a turbulent childhood, Caro is faced with a broken relationship, an unexpected death of his stepmother and a return of his sister, who once left without any other justification.

With her life destroyed, Caro decides to make from zero, making peace with her sister and return to her childhood home in Derbyshire, where her stepmother has died. And there is where everything is unfolding so deep and dark. Caro relives his memories of childhood while she is in the house, like remembering how his stepmother treats her with the spooky stories and the horrendous pear drum.

At the same time, in the region, some situations occur in an uncontrolled and sinister way, making it appear more and more uncomfortable and suspicious for Caro. This initial part was slow and with immense details, reason why it left me a little reticent about how the history will develop, but here comes Craig that changed everything. Craig was one of the people that give the comfort that Caro needed, at the same time, it is he the reason who makes Caro rethinking in love. Constantly, she compares Craig to her ex-partner, Paul, and this irritates me because that proves me how she is so damaged with many wounds to heal.

However, the stranger things still happen in the region and in the house, at the same time distrust increases with Caro. The surprise is a factor that the author prevails, in exchange for new questions to increase new mysteries, this grabbed me.

That way, and without wanting to give any spoilers, you all can expect sensitive themes like bullying, domestic violence, obscure family secrets, and immense hate. Also, but not least, my favorite part a completely phenomenal ending, which in my opinion, gives a denouement with the value deserved.

Give it a try and let them lead you through the darkest of the most secretive secrets!

Happy readings,

https://nexttoabook.wordpress.com/2018/10/31/review-of-cuckoo-by-sophie-draper/

I am so excited to FINALLY be able to post a review of this book. The publisher requested no reviews until Halloween, so here we go:

This is a spooky story with a gothic vibe. It is set in an isolated house with a spooky overgrown back garden...the only thing missing was a hidden passageway. The main character is doing illustrations for some creepy fairy tales, and the descriptions of the stories and illustrations add to the scare factor of this story.

Our main character, Caro, is in a situation where she can't figure out who to trust, and even her own memories seem to be suspect at times. Her childhood mistreatment by her stepmother, as well as the fact she just removed herself from an abusive, controlling relationship add to her mistrust of the world in general.

This is one of those books that grips you from the beginning and wishing you didn't have to put it down until it is finished. The ending was a total surprise and was a bit of poetic justice.

I loved this story and look forward to more from this author in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley for a Kindle ARC of Cuckoo.

I was slightly intrigued by the blurb accompanying the book but I knew not to expect much; I've learned from experience not to get my hopes up because when a book is reportedly touted as 'the next big thriller' or whatever PR nonsense speak is used, it rarely, if ever, lives up to expectations.

Cuckoo is no exception.

In your standard plot trope, the main female character is a wishy-washy doormat, psychologically and emotionally fragile and who has recently left her abusive ex-boyfriend.

When her cruel stepmother, Elizabeth, dies, Caro, a talented but struggling artist, moves into the family estate after her sister relinquishes her rights to it. Despite having endured a bad childhood at this place, Caro is low on funds and needs a place to crash so why not? No one is living there.

As she recalls long buried childhood memories and fears that include a bizarre fairy tale involving a pear drum her stepmother used to tell her, Caro unearths forgotten family secrets, losing her tenuous hold on her sanity at the same time when she uncovers the truth of her origins.

First, I saw nearly all the twists coming a mile away.

Second, once again, we have a weak and overwrought female who needs a man in her life to feel special and valued.

Third, Caro has conveniently buried painful truths of her past and childhood, an extremely popular device used in many, many thrillers, nearly as much as the theme of infidelity, which is also found here! Lucky us, a two-fer!

Other cliches employed include the ever popular standby line of "Oh, I know stuff but I just can't tell you because it's so painful,' a near accident (or was it?), items gone missing or misplaced, the main character's unreliable and faulty memory (natch!) or the hunky man that lives nearby (that's helpful) Caro immediately gloms onto for self validation and happiness.

