Thanks to NetGalley and Agora Books for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The concept of this book is really unique. One of the narrators is the devil, and we see how the main character's life would be different if she hadn't made a decision early on in the book. However, it just wasn't written well enough to hold my attention. I found the character development pretty lacking and I thought some of the sections where the devil was narrating dragged on. This one was "just okay" in my book.

Review posted on Goodreads on July 14, 2020.

A sliding doors type scenario but through the viewpoint of the devil? Yes, please! This was fun book just when I needed one. The book was very quick but I didn't feel like it was rushed, just well-paced and plotted. It was really just a joy to read. It asked so many philosophical questions about choice and decision making but not in a heavy-handed or condescending way.

Idle Hands is told from the perspective of Ella, or as she is more widely known, The Devil. She is the one pulling all the strings in this tale of tough decisions and what you would give to spend one more day with a loved one.
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Perdie has to make a huge decision at the beginning of the book. Should she stay with her abusive and manipulative Husband or leave to start a new life with her children. Her courage leads her to a life so far removed from her previous one that when the unthinkable happens and her family is torn apart she gets offered a choice by Ella, continue to suffer the pain of her current situation or go back and alter a life changing moment and live your life on another path.
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Ella's observations on the human existence are cynical, funny and most of the time totally spot on. The Devil doesn't want people to become some hell fire demon but rather to appreciate their choices for what they are and find the good in things even when you're at rock bottom. There is pleasure all around you if you're able to look past your own small existence to see it.
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I was pretty much gripped from the start and it made for a speedy read but to be honest I wasn't too interested in Perdie's parts of the story I was mostly waiting for Ella to turn up and put a rocket up everyone's behind!! A snappy read that will make you think.

A thought-provoking and original book that focuses on Perdie and her escape from her abusive husband before he turns his abuse on their three children. Her actions and the decisions she makes catches the attention of Ella, or 'the devil'. Many of Perdie's choices seem to put her between a rock and a hard place, and Ella marvels at how she instead creates a third path. However, with each decision there is a consequence or price to pay. Finally, there comes a point when Perdie has run out of choices and Ella offers Perdie the ultimate 'what if' choice.

Throughout the book, there is love, heartbreak, sacrifice and the true cost of succumbing to temptation. It is, at times, a difficult read, with domestic abuse being a central theme. It is a book that raises many questions and will stay with me for quite some time.

My thanks go to the publishers and Net Galley for the advance copy in return for an honest review.

This is the story of Perdie. She is the mother of three children and wife of Matt, college professor and wife beater. She has stayed with Matt for the sake of her children but although he treats his girls like little princesses he has started being aggressive to their son. In that moment she chooses to leave and start again far away. Tragedy strikes and Perdie wonders if the decision to leave led to this moment. Ella who is the devil, narrates some of Perdie’s story, offers Perdie a deal, is she tempted?

The book starts with the narrative from Ella who prefers to be called that rather than the devil. I really hated this at the start, it wasn’t drawing me in and I was honestly wondering if the book carried on in the same vein whether or not I would even be able to finish it. The book then swaps from Ella’s point of view to Perdie’s and I started to really get into the story. The main bulk of the book is from Perdie’s point of view with Ella interjecting every so often. I thought this was going to be a book about a battered wife leaving her husband and the husband hunting her down. It wasn’t this at all it was about the choices we make and how it affects others and soul things have been better if we had chosen a different path?

This book sounded promising but it just didn't do it for me I'm afraid.
It dragged on and was difficult to really get your teeth into.
The idea is a good one, just the execution could have been better.

