Reminiscent of The July Girls by Phoebe Locke but a slower burn, the book is from the viewpoint of a girl who suspects her stepfather is a serial killer.
Nice nostalgia trip to the early eighties, Good use of social media commentary. Plausible twist.
With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an independent review.

Sometimes you start a book and you think you can guess what’s coming THIS is not one of them this is a magnificent thrill of a ride that completely floored me!
Told from the point of view of Sophie who comes from Massachusetts to live in London with her mother Amelia-Rose it is one of the most immersive books I have ever read I was gripped by it throughout and read it in just over a day.
I’m not going to say much more about the story as I feel this is a book not have any thoughts about what it’s about like I did as when I picked it up I thought it was just going to be a serial killer novel but hell no it is so so much more than that.
The writing is superb and the story is told over a period of around 20 years and the timelines expertly changed throughout the book keeping the reveals and twists coming and they are shocking to say the least.
I love to be blindsided by a read and was by this one and I absolutely loved that about it when you read a lot of thrillers you tend to become a bit blasé about what’s happening in the story well this one shocked the life out of me !
So many many thanks to Victoria Selman for an amazingly intense and superb 5 star read.
My thanks also to NetGalley and Quercus Books for giving me the chance to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This dark thriller is a slow burn, and a huge negative to me is the repetitiveness but saying that the book does pick up its pace and I found it quite enjoyable. However I did not particularly like any characters.
I do like a book with a double time line and I enjoyed how this gave the earlier story from a young Sophie.
I am glad I persevered and read through to the end.
I would definitely try another book by this author.

This was a good story, I was intrigued as to what was gonna happen and I'm glad I picked it up! Want to read more from this author

This is an atmospheric, character driven novel about Sophie, who grew up with a father figure who turned out to be a prolific serial killer. At least, a jury thought so. When he's diagnosed with a terminal illness in prison, adult Sophie decides to face her demons and go see him, in the hopes of getting the truth once and for all...

The bulk of this novel shows Sophie's childhood growing up with Matty as her mother's boyfriend, interspersed with glimpses of her now as an adult, as she battles with whether to go see Matty in prison. As a child she idolised charismatic Matty, and struggles now to reconcile the man she loved with the killer he was convicted of being.

The story is cloyingly atmospheric and at times quite uncomfortable to read, as the reader can see all Matty's red flags that Sophie the child misses. It definitely does keep you guessing about whether Matty truly is guilty, and the idea of examining the perspective of a serial killer's unwitting family is an interesting one.

Unfortunately it just ended up being a bit of a "meh" read for me. It moves very slowly and there is a LOT of repetition. Sophie seems to basically have the same thoughts over and over again, sometimes it feels like they're repeated word for word. It's too much, we get it already! It's tedious. The time jumping between past and present is not well defined and I often found myself confused about whether we were with child or adult Sophie. And while there were twists at the end, I just didn't find them very engaging or convincing. As a suspense reader, you like to be able to look back and go "ohhhh yes, that's why they were behaving like that!" When it's more a case of "actually they were just acting a certain way to trick you but you never could have known that"... Well, that's just not satisfying as a reader and is kind of hard to buy.

It was okay but I probably wouldn't particularly recommend it.

I've enjoyed how the book is written but found some of it draw out.

I did read to the end and glad i did.

After 20 years, Sophie receives a letter from Battlemouth Prison from a person she never expected to hear from. More she must decide whether to answer their request of one last meeting or live with unanswered questions.

A thrilling page turner that is filled with twists and turns that will keep you guessing throughout. I thoroughly enjoyed it and definitely recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Quercus Books for an eARC copy for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book, it’s a look at a serial killer from someone who is close to them. It to me was also a mixture of all we have read about the well known serial killers, charming, good looking with charisma. I remember watching a series years ago about serial killer Ted Bundy, a nice polite, well mannered, good looking man. Even though I knew the series was based on fact it seemed implausible this nice man could have been a ruthless sadistic killer (FYI I have disliked Mark Harmon, who played Ted, ever since!)
Told through the eyes of Sophie as a child of 12 and now as an adult, it is her view of the charismatic Matty that I find appealing. Nothing to her seems out of place and indeed when he comes into their lives as her mother, Amelia-Rose’s boyfriend, he immediately becomes her friend and confident, often taking Sophie’s side against her mother.
When he is imprisoned for the many murders he has committed over the years, Sophie tries to recall any signs that he was the man they called The Shadow Murderer. Should she have noticed anything? But to her he was Matty, her friend.
When she receives a letter from the prison, stating that Matty has cancer and would like to see her before he dies, Sophie is in turmoil. The visit changes her life and everything she thought she knew.

#TrulyDarklyDeeply #NetGalley

I am an absolute sucker for a dark thriller and this book absolutely did not disappoint. I am so impressed with this book and I can't wait to read more from this author! I read it in one sitting - I physically could not put this book down. I absolutely loved the plot, the writing style, the characters. I will 100% reread this book and buy a physical copy.

