I liked this fast paced thriller. It hooked me from.the first page and held my interest the entire way throughout. The twists were pretty good and surprising and it made the book so enjoyable.

I will absolutely be reading more from this author.

An engrossing fast-paced, mystery that had me questioning everyone in this suspenseful whodunit. I look forward to reading more books by this author.

Some Days are Dark by Miranda Smith – 3 Stars
Publisher: Bookouture
ISBN: 9781838882198

I struggled to keep reading this book until the last 25% when the action picked up and there was a surprising conclusion. I realize that the story needed information about Olivia’s life, however, I was annoyed with her poor-me attitude, excuses and naively bad choices. The mystery got lost in the overly long telling of her issues of being an unhappy wife, sharing custody of her young child and battling drug and alcohol abuse. Mostly she made her own problems.
I put this book aside several times to read something else. I came back to it because the author’s writing was strong and readable and I was curious to discover the conclusion. I would have enjoyed it if the focus had been more on the mystery and less on Olivia’s woeful life.

Reviewer: Nancy

TRUTH: I didn’t expect to like this so much! I’m happy to announce we have a new talented thriller writer on the board! Miranda Smith achieved a compelling job by developing a heart throbbing and startling story around anti-heroine and heroes. They have so many flaws and so much dislikeable traits but with her riveting story-telling and realistic character analyzing you’re hooked from the first page and you may easily resonate with the characters who are making so many big mistakes and screwing their own lives.

Olivia is not happy after her husband’s murder but at least she’s relieved that she’s off the hook. Somebody
confessed and has been put behind the bars. She was afraid of his dead husband. We don’t know why! But we can sense that her deceased husband Dane had a dangerous social circle including drug dealers and some criminal felonies. So it seems like nobody miss him. But the worst thing happens: the guy who confessed is acquitted! He didn’t kill her husband. So who did it? Yes, she is under the spotlight and carrying a big shiny plate tells that she is GUILTY! But she has an alibi for the night: Ex-husband Frank, who is married with exampled suburban wife Julie. They’re sharing the custody of their son Jake.

And my favorite character of the book, Brock, true crime story blogger adds himself into equation and tells Olivia he knows she is innocent and he offers her to prove it by finding the real perpetrator. Game on!
We’re going back and forth and having inner look of Olivia’s past life and understanding why she’s drug addict! Why she ruined her marriage with Frank and how she met with Dane. And how things get changed so dramatically!

I love the mouth dropping, surprising ending. This is fast pacing, riveting, captivating book with its mysterious and interesting plot which makes you addict to the chapters and you want to get your intake by reading more and see how it ends! I finished it at one day and it was so much better debut novel that I’ve expected. I’d love to read this brilliant author’s future works.

I highly recommend this unique book. It is much better from highly praised and advertised books recently released.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Bookoture for sharing this great debut novel’s ARC COPY with me in exchange my honest review. I truly congratulate Miranda Smith with her great start and I’m looking forward to read her upcoming works.

From the cover of Some Days are Dark to the last page, I loved this book. .4.5 stars for me

Olivia's husband is found murdered and she is glad he is dead. The police not so much and guess who the prime suspect is.

The book is told in the before and after.

At the beginning of the book I didnt like Olivia at all but as the pages turned I became her biggest supporter.

I did not guess the ending; twists turns and more murder await you in a fantastic read. Don't miss this one.

Thanks to Net Galley and Bookoutre for a very intriguing read.

4 STARS

"I was happy my husband died, but I couldn’t admit it, otherwise people might think I killed him."

SOME DAYS ARE DARK follows Olivia, recently widowed and prime suspect in her husbands murder. A murder which she claims she had nothing to do with and will stop at nothing to prove her innocence.
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I really enjoyed my time reading SOME DAYS ARE DARK. Olivia isn't an overtly likeable character, but as more pieces of the puzzle revealed themselves, the reasons for her personality flaws became clearer. There were several twists and turns, however none of them "shocked" me (but I didn't guess them either!) However, this didn't take away from my reading enjoyment - it was just a slow burn read. I do enjoy my thrillers to have a solid, jaw dropping ending and I definitely felt that this book delivered one.

Recommended to readers who enjoy domestic thrillers and family dramas.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for my ARC copy!

I love the cover for Some Days Are Dark! It perfectly illustrates the book. The before and after of Olivia’s husbands death.

Somehow I loved Olivia, I get the impression we’re not supposed to like her but she felt so real. We all have faults and it feels like a lot of authors like to make their characters superman so I found this really refreshing!

I can’t believe this is Miranda Smiths debut book, it’s incredible and comes highly recommended.

3.5 stars

Really quick, enjoyable read. Started it on a Monday morning and finished it Tuesday morning before lunch! This was a well written thriller with dynamic (although not necessarily loveable) characters and a well paced plot.