How do I begin to review a book this full of content? I LOVED this novel so much. Initially I found it difficult to adjust to the much more complex and literary style of Ella’s sections as Perdie’s chapters were so easily readable. Mind you, reading before bed does mean concentration is compromised!
Once I had read on though I found it was nice to shift pace, slow down and really focus on what Ella was telling us about herself and about ‘Them’ who we refer to as God. There was literally so much to unpack each time. The idea of a female gendered devil and a gender less God. The idea that the devil isn’t trying to ruin our lives but in fact is simply offering us opportunities to indulge, to live in the moment and to follow our desires. And then you have to apply what she says to Perdie’s story while probably, if you are anything like me, applying it to your own life, decisions and choices.
Perdie and her children are well drawn and likeable characters and the narrative flowed really well despite being interrupted by Ella when she felt she needed to demonstrate something to us or make comment on Perdie’s thought processes.
I hate reviews that give spoilers so it’s hard to say everything I want to but Ella’s final point is incredible. It would have been so easy for Windwalker to give us the sugar sweet Hollywood ending. Instead, she gave us something though provoking and real.
I will be recommending this book to everyone!

What a wonderful original story that had me laughing out loud at times. I loved Ella. - the Angel we know as the Devil - who spent the time observing Perdue and the children. The interruptions to the story by Ella were so well paced and certainly thought provoking, this was an unusual but wonderful way of looking at two aspects of life changing events. I found that throughout I was questioning my thoughts and how I might have reacted to the situations that Perdie. faced.
The essence of the story was Perdie, as an abused wife trying at all times to do the best for her children with the Devil watching always to make snide remarks for us the reader to think about. To some people Perdie could have appeared to have a weak character but hers was a difficult situation and I thought that she showed great strength throughout and her actions were at all times well meant.
A superb book, well written with extremely well defined characters and situations that meant that as a reader I was with Perdie all the way through. Highly recommend this to others.

This book has a great premise - who wouldn’t want to read a book with the Devil (true name Ella, female) as a narrator? The book is also very well-written, and focuses on Perdie, a mother trapped in a cycle of domestic violence. Ella offers her certain “deals” and the book follows Perdie through these deals in a very thoughtful and interesting way.

Unfortunately though despite having some great ideas, and despite being very well-written and covering topics I find important, I just didn’t fully connect with the book. I might have preferred alternating chapters with the Devil & Perdie - some of the interruptions broke up the flow of the book for me. And interestingly, though I picked the book because of the great idea of the devil narrator, it was Perdie’s voice I wanted to hear more of throughout the book. I also kept wanting Perdie to assert herself more and gain some independence and the end of the book did not give me that in a resolution I wanted.

Ultimately I think this is a case of “it’s not you, it’s me.” I didn’t love the book, but it’s well-written and has some great ideas, so if the initial conceit and the style of Ella’s interruptions appeals to you, you’ll probably like it. The format just didn’t work for me. I would give it a 3.5 though for the skill of the writing.

Thanks to Agora Books, NetGalley and the author for the advance copy to read!

After making the courageous decision to leave her abusive husband, Perdie and her three young children start over and finally find the safety and love they deserve. But years later, when tragedy strikes, Perdie is left wondering if the choice she made to leave has led them to this moment. If she were given the opportunity to take it all back and stay, would she?
In a frantic bid to protect her family, Perdie makes a deal to do just that. But in a world where the devil pulls the strings, can Perdie really change the past?
This book had me captivated from the beginning and is truly one of the most original books I have ever read. It is so well written, and I found the chapters from Ella’s perspective to have a beautiful, almost lyrical quality.
It is a light, easy, but thought provoking read. It explores love, relationships and grief in a very unique way. Ella makes observations throughout the book that really made me think and question, which is a quality I really love in a book.
Overall, a very clever and enjoyable read that is truly one of a kind. If you want to read something beautifully original, this is the one for you. Thank you @agorabooks. You have done it again with another great publication! Publication date: 23/07/2020

I feel like I held my breath the whole way through this book. It was intense and like nothing I’ve ever read before. The story is told from the perspective of ‘Ella’ who is literally THE DEVIL.

Perdie is an abused wife who makes the decision to leave her vile husband in pursuit of a new life with three children, however when tragedy strikes, she wonders if her choice was the right one and unknowingly makes a deal with the devil in an attempt to make things right again.

Ella’s narrative forces you to question everything you believe about the choices you make and their consequences. I did find some parts of Ella’s monologues a little long and drawn out. At first I felt like this took away from the intensity of the story, but in a strange way it sort of added to it. Ella takes her time as though the soul crushing, horrendous goings on are of little consequence. This in itself over time added to how chilling this novel was for me.