The ending is decent, not a sappy happy ever after but darker than the entire narrative that came before it, but it wasn't enough to add a star to a story that sounds like a mishmash of other books I've read before.

I would have liked more background on the pear drum, such as, what is a pear drum exactly? I had to Google it. Is it some kind of British pastime? Where did the fairytale originate? Is it something Elizabeth cooked up on her own? Is it a Grimm tale?

Why is a pear drum scary? Because I still don't get why Caro was so freaked out.

You know what's scary? Clowns. Global warning. Blue M&Ms.

All the characters, male and female, are shady, mean, dumb or both, and one dimensional. No one has any redeeming qualities, is neither interesting or likable or even bad enough to enjoy the fun of disliking.

When the villains are revealed, its not a surprise.

It's more of an "Yeah, who else could it be' moment and then you promptly forget what happened.

Happy Halloween to all you ghouls and goblins out there! It's review time!

To start, NetGalley has this book titled as Cuckoo while Amazon has it titled as The Stranger in Our Home. I assume they'll decide by publication day.

Caro returns to Derbyshire after her step mother, Elizabeth, passes away. Since her father passed away when she was a child she is told that the family estate is to be willed to her. Her sister Steph doesn’t want any part of it. Steph has a successful career in New York City and is in no need of financial help whereas Caro is as she is a struggling artist. Not to mention that Caro’s lease is about to come to an end. As much as returning home sickens her, the truth is, she has nowhere else to go. Caro’s relationship with her stepmother was always turbulent, in fact, Elizabeth always seemed to hate her. Still, Caro does reluctantly agree to return and to finalize all the affairs that need to be tended to. So she makes the move from the hustle and bustle of London to the rolling misty hills of Derbyshire.

Upon arrival strange occurrences start to happen within the home and when she does venture out all the villagers in town seem to turn their nose up in disgust at her very being.

The problem is that Caro is missing large chunks of memory from her childhood. She remembers her stepmother’s wicked punishments but very little before her father passed away. What happened in this home? Why did Elizabeth detest her so much? And why now is every one seemingly against her?

This book is definitely a slow burn but it managed to hold my interest throughout. I needed to know what happened in the past and what was happening in the present time and how the two things connected.

While it did meander a bit slowly it was worth it once you get to the last 25%. I will say that I was very impressed with the final conclusion of this book and its somewhat ambiguous ending which made me bump this from 3.5 to all 4 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

"Have you been bad enough?"
Cuckoo is a mysterious tale wrapped in fog and darkness. It tells a creepy story about a girl who never belonged to the world surrounding her. About a girl who lived her life as a fairtytale, but not the happy ever after one. About a girl with haunting memories from her childhood times, so unbearable, that she supresses them and they emerge to life like a Phoenix from fire decades later.

In Cuckoo we are following a story of Caro, shy and introverted illustrator, neglected, mocked and abused all her life. She sees the world in her own way, colors, shapes, silhouettes coming alive on every step of her way, her transforming them into art, which was her way to escape reality and the magic sword for fighting her demons from the past.

When she moves back to her childhood home after the death of her stepmother, the ghosts of her pasts start coming back, haunting her, taunting her, making her remember. Was she bad enough?

I really enjoyed this book, it transferred me to another, unwordly place where black swans fly and the peardrum plays. I loved the storytelling, I loved how it was not just one more crime novel, but had a fairytale vibe throughout the book and I liked the twists and the unravels. And I loved the ending, leaving the reader unsure whether there is a happy ending to this fairytale.

This was slow going and suffered from the Agatha Christie problem of a setup with twists that required a full confession from the instigator: "And that's why I did X, Y, and Z", which often seems a little clumsy to me.