Woooow! This book is insane. It got under my skin and is one I could not put down. The writing is so dark and intense but you just can’t put it down. If you like dark thrillers this is definitely one for you.

One of my favourite books of the year. Selman absolutely hits this out of the park. On finishing reading it, I immediately recommended it to my best friend.

A relatable main character, and some genuinely creepy moments combine with an exceptional ending and beautifully written prose to make a book that it was impossible to put down.

5/5 stars and I will be on the lookout for more from this author.

Well, I read this on a 3 hour bus journey, basically without looking up at any point. Totally addictive. Told from two Sophies - one as a child and one as a grown up, we really get to see inside the mind of someone who is accused of being a serial killer, but is so psychopathic that they maintain a totally normal life and a series of normal relationships outside of this. Definitely shades of Ted Bundy on this and read the Ann Rule immediately after reading this. A real page turner, lock yourself in a room with a vat of tea for this one as you won't want to be disturbed!

What a great book. This book follows Sophie and her mother, Amelia Rose, having moved from the USA to London. Shortly after the move, Mum meets Matty who treats Sophie as his own.

The last few chapter, woah, what a roller coaster. This book kept me gripped from the second I started.

Thank you to the Publisher and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book, which was a really interesting take on a well-trod theme. I thought it was brilliantly written and highly compelling, and whilst you think you know where this is going, there are enough twists to keep you guessing to the very end.

Brilliantly dark and well- written, and another interesting way to explore the psyche and ramifications of a serial killer.

A well-written, completely riveting and fascinating story about how it is so easy for a person to see what they want to see, and how loving someone colours perception. All of the characters in this novel are well developed and very believable. I was totally engaged from beginning to end and flabbergasted by the unexpected twists in the tale. Highly recommended. Thanks to the Victoria Selman, NetGalley and Quercus Publishers for the ARC.

Thanks to Netgalley, Quercus Books and Victoria Selman, for the advanced copy in exchange for honest review.

Truly, Darkly, Deeply is true crime thriller, that follows Sophie, her mom Amelia - Rose and Matthew (Matty) Melgren's life. After 20 years, Sophie gets letter from Battlemouth prison where she is informed that Matty is dying and wants to meet her. For the last two decades, Sophie has lived with uncertainty about Matty's sentence, her many unanswered questions are still affecting her every aspect of life and she questions her life, that was spent with her mom and Marty, when she was younger. Will she finnaly learn the truth? Is Matty a victim of unfair judgment?

What was unique, is that this novel was told from the perspective of child Sophie and adult Sophie, with twenty years passing between the POVs. Writing was good and thriller worthy, but I did feel that in several occasions phrasing felt repetitive. Also, I think novel could be shorter, as after 35% (if I remember correctly) nothing major happened and pacing felt slow.
Either way, it was gripping when it needed to be and I didn't guess ending, so that was a treat for me. Thank you!

Thanks to the publishers for sharing this book. I like the way it's told from the step daughter's perspective. It's gripping, if very bleak. My full review appears on Weekend Notes.

Truly, Darkly, Deeply- Victoria Selman

I’m sorry to say that I didn’t finish this book as I had lots of other books to read at the same time and it expired.

READ MY REVIEW

Cover: Intriguing and it fits the theme.

Ah. I’ve been hitting a slow streak lately, what with an incoming deadline and laptop issues. While the latter will be solved by purchasing a new one, uh, at some point in the future, the former is still looming in all its deadline-y glory.

So if you’re wondering why I’m reviewing books at a slower pace, here’s your answer, and Truly, Darkly, Deeply is one of those novels caught up in the bottleneck.

Is it a bad thing? Well. Not really, because the delay made me realize something: I couldn’t remember the plot anymore less than a month after shelving it. If you’re grimacing right now, I wouldn’t blame you—alarm bells and the likes.

Thing is, Truly, Darkly, Deeply did nothing for me, for several reasons.

Its fundamental flaw is its repetitiveness. It latches on a concept—the ice cream Matty used to buy Sophie, for example—and it keeps going at it, on and on and on, dog with a bone-style. After 368 pages, the pacing is as dead as the killer’s victims.

This issue hits Sophie, the MC, the hardest, making it difficult to sympathize with her. Amelia-Rose appears whiny instead, and the other characters read confusing. The ending is meant to be a plot twist, and Selman does a good job with the breadcrumbs of truth scattered here and there. It just casts an odd light on Amelia-Rose’s parents, say. Matty is an interesting character instead. I’m not sure what to make of his creepy behavior toward Sophie, but he’s been crafted well.

Another issue is the temporal switching. I’m not fond of switching per se, so I might be biased, but here it’s a bit too heavy-handed to slip by unnoticed.

Still, I would have kicked the final rating up a star, if the technical aspects were solid. Unfortunately, the first POV curse hits Truly, Darkly, Deeply kinda hard, and inconsistencies paired with some grammar opsies prevent me from doing so. Damn 🙁

2 stars on GR.