It was an intense and unapologetically brutal read but so incredibly unique, it’s beautiful and awful in a way that kept me reading until I’d finished it in just one day.

I love the concept of this book! Hearing the inter thoughts of Ella (the devil) was very interesting. That being said it took me until about 50% to be really invested in the story, I think the first half wasn't as strong as the second. I think this book would have benefitted from being longer as we didn't get to spend a huge amount of time really getting to know the characters.

Overall a good story with a lot of "what if' moments.

I enjoyed the contrast in this book. On one hand, there is the brutal realism of the experiences of Perdie and her family as she attempts to escape from an abusive marriage – and later, wrestles with the fear that her decision set in motion a series of events that have led to a tragedy. On the other, are the lyrical, abstract musings of Ella (the devil), as she observes Perdie's struggles and offers her bargains. Although I liked the poetical nature of Ella's passages, they could get a bit repetitive and I found myself wishing a few things could be explained in a more concrete fashion – how does this system work? Why does Perdie have to suffer in this way? What role is Ella actually playing? – but I imagine some of the charm and intrigue of the book would have been lost if this had been laid out more plainly.

This is a strange book and I really don't know quite what to make of it. One of the main characters is a devil, possibly The Devil, who goes on quite a lot about being misunderstood and really just being in it for a good time!

Perdie is the lost soul at the centre of it (I think there might be a pun in there) with a couple of kids, Hannah, Rachel and Tad who she dotes on. She is in an abusive marriage with a husband called Matt and at the start of the story she is leaving him to start a new life across the country. She does this and after a hard start she finds a new man and everything is fine.

That takes up quite a lot of the book. Then, there is a terrible accident so she does a deal with the devil and finds herself way back across the country and in terms of time in the same abusive relationship with Matt and, then, there is another long section about trying to get on with the abuser which ends with another terrible accident and by the end of the novel Perdie is under arrest for a very serious crime.

That's the gist of it anyway so what is it about? Well, firstly, it's pretty clear that the devil holds all the cards so if you make a deal you get stuffed either way. Secondly, the book is a bit worrying about living with abusers. Perdie shouldn't just leave, she should have Matt arrested and resolving her predicament by a satanic deal is simply wrong unless, and I worried about this, there's a kind of subtext about women who are abused deserving it. Thirdly, I suppose it could be an essay on pre-determinism and the fact that Perdie is lost from the start. It is just how the tragedy unfolds which is different.

You can take your pick. The other thing which is missing is a sense of drama in the nub of the plot and how Perdie comes to do a deal with a devil she meets in the car park. There ought to be more to it and it didn't really come across as authentic.

I suppose if you think we are really all doomed and that women in abusive relationships don't have better options then you might like this book but it wasn't for me.

This is a hard one to review. The book is presented in a different format to what we are used to - giving us the story of Perdie and her three children interspersed with observations on the human condition by our narrator Ella, otherwise known as ‘the devil’. When Ella offers Perdie a way out of a tragic circumstance she blindly grabs for it. Of course the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.

Perdie’s husband is a wife batterer and her dilemma is - should she leave him and the financial security he offers and see less of her children because she would have to work hard to support them? Or should she stay, protecting them as best she can by offering her own body as a punching bag? That’s what I call being between a rock and a hard place! Neither of these options provides a fairy tale ending as Perdie learns. This book was very bleak and, to be fair, I’ve just reached my limit for bleakness and wife battering, so in a normal run of books I may have viewed this more favourably.

At the start Ella’s interjections were witty and acerbically accurate but as the book progressed I found them getting a bit repetitive. Also, as an entity that promised ‘pleasures of the flesh’ she sure didn’t deliver a lot of those to Perdie. I also thought there were a few contradictions but I didn’t bother going back to find the specifics. The book was interesting conceptually, but in reality I didn’t enjoy it as much as I expected, although that may not be down to the book itself. Ella’s biggest take home messages seemed to be the whole world balance doesn’t hang on every choice you personally make. And sometimes, no matter what choice you make the outcome will be bad. The cover art is brilliant and very apt. Many thanks to Netgalley, Agora Books and Cassondra Windwalker for providing a copy for me to review. 3.5 stars rounded down.

