The Snakes is definitely a page turner.

In this story psychologist and recently married Bea has a mixed-race marriage. As they decide to leave London for a few months they head to Burgundy France to visit Bea’s brother. What they find at the hotel is suppose to be running is not what they expected. The hotel is deserted, ramshackle, and fun of snakes in the attic.

Tragedy soon strikes and nothing is every the same. Great storyline and well-crafted characters.

I discovered sadie jones trough this book and altought it took me a while to read it... i loved it. I have to say i was not wanting to go to this book mainly because of the cover, it did not attract me to the book. That's when you know that sometimes, look does mather. I was taken by the story, it was a good thriller.

I couldn’t finish this one. I foun it so boring! I read a review that said that the second half of the story is not boring, but I just couldn’t make it that far.

A novel that shed’s it’s skin taking it from 3 star to 4 star read that has readers as divided over its controversial ending as they are over their love of snakes themselves!

With some dark themes, this is an in-depth look into an anything but typical dysfunctional family as they come together for a holiday getaway in the hills of rural France. This is a slow burner that will slither under your skin and nest in your brain as it leaves you with a huge pause for thought.

Beatrice Temple and husband Dan live a fairly run of the mill life in their little flat in London, money is tight but things are good. Dan knew that his wife’s family have money but the topic of her family has always been out of bounds. The only member of her family that she actually likes is her deeply troubled brother, Alex.

After a stint in rehab Alex is now the proud owner of a run down hotel in rural France and after renting out their flat, Bea and Dan each pack a suitcase, jump into their beat up car and decided to make Alex’s hotel their first stop on their extended holiday.

Not knowing what to expect their first sights on the hotel is more than either could have imagined. They are the sole occupants of the building, unless you count the nest of snakes residing in the attic. That is until the unexpected arrival of Bea and Alex’s parents. And so begins the beginning of the end for our troubled family as this holiday getaway ends with one member of the family dead and the other members of the family with more questions than answers, pulling them further apart and more deeply divided than before.

This book delves into some dark and emotional topics and shows that money cannot buy happiness and isn’t the answer to everything. As I said earlier, this is a real slow burner and is a more character exploration as opposed to a murder mystery, interspersed with metaphorical as well as the physical snakes and is an utterly stark take on society and the evils that inhabit peoples lives.

This book has divided its readers so it is definitely one of those books that you have to read and decided for yourself and although it is a slow burner it is 100% worth sticking with it and seeing it through, right up to its bitter end!

The Snakes was published back on March 7 2019 and was published in paperback on 20 Feb 2020 so no matter what your preferred format, all formats are now available for you to grab your own copy and decided for yourself.

The Snakes is now a Richard & Judy 2020 Bookclub pick so grab you copy now here or from your local bookshop for a truly rememberable read and join the discussion surrounding the controversial ending.

A massive thank you to the author Sadie Jones, publishers HarperCollins, Blog Tour Organiser Anne Cater and NetGalley for my copy of this book as well as my spot on the blog tour in exchange for an honest and independent review.

The Snakes by author Sadie Jones starts like literary fiction, the story of a dysfunctional family. Bea and Dan are a young married couple. She's a social worker, he's an artist. She's from a wealthy family but has rejected their money, he's mixed race from a very poor single mother family. Due to expenses, Dan is forced to take a job as an estate agent and is dissatisfied. Bea suggests that they take a vacation in Europe. He reluctantly agrees. She suggests that they stop at her brother's hotel in France. Again, he reluctantly agrees. It becomes clear that her brother, Alex is a bit of a screw up and the hotel has never opened. What's worse, the attic is full of snakes. Dan wants to leave but Bea wants to stay to help her brother especially when she learns that their parents are coming because she knows Alex' secret and she wants to protect him. I can't say that all of this kept me glued to the page but it was definitely interesting and made me want to see where it was going.

However, half way through it becomes a psychological thriller, the pace picked up significantly and I couldn't put it down. And then the ending happened. Suddenly, what started out compelling just seemed to go completely off the tracks. It was like the author was trying to tell two different stories and, in the attempt, lost the plot.

Still, it's well-written and, if you ignore the ending and just read it for it's depiction of how money can hide some very dark secrets, it's worth a read. I'd give most of the book 4 stars and the ending 2 so, overall, it gets 3 stars from me.

<i>Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review</i>

I enjoyed the premise of this book, especially since it's part marriage and family drama, part crime story. However it could have been a lot shorter, and there wasn't enough to keep my attention throughout the entire book. It would have helped for it to move at a faster pace.

There's a lot of discussion about the end of this book. I don't really understand why. As readers we may not like it, but it's not our story to tell. The author wrote about money, family, and secrets. The money is in the millions, the family is dysfunctional, and the secrets are horrific. As a reader we don't know what the secrets are and I was shocked to find out. The couple in this story are the main characters. I really liked them. I loved reading their story all the way to the tragic end. The snakes aren't the villains of this book, the humans are. Money can't buy happiness, and secrets, they will eat you alive.

