Read this book so long ago and unfortunately didn’t post my review in time! Review to come, apologies for the delay

An interesting and well-written psychological drama. A far cry from your ‘average’ thriller. Would recommend.

Too slow for my taste! If you enjoy a slow-burn "thriller" then you might enjoy this one. Not for me!

*Thank you Text Publishing for the copy in exchange for an honest review. Review not posted to Goodreads/Amazon because less than 4 stars or DNF.*

This dealt with some very hard hitting issues and had a bit of a dark quality to it. It was written very well and was quite thought provoking

This is a psychological drama that keeps you on the edge of your seat and guessing at the outcome, up until the very end.
Kate Aitken is a young archivist who is hired to sort through materials of famed photographer, Miranda Brand. When she becomes obsessed with her subject's death, it threatens to destroy her fragile grasp on sanity.
The story explores the pressures of art, marriage and motherhood.
Beware of all the content warnings though: suicide, self harm, domestic violence, sexual assault, postpartum psychosis, bipolar disorder.
Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a well-written, slow burning story about an archivist, Kate, who is putting together the life of famed artist Miranda, who died in the 1980s by a shotgun blast. Commonly believed to be a suicide, was it something more?

The book alternates between Kate’s investigation and her budding relationship with Miranda’s son Theo (who was 11 at the time of Miranda’s death), and alternately, the entries in Miranda’s newly discovered diary that Kate is slowly reading. I was very compelled and interested by the diary entries. Miranda’s unique voice comes across loud and clear and is fascinating and reflective of her boundary-pushing art. Miranda is a Cindy Sherman type modern art photographer who uses herself in her provocative and disturbing works, and her life follows a similar path.

I was somewhat less interested in the more mild-mannered Kate and her relationship with Theo, and usually found myself racing to get to the next Miranda diary entry.

The whole book is well-written and the ending is excellent. I felt I left the story with a vivid picture of who Miranda was, but I wished I had been able to relate to Kate a little better. Nonetheless the book was haunting and Sligar’s writing is great — pretty, thoughtful, and languid. 3.5 stars.

Thanks to Text Publishing, NetGalley, abd the author for the ARC.

In Sara Sligar’s novel Take Me Apart, former journalist Kate Aiken is under some unspecified cloud when she relocates from New York to California. At the town of Callinas, California, Kate has a new job as archivist for famed, controversial deceased painter, Miranda Brand. Miranda’s house, located dramatically on an isolated coastal cliff top is now owned by her son, Theo, a troubled man who has issues, some of which involve his famous mother. But who wouldn’t have issues growing up with Miranda?

As Kate wades through the chaotic stack (think rooms) of Miranda’s papers, Kate’s task to separate that which is important from the trivial, seems overwhelming, but since she’s there to work and forget about whatever happened in New York (events which are vaguely hinted about), she’s happy to dig in and work.



It looked like a dump truck had backed in through the bay window and unloaded an entire town’s worth of recycling.

But there’s an atmosphere in the house. Touchy Theo wants Kate to work but only within certain confines. Plus then there’s the question of Miranda’s death. Was is a suicide or was it murder? Through Miranda’s journals, a portrait of a troubled woman emerges. Since Miranda had a history of mental illness (including some rather bizarre feeling about her new born son) it’s fairly easy to accept that Miranda topped herself. But then there are rumours…..Her “art dealer had killed her in order to limit supply and raise her value,” that her husband Jake or Theo killed her, or that she was the victim of a serial killer. But then Miranda’s work shows self-inflicted violence:

The next sections were on Inside Me, Miranda’s mutilation series. She had slashed different parts of her body and photographed them up close. A hand, sliced open. The inside of a knee, blood pooling from a horizontal slit. An ear with blood pouring out of the canal, over a diamond earring. The gristle and fat and bone of her, torn open into elegant flicks and syrupy drips.

Take Me Apart has a very slow build up. I wanted to know what the hell happened in New York and found the breadcrumb hints rather scanty and frustrating. Plus then there’s Miranda herself who comes across as a horrible human being…

It was late at night and I had looked at the baby and thought about running a blade through his tiny heart and I knew I could not do this anymore.

The sections regarding the archivist job are interesting, and soon, Kate, who sniffs something is rotten at the heart of Miranda’s death, begins asking questions. This is a tight community in which residents gossip and form opinions. Opinions that they are happy to share. Since Kate is on the run from her own issues, she’s intrigued by Miranda and the journals draw her into Miranda’s world.

The premise of the novel was intriguing but for this reader, the gothic overtones combined with the emphasis on Miranda’s journals were too much. Being inside Miranda’s head made me want to head for the exit. Many reviews bring up the term ‘noir’ but I didn’t get the noir vibe at all. I’ll stick with gothic–with an archivist instead of a governess and with a romance (blech) at the end.