I received this from Netgalley with no clue about what it was about or even what it was called. All I knew was that it was a psychological thriller and that I have to stay schtum until Halloween. So far so intriguing. I've waited until literally a few days before as frankly I'm rubbish at secrets. It was worth the wait though. Cuckoo is a creepily atmospheric tale of family secrets that genuinely had me creeped out throughout. There's a few decent twists and turns which you kind of think you have guessed but then suddenly a curve ball of a plot twist comes and you realise nope, that was not quite what I was expecting at all. It isn't perfect, a few plot devices are a wee bit convenient plus the main protagonist is so dim it's painful. But it really doesn't matter. It's a great read anyway. And that ending..... It's probably the best final chapter I've read all year, it had me clapping my hands in absolute delight but then I can be a bit dark. A great winter read, designed perfectly for a dark evening....maybe just leave a light or two on....

Ok... so I was one of those people who couldn’t resist the marketing ploy from the Publisher on Netgalley. The words ‘can you keep a secret?’ plus ‘psychological thriller’ and no synopsis had me hooked.

Well, I can tell you I loved this dark and twisty tale with a large gothic overtone. For me it was very atmospheric and even though the premise is not really new, I was totally absorbed in the story.
I felt a continual darkness throughout the book and linking it with adult fairy tales was very clever.
This one was a winner for me.

Thank you to the Publisher and Netgalley for an arc to read.

Cuckoo was originally sent to me as an intriguing email from the publisher with the title 'Can You Keep A Secret', along with an invitation to download the mystery novel from Netgalley. I'm a sucker for a bit of mystery and intrigue, so immediately jumped at the invitation.

Cuckoo is the perfect novel for Halloween, creepy, atmospheric and tense.

When Caroline (Caro) returns to her family home after the death of her Step Mother, she is reluctant at first to start going through her things. Having moved out of the family home to attend University, Caro hasn't returned since.

The house itself has some bad memories for Caro, her childhood and teenage years blighted by her Step Mother Elizabeth's attitude towards her. She has always seemingly hated Caro ever since she was a little girl, and Caro could never understand why.

Elizabeth also drove Caro's elder Sister, Stefanie away with her behaviour, and Caro's relationship with her sister has never quite been the same. Caro sees Elizabeth's death as an opportunity to rebuild her relationship with Stefanie.

As she begins to clear the house she grew up in, Caro begins to recover possessions and memories that she realises should remain hidden forever. To bring these things out in the open now will only do damage, but perhaps it is already too late for that.

I think having no previous knowledge of the book's title, back cover blurb or author really helped my enjoyment of this novel, as it added an extra element of mystery.

Unfortunately I just can't get interested in this book. The idea of it is actually better than the book itself. I didn't like the characters, found it quite predictable.

How could I resist? When I requested this book it had no title, no author, no cover and no descriptive blurb - it just said Can You Keep a Secret? A secret book - how fun! Then once I received the galley I was instructed to go ahead and read it but not to talk about it anywhere until Halloween. I was even more intrigued and excited. Definitely a good piece of marketing!

Let me tell you I was not disappointed. This was a really good psychological thriller that drew you in, kept you hooked and kept you wondering what was going to happen next. It was tense, creepy, and well-written - what more could you want?

After reading it I looked up Sophie Draper and found she won several awards for this story. I also see the book has two different names - A Stranger in Our Home ; and Cuckoo. Interesting.

Many thanks to Sophie Draper and Avon Books UK through Netgalley for a great read!

Having had no blurb to read I was reading this book knowing nothing about it.
I was hooked from the first page. A psychological thriller with more than a touch of the gothic.
I devoured this book, this is writing at its best. I felt like a fly caught in a spider's web. I just had to keep upon reading. So much tension and suspense. The stories that were intertwined with the storyline were amazing and magical and dark.
This is a new author for me and I am already looking out for more of her books. This book is creepy, magical and addictive, this author has an amazing imagination. More please I am a very happy reader.
I would like to thank the author Sophie Draper, Avon Books UK and Net.galley for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for giving an honest review.

One day on netgalley I seen a book called Can You Keep a Secret? with the author only noted as S, which instantly drew my attention, 30 seconds later I was reading the description of the book which only stated:

"would you like to hear a story about two little girls who did something bad? We're asking you to be brave and request this book without knowing the title or the plot. If you're approved, you'll get to read a brand new psychological thriller and we ask that you keep everything secret until Halloween 2018 when we'll reveal all..."