I wasn't actually expecting any real snakes to be featured in this book (regardless of its title). However I was pleasantly surprised to leave that the use of snake in the title wasn't just metaphorical when a few slithering friends showed up. Broken into four parts, The Snakes is a character study that has little plot besides that which everyday life would gives us all; family problems, marriage troubles, insecurity, financial woes, etc. There is nothing particularly special about Sadie Jones novel; and yet I didn't want to put it down!

Characters
All of the characters feel like real-life people. From the remorse, anger, and grief they each feel; through to their actual actions and words to one another we see that each of them is trying to do 'the right thing' in their own way.
We see a marriage begin to fall apart, a rich family that is in shambles that no amount of money can fix, and our leading lady whom is struggling to be true to herself, loyal to her husband, and bonded with her family.

Motivation
One thing that Jones does a wonderful job of in The Snakes is talks about motivation for living. The actual act of existing requires some sort of desire. What is your motivation for living? Is it just to live each day and enjoy it? Is it to garner enough money (and when have you achieved 'enough')? Is it to have a certain lifestyle or acquire a certain number of things or even family members (ie: children)? Each of us has some sort of motivation that keeps us going. Jones challenges the reader to determine what their motivation is as she reveals that which drives our individual characters.
I loved Bea's motivation in the end; to exist. It seems so simple and yet it's probably the most complex of all the characters driving forces. It's also certainly the hardest for those around her to understand.

Harsh Topics
While this is largely a book in which the emotions and feelings of the characters are most important; those emotions are inspired by some awful events. It's worth noting that themes of rape, child molestation, drug and alcohol abuse, domestic violence are all seen at some point in The Snakes. It may not be for long, and some are not key plot points for the characters (while others are) but there are a couple pages that I could see many people having trouble reading. In no way are they overly gruesome or any more graphic than necessary to give you the feeling Jones intends. But for those sensitive readers that struggle to have certain events described for them, I would caution you prior to picking this up.

Overall
This is a very emotional book. Not necessarily in that it will make you cry (although it absolutely could!) but that it describes very intense feelings on so many different spectrums and from many viewpoints. At the end of the day The Snakes is all about people and their relationships with others. In particular their relationships with the truth as it relates to others. Near the end of the book it occurred to me that so much would be less messy in the story if our characters were more honest with one another. Especially between the married couples. Jones made me appreciate that I can say almost anything to my own husband and know that he will not jump to conclusions; but will instead try to see my viewpoint (as I will his). That's not to say it's easy; but The Snakes is a good example of how much worse it can be to hide the truth.
Overall a very well written and compelling contemporary character study.

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

All snakes are carnivores.
Snakes swallow their prey whole.
Snakes sleep with their eyes open.
Snakes do not hibernate. Instead they lie dormant biding their time.

Consider yourself warned.

Ever since the fall of Adam and Eve these creatures have had a bad rap. But in Sadie Jones's latest foray it is the two-legged variety that one must be wary of. <b>The Snakes</b> is a slow deliberate novel with little to no characters that warranted empathy. With power, privilege and moral corruption taking center stage, its plot exposes the underbelly of humanity. Incisive. Horrific. Shocking. <b>The Snakes</b> is surely a novel we'll be talking about for a long time.

<i>Wish granted by Harper Collins Publishers and NetGalley.</i>

Good book about a dysfunctional family and the secrets that they work so hard to keep hidden. Newlyweds Dan and Bea visit Bea's brother Alex at his run-down hotel one summer, and Bea's parents visit also. The plot twist is a good one, and the story is creepy and satisfying. A good read I would recommend if you like secrets, lies and weird families.

This book started slow, and for the first chapter or so, I suspected I wouldn’t finish it. But then I got deeply invested in the characters, and was caught up in the plot for the majority of the book. Without giving away any spoilers, the ending of the book was a huge disappointment and I felt like the author really let me down.

The “snakes” are actual and metaphorical here. The actual ones are pretty darn creepy, but the metaphorical ones are worse.


I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

3 stars

You can read all of my reviews at https://www.NerdGirlLovesBooks.com.

Bea and Dan, a young, struggling married couple, leave their tiny London flat behind as they take a 3 month break. They drive through France and visit Bea's troubled brother Alex at a hotel he runs. The couple discover that Alex is alone and the hotel he was supposed to be renovating is in shambles. Alex, a recovering drug addict, is acting strangely, but insists that he is clean. Bea's parents make a surprise visit to Alex's hotel, and Dan can't understand why she hates them so much and wants nothing to do with them, or their millions of dollars and wealthy life style. When a tragedy hits the family, how they cope with the aftermath reveals how deep the family's dysfunction runs.

This book confused me. I couldn't figure out what it was supposed to be. The author delved into issues of racism, wealth and privilege, ethics, morality, family dynamics, and child sexual abuse. And that's just within the immediate family. If that wasn't enough, add a family tragedy and a stilted mystery involving a foreign police department and I couldn't figure out what the book was supposed to be about. It seemed like the author had a lot of "great" ideas that she wanted to write a book about, and rather than parsing them out into several books, decided to mash them all together into one jumbled mess. What made me even more upset was that just as I started to enjoy a part of the book, the author would go off into left field about something completely irrelevant. It was jarring to swing back and forth and made it difficult to enjoy the book.