I loved the swapping back and forth between the time periods before and after her husbands murder. It was an interesting way to develop the story and withhold some details until later in the book. It also made it difficult when I told myself “one more chapter” but then the chapter ended on a cliff hanger, because I then had to read two more chapters to find out what happened. That’s a good kind of problem to have though.

The one thing I loved the most was not only was this a thriller but it was an excellent example of how a person with no history can easily become addicted to pain medicine. As someone who works in the medical field, I see it all too often- a true accident and pain leads to a gut wrenching addiction.

Great read and thanks to Net Galley and Bookouture for the ARC.

Good debut from this author. Won't be the last one I'll pick up. It keeps you on the edge of your seat from beginning till the very last page. Not an ending I saw coming, love being surprised.

Thanks to the publisher and Net Galley for an early release of this book.

First let me start by saying that I cannot believe this is a debut. I will gladly read all future books from this author.

The cover drew me in right away as well as the opening sentence! "I was happy my husband died, but I couldn't admit it, otherwise people might resume saying I killed him" um wow, is that not intriguing?

Olivia is maybe not the most likeable character in the world but she did love her son and that excused some of her selfish behavior for me! When Olivia’s husband Dane is murdered, people suspect she may be the killer especially irritating Detective Wooley! A homeless man ends up confessing, but ends up being proven innocent prior to trial. Now Olivia is back in the spotlight and she must prove that she is not the killer, if not for her, definitely for her son.

This was a great thriller that had me turning the pages. Hard to believe it was a debut.

A big thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book, greatly appreciated!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for an advanced e-copy of Some Days Are Dark.

This is one of those books where the cover really caught my eye. I loved the light and dark contrast, the title was fitting, and the blurb sounded exciting.

Olivia is a woman on the edge. Her first marriage failed, her second ended in murder, and now as the trial date closes in on the man who admitted to the crime, new evidence is found and the charges are dropped--thrusting her back into the lens of suspicion and upending the fragile normalcy of her life.

Told in alternating present and past perspectives, we see the events unfolding through Olivia's eyes in real time with the added knowledge of what's to come.

I struggled with this book.

*spoilers*

I'm a champion of unlikeable characters. I don't need to relate to them in order to love them, in spite of their flaws or differing opinions than my own. But Olivia was grating and I had a hard time finding anything remotely sympathetic about her. From her drug use, infidelity, poor friendships, wishy-washy feelings, excuses, to her general reaction to the world around her, I just could not get on board with this woman's journey to finding the truth about her dead husband. Only when the forced confession falls through does she admit a miscarriage of justice has happened--anything to take the focus off herself. And that happens throughout the whole book. She's willing to sacrifice anyone in her path if it means everything is as she wants it to be. Most of the time, it felt like I was wading through excuses of why she strayed from her marriage and couldn't enjoy being a mother to a young child. Granted, I know firsthand how difficult the early stages of motherhood are and can be, and the car accident is inherently terrifying--a mother's worst fear--but I was never really rooting for Olivia.

I also found the plot to be on the predictable side. The inclusion of a few key details early on really limits the suspect list, and the big twist/reveal/climax fell short of what I was hoping for.

Other than a few sections that felt repetitive, Smith's writing is clean and strong. She did a good job of developing voices and distinct narratives for each character. I appreciated the different relationships and family dynamics, how there is no cut-and-dry definition of how family routines should work.

Overall, a decent, readable debut with a cast of (mostly) unlikeable characters.

Just wonderful! Thrilling and packed with twists. I read this addictive and wonderful book in one engrossed and heart pounding sitting. The writing is assured, superb. The tension is taut throughout and the pace never slackens. Hard to believe this is a debut. I am so thrilled to have discovered this author and will be recommending her and this book to everyone! Brilliant. Although it's only a month into the new year I know this will be one of my top reads of 2020!

Some Days are Dark by Miranda Smith is a thrill of a novel! It has the feels of a domestic thriller, a really good one! The characters are great and the plot reads smoothly!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

When Olivia’s husband, Dane was murdered, everyone believed she was the killer. That is until Marcus Rowe confessed to the crime; but just before his trial, it’s proven that Marcus couldn’t have killed Dane. And now, Olivia is back in the spotlight, and all the people she considered her friends will have nothing to do with her. The problem is, Olivia had plenty of reasons for wanting Dane dead. Now, to keep custody of her son, she will have to find the real killer before she loses the one thing in the world she truly loves. I think a lot of readers will relate to Olivia about discovering the man they thought they married is really someone else entirely. I know I did

A man is arrested for murder.

Weeks before the trial, new evidence comes to light that proves his innocence

Is it too late to save the wrong man going down for the crime.

I absolutely devoured this book. I work in the legal industry and books like this just draw me in and I find them so hard to put down.

I cannot recommend this book enough for people who a legal thriller.

The characters are well developed and the storyline is so enthralling.

Highly recommended!