Perdie and her three children make a new life for themselves after escaping her abusive husband.
A story that made me think about choices and how far you would go to protect your family.
Thank you to NetGalley and Agora Books for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

If you have ever wanted to have a philosophical conversation with the Devil-now’s your chance!

She goes by ELLA in this book, and she will explain to you how she lives for the tension, the dilemma and the Crossroads.

She will use Perdie, a Victim of Domestic Abuse, and her three children as her examples as she makes her case for you.

“Everything happens for a reason.
Quite possibly the best lie I ever told.
What I really love is when people attribute it to God, as they nearly always do.”

Although I cannot say that I necessarily enjoyed the book, since I am not a fan of Third Person Omniscient Narration, I can say that I appreciated the author’s work.

Wow!! What a ride this book was. It was very well done with the narrative by the devil. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I am honestly not 100% sure what I expected of this when I started reading it, but I am pretty sure that it was not this.

After escaping her abusive husband , Perdie and her 3 kids finally settle, and while things are not easy, they end up being good for the most part.
But when tragedy strikes, Perdie is convinced that her decision to leave is the reason that things have happened as they have and that if she had only stayed then things would have been better.
As the reader - we know that is not the case. We see the damage done, we see the emotional trauma and how despite some sadness in the other 'version' the kids were happy. Perdie was happy.

I did not expect to relate most closely to 'Ella' in this. The view of people, the spiritual, the physical, and the nature of the world we live in is so very on point its scary and the one thing - more than anything else - that struck me given the current worldwide coronavirus pandemic, was the following:

"Certainly you'd rather die of the plague and take everyone you can with you before going without your requisite morning latte or those sun-dried tomatoes at your favourite market."

A quick read - scarily insightful - and definitely recommended.

To begin, I’d like to thank Agora Books for inviting me to read an ARC of this book, and to NetGalley for facilitating. And thank you to Cassondra Winwalker for a very unique read.

As always there will be no spoilers in this review.

So this book is sort of going on the sliding doors idea - but without there being an upside. It’s sort of saying that no matter what you do, sometimes life is just rubbish. Which I guess is honest and some people (those who live in the “what if”) need to hear that.

The book is narrated by the most unusual character - Ella, AKA, The Devil. The sections where Ella breaks the fourth wall to discuss the events with the reader are jarring (because of course it’s unusual) but I found at times it broke the flow of the story too much and felt inconvenient. Ella’s asides, whilst at times funny, others brutally honest, were sometimes written in such a complex, lyrical way that I found myself skipping parts to get to the actual point. There was a lot of unnecessary language in there, that I guess was part of the character Windwalker had created for Ella - but I found it cumbersome at times.

The actual story itself was heartbreaking at every step. There was no part of it that felt comfortable and ok. It was a very real look at domestic violence and the psychology of the victims. The self blame that mothers feel (in any reality) when something hurts their children. And of course, the very human aspect of regret. That when something goes terribly wrong we often look at the “if only I hadn’t...” thinking that a singular moment of our lives was the mistake that caused the eventual horrific wrong. Ella does speak about this at length - our concept of The Butterfly Effect and presents an alternative concept that is then played out throughout the book.

The characters were all exceptionally well written and their psychology well documented (thanks to the Ella perspective) and so it was unusual in that as the reader we understood more of what was going through their minds than they did themselves. But it made for a higher understanding of their emotional well-being and their motivations.

But even withstanding my critique of the “Ella Overtures” I will still be giving this a 5 star rating - Because the impatience to get past Ellas parts were my own and I understand that a lot of people will disagree on that front. Also because this is a book that will stay with you for a very long time I suspect. It’s not one that will get lost in your recall of “supernatural stories”... you will not be able to group this with anything in your head and so it will stand proudly alone in your memories of great books!