And what can I say, I was intrigued and thankfully, I got approved for the ARC and now that it is Halloween I can release my review of this one! This was one of the most genius marketing ideas for a book and I was completely drawn in! (…….maybe I am every marketing persons dream audience…probably should work on that one!)

This story started off rather slow, but I feel like the author did that deliberately in order to build the tension and created the spooky atmosphere needed to set the book, at no point did it feel like the slowness was due to lack or plot or an inability of the author to edit their own thoughts. There was enough intrigue in the book to keep interested and I did find myself reading it and thinking “oh just another chapter and then I will put it down.” That being said even with all of the twists and turns in the story it wasn’t all together unpredictable, especially if you do read a lot of thrillers and mystery books.

I will say that the writing style is good and it made it a nice easy read, and worked perfectly to build the atmosphere and draw you into the characters’ lives. I loved the theme of untrustworthy memories and love thrillers/mysteries that do cleverly play on that and for that element this book did not disappoint.

3 stars for this perfectly timed thriller. If I was going to award on the marketing of the book, they would definitely get all the stars!

I quite like this book but I got a tad bored in the middle but it made up for it with the ending . I would read more from this author in the future

I wanted to like this book as the premise sounded really intriguing but the book did not hook me as a reader.

Thank you NetGalley, Sophie Draper and Avon Books UK for the free e-book in exchange for an honest review.

Caro returns to her childhood home when her stepmother dies unexpectedly, even though she hasn’t seen her or the house for years. The house offers her refuge from a bad relationship and a free place to stay for a while. Going through her stepmother’s belongings brings back memories that were hidden for a reason. Heavy snow traps Caro in the small village where all the residents talk and stare at her and Caro wonders what she ever did to deserve all this. But does she really want to know why everyone is staring?

I found the beginning of this book a bit tedious to read, it was slow and there wasn’t a whole lot that made me want to keep reading on. About the mid point is where I started to get more interested in the story and the characters a bit more. I liked Caro, but I also found that I couldn’t really relate to her in any sort of way. I liked her more and more as we find out a bit more about what happened in her childhood and why she can’t remember much. I didn’t like her sister Steph right from the beginning of the book; I just found it too obvious what her motives were with Caro and why she was suddenly so friendly. But I do enjoy having a villain in novels and having someone to dislike and be wary of.

I did see the end coming, but only very close to the end and I was a bit surprised by the way it goes down. I did enjoy the writing and how the atmosphere of the novel is a bit creepy. Overall, not a bad book but not one I could really recommend for anyone who likes a more fast paced mystery or thriller.

To be honest it found this book very difficult to read. It's didn't flow for me and found the characters hard to comprehend.
However I do appreciate that this is just a personal opinion and will not taint the story for any other reader.

I found the prologue to this a very effective and intriguing opening. I certainly wanted to read more. The book really starts with the funeral of Caro's stepmother. Sisters Caro and Steph are both there. However it is immediately apparent that the relationships in the family were and are strained. Steph left home as soon as she could and has avoided any contact with her younger sister. Caro had a deep hatred of her stepmother who had brought her up from a very young age. She too left home when she could and had not returned to the house she grew up in until the funeral.

Caro returns to the house in Derbyshire to clear it out. It is very obvious that the is an important back story here. One aspect is very quickly apparent. Caro's stepmother teased on even tortured her with a mechanical musical instrument that they called the pear drum. There is a sense of dread from the stories as yet untold, the things not revealed. At times too there is something haunted or ghostly here or is it simply hallucinations. What is it that Caro sees and feels...

There was decent writing here. Caro was a good enough character too. I really liked the line "Pandora's box was open, the one in my head". However some aspects did seem rather contrived to me. Returning to clear the old house would be an example of that.

This may not be one of the best books I've read however how many times did I think "just one more chapter" and ended up reading three or more! I could see some of the twists coming. I guess I was not fully convinced but this was a very enjoyable read.