Review copy

Book Review⁣
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I am not a typical thriller reader. I do however like to mix one in every once and a while so they don't get repetitive and/or mesh into one. Take Me Apart surprised me. It didn't have a stellar goodreads rating (I've started taking GR ratings with a grain of salt) but it had an interesting premise. Which is:⁣
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When the famed photographer Miranda Brand died mysteriously at the height of her career, it sent shock waves through Callinas, California. Decades later, old wounds are reopened when her son, Theo, hires ex-journalist Kate Aitken to create an archive of his mother's work. From Miranda's vast maze of personal effects, Kate pieces together a portrait of a vibrant artist buckling under the pressures of ambition, motherhood, and marriage. As the summer progresses, Kate navigates vicious local rumors and her growing attraction to the enigmatic Theo, all while unearthing the shocking details of Miranda's private life. But Kate has secrets of her own, and when she stumbles across a diary that may finally resolve the mystery of Miranda's death, her curiosity starts to spiral into a dangerous obsession.⁣
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I think if you've read a TON of thrillers some of the aspects of this one may seem overdone but for a once-in-a-while thriller read I found it entertaining and a page turner. Like most thrillers I couldn't focus too much on the set up or some of the details not quite working, but overall a very good thriller (if you know me well you know this says a lot!). ⁣
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Reading this was made more enjoyable by buddy reading it with Juani @jkslibrary and Sandra @secretreadinglife .
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Thank you @netgalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest review. ⁣

An enjoyable read that touches on sensitive subjects such as rape and mental health issues. You can't help but find the main characters, both Kate and Theo, extremely likeable and I found myself fully invested in the back story of Theo's mum Miranda and why she took her own life. Heartbreaking and tragic, this was a real page turner.

I received a copy of the book from Netgalley to review. Thank you for the opportunity.
An intriguing read with plenty of layers to delve through.
A good read.

I loved the concept and storytelling. There were a few aspects of it that would've benefitted from being delved more into, but the characterisation and thrill were pretty bang on. also love the artwork on the cover. going to keep a look out for the author now.

A slow burner that captured my attention. Theo hires Kate to archive his mothers personal papers. She was artist Miranda Brand who died years ago under mysterious circumstances. Kate has her own issues and soon becomes obsessed with Miranda's death. She's determined to find out what really happened. We move back and forth between Kate in the present and Miranda's diaries in the past, and these separate narratives slowly come together to reveal the truth.

This story is well written, and has exceed a lot of expectations. The element of feminism accompanied by the complexity of characters kept me well entertained as a reader. My expectation was high going into this and it mostly did not disappoint! I'm very much looking forward to this author's other works.

I really relished this book! It was a slow burning psychological and suspenseful read.

The entire book focuses on the lives of two women, Miranda the famous photography artist and Kate the archivist who is hired by Miranda’s son Theo to organize Miranda’s documents years after her death. Officially Miranda’s death is ruled a suicide however Kate is convinced that Miranda may have been murdered. This leads Kate down an obsessive mission to discover the truth about Miranda and her death. When Kate discovers Miranda’s diary her life story becomes tragically clear and Kate’s own life begins to unravel around her.

There were quite a few themes covered in the book; postpartum depression, Suicide, DV, motherhood as well as sexual harassment and most centrally on the mental health of the two women across two different time periods.

What I enjoyed the most was the intertwined stories of both Miranda (past) and Kate (present) You get to know Miranda through the correspondence Kate is sorting through which was showcased through mixed media of diary entries, letters and prescriptions more and more of her is revealed as the story unfolds.

Four reasons to read this book:
If you enjoy a slow burn read
It’s more like a psychological suspense filled novel and not a thriller
Read this book if you enjoyed Verity and I can tell you that I enjoyed it more than Verity.
It's a cracking debut book from Sara Silgar and so well written in my opinion. I'm excited to read more of her books in the future.

I received a copy of this ebook thanks to NetGalley and Text Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

A really well written story.A book full of twists and turns .A story involving mental illness as book by a very talented author.#netgalley #textpublishing

A young archivist's obsession with her subject's mysterious death threatens to destroy her fragile grasp on sanity, in a riveting debut novel of psychological suspense.

When the famed photographer Miranda Brand died mysteriously at the height of her career, it sent shock waves through Callinas, California. Decades later, old wounds are reopened when her son, Theo, hires ex-journalist Kate Aitken to create an archive of his mother's work.

From Miranda's vast maze of personal effects, Kate pieces together a portrait of a vibrant artist buckling under the pressures of ambition, motherhood, and marriage. As the summer progresses, Kate navigates vicious local rumors and her growing attraction to the enigmatic Theo, all while unearthing the shocking details of Miranda's private life. But Kate has secrets of her own, and when she stumbles across a diary that may finally resolve the mystery of Miranda's death, her curiosity starts to spiral into a dangerous obsession.

Wow, I loved this book, it was the perfect combination of mystery and romance that had me hooked from the start.