If that wasn't enough, the ending - or should I say, the lack thereof - was enough to make me want to throw my ipad across the room. The last few chapters of the book were out of sync with the rest of the book, and then the author just abruptly ended the book. I get wanting to let the reader decide for themselves, but generally there is a better build up to the ending that allows each reader to make their own decision. Here, the book just...ends. WTF? This book gets 3 stars rather than 2 because I did enjoy parts of the book.

I received a free copy of this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was unable to get interested in this novel or the plot. Unfortunately I could not continue to read it.

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this selection.

A fantasy drama i was unable to put down and finished in one sitting. I highly recommend for any reader of fiction

This was a story that sucked me in initially. A woman and her husband from the UK to visit her brother in a dilapidated hotel in France and get drawn into intrigue and drama. The family dynamics I found fascinating, a wealthy possibly nefarious father, incestuous mother, and children that have all forged unique paths in life.

However, about halfway through, I began to lose interest. There were opportunities I saw where the author could have gone there further delving into the character but just left it instead. When Beatrice's husband realizes the scope of her family's finances, he could have become a totally different character entirely, but instead, it was like the author dipped their toe in the idea and then backed off.

The ending also left me wanting more as well. It ended with a man that was barely mentioned until the last few chapters and left too many questions than answers. His character was wooden and too two-dimensional. It was a bit unrealistic.

Overall, an intriguing read that could have been much more.

Thank you Netgalley and Harper Collins for my copy and honest review.

Talk about a dysfunctional family! Dan knew Bea's family had money but he really didn't understand how much or how awful that family is until they traveled to France to see her brother Alex and her parents showed up too. The snakes in this novel are both real and well, metaphorical. THere's secrets, lies, abuse, a mystery, a really strange group of people and a plot that meanders a but. Until the end. Hmm. No spoilers but your opinion of just about everyone here will change as you progress through the novel. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

I liked how the couple's dynamic completely changes from the beginning where they are in love and in accordance about most things, doing small kindnesses to each other and supporting each other through the small hardships of each day and all the small and big cracks that start to appear as soon and they visit Alex
I liked how typically English this novel is from the reference to shops that we all see walking in the street to the language used mostly by Dan.
Dan being mixed race and having had rough beginnings also opens the door to talk about how race is still viewed in modern Britain.
Despite liking the characters and the general them, the book didn't engross me, being too slow. The ending was amazing though.

I received an advanced digital copy of this book from the author, Netgalley.com and HarperCollins Publishing. Thanks to all for the opportunity to read and review.

Ms. Jones has written an amazing tale of family interaction and tension with thought provoking character development that make the pages of the book come alive. All of the people is this book are very real, we've all met them before, but not like this.

Don't be fooled by the title, this isn't a horror novel, but it is emotionally disturbing.

I look forward to reading more of Ms. Jones work.

5 out of 5 stars. Highly recommended.

3 for neutral. I’ve tried on a couple of occasions to get into this book and read it, but it’s just not been for me. I can’t get more than a few pages and lose interest. I’m a very moody reader, so I’ll update if able to get into it and enjoy later.
Will let members of chapter chatter pub know about its upcoming release!

Well, I don’t think I’ve ever read a book where my opinion changed so dramatically from beginning to end as this one. In the beginning, I couldn’t relate to the characters and I found the plot boring. I was ready to set it aside. But I persevered and I’m glad I did. By the end, I was totally engrossed.

Bea and Dan, a young couple, recently married, decide to escape their lives and take off for a few months through France. They already seem to be having quite a few problems for newlyweds. Dan hates his job and Bea is willing to take the trip just to appease him. Their first stop is a hotel her brother is supposedly running.

Her brother, Alex, is a cliche - a Peter Pan who’s never grown up, a supposedly recovered addict, living off his parents. And then the parents, who suddenly show up… well, at least you understand why the children are so screwed up after seeing the parents.

Bea is the child who turned her back on her parents’ money, her brother didn’t. And then there’s Dan, who didn’t come from money, who had no concept. “Before, Bea’s family money had been notational, he could forget it, but seeing them now, rich was all they were. Everything they did and everything they said radiated it.”

There was an early twist I didn’t see coming and then the book becomes more of a mystery. Jones does a good job of projecting that sense of being kept in the dark, dealing with an unknown foreign police and judicial system.

The book covers prejudice, entitlement, the morality of money, who gets to make the decisions in a marriage. After not initially liking either Bea or Dan, I appreciated that Jones then made me see both of their points of view. I could literally sympathize with both.

The ending was perfect. Money is the root of all evil. And I was left wishing I could have seen ow the ending affected the father.

My thanks to netgalley and HarperCollins for an advance copy of this book.