The story moves between both Miranda’s story through her diary entries and Kate’s present day story. The alternating timelines and points of view allow the mystery to slowly reveal itself while building tension and allow us to slowly build a connection with both characters.
Both are strong females with very significant mental health issues and the story becomes more about Kate’s inner thoughts and emotions, the connection she has with Miranda and her developing obsession with Miranda's death.

This was a really emotional and moving novel, it was much more a slow burn mystery or women's fiction than a thriller I have seen it described as. The novel included explorations of mental health, the subjugation of women, and motherhood and the author does a great job of exploring these themes. The writing was compelling, easy to read and overall this was a great debut novel by the author.

“The darkroom could destroy all the external parts of her. Illuminate the inside and dissolve her skin. It could make the broken pieces look good again. It could wash her clean into a syncopated shadow. A negative of herself. The bad would be the good would be the bad”
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Kate leaves her job as a copy editor in New York and moves to the town of Callinas in California. She is hoping for a period of anonymity after a high profile case against her former employer led to her being harassed out of the company. She takes a job as an archivist for a famous photographer, Miranda Brand, who died twenty-four years before. Her new employer, Theo, is Miranda’s son. His moody and abrupt nature put me very much in mind of Mr. Rochester


As the novel progresses, the narrative switches between Kate and Miranda, often in the form of Miranda’s diary entires and letters. In her personal papers are notes from a lecture she gave about her photographs:
“Whose gaze hunts for the woman? We want her in the middle. We want her easy to pin down”
And this does capture some of the central themes of the novel; the balance and abuse of power in a relationship, ownership of the female body in terms of sex, desire, printed image and motherhood. Mental health is also explored and, cleverly, parallels develop between the experiences of Kate and Miranda


Although a mystery does lie at the heart of the novel, it’s the layered exploration of relationships and psychology that kept me turning the pages. Well paced and written, there is a sense of something deeply unsettling that is sustained all the way through, a sense that any happiness is temporary and tends to come at a price
“Her heart missed the thrashing joy”

TW: Sexual abuse, emotional abuse, gaslighting, puerperal psychosis, suicide

“There should be a touch of violence in everything” (159).

The dealings of Miranda Brand, an acclaimed photographer, and her artwork are still whispered about twenty years after her mysterious death. Theo, her son, hires Kate Aitken to organize a room full of Miranda’s belongings. With Theo’s darkness hovering over her, Kate can’t help but wonder what really happened. What happens when the job quickly becomes an obsession of the vibrant artist?

“We survive the fire. What is left behind in us is a core, a steel rod. Strong and iridescent” (79).

Sara Sligar produces a moving story paralleling two women and the battles of mental illness. I wouldn’t categorize this as a thriller as much as Women’s Fiction. The plot emphasizes the power dynamic between genders and the impacts of trauma. I appreciate the seriousness of the overall themes and how they are presented through art. The pace and plot didn’t enthrall me as much as I expected. There was a set up from the start pointing at a particular individual which swayed me only to look away.

“Men are always better at being crazy. Better at being forgiven. The blood on their hands can be real, not imagined. They can be bought and sold and still no one thinks they are owned”.

Miranda Brand is the true star of the novel. I love reading about an artist, fictitious or not. Her artwork is complex, raw, strong and gritty. Much of it, I believe, is her feelings on the exhaustion of the patriarchal influence. Evidently it splits hers in two and sends her to the psychiatric ward. I love that Miranda’s story isn’t just told from a diary. Newspaper clippings, emails, medical records and even receipts are used.

“They’re sybarities, cannabis, starving predators, they want to sink their teeth into the organ and rip it apart. They want to be in the inner circle” (15).


On the other hand, the author gives the reader Kate to get inside Miranda’s mind. She didn’t give me the boost I needed. I almost gave up half way through because Kate felt like a cliche of the genre in comparison. A young woman who has a difficult life, fleeing for a new one across the country. Her decision for leaving New York is understandable and one may think brings sympathy. From their first introduction, her behavior with Theo was appalling and only intensified. She tries to play detective to Miranda’s death far before even touching the archives that it makes her throw away any or all of her work ethic out the window.

“Ideas come to me as if out of the deep ocean - shadowy, groping through darkness. Slimy when they arrive. Glistening, like a new-born child” (159).

A well written and immensely slow burning psychological thriller about dysfunctional families filled with intense artwork.

Thank you to MCD and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Truly haunting thriller that will send shivers up and down the spine. A disturbing look at mental illness. Great read!

Although Take Me Apart is a lofty endeavour, it just did not deliver to the extent I had hoped. The author did a wonderful job of capturing the torment of the lead character, but I felt as if the other characters were somewhat neglected. It would have been interesting to hear more of Theo, the child. Jake's voice was also silenced as the story evolved. Take Me Apart was well-written, I just wanted more substance.