An enticing opening and the narrative just flows along from there. Plenty of character development so that we are really invested in all the decisions made - poor or otherwise.
Disturbing content handled exceptionally well.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this opportunity to review this book.

Strange Sally Diamond, the latest novel from Liz Nugent, really packs an emotional punch. Nugent's main characters are often unlikeable, but Sally is something quite different. We meet her at the death of her adoptive father, as she tries to incinerate his body in their home incinerator, believing herself to be following his instructions.
Sally has known for years that she was adopted, but it is not until the death of her father (her mother has been dead for some years when we meet Sally) that the true horror of her past and the reasons why she is 'socially deficient', as she describes herself, begin to reveal themselves.
This is a very dark story, but as always, Nugent provides us with enough humour to help us through, and Sally's initial lack of any sort of filter is the main source of levity, as she says exactly what she thinks without any thought for the consequences.
Along with the very sinister and damaged characters we meet, there are also some wonderful people who help and support Sally through her journey, but I was left with a profound sense of sadness at the end of the novel.
I found it a really compelling read; I flew through it, and if I had any slight issue with it, it was that it maybe moved a little too fast in places - the intervention of the podcast team seemed a little sudden to me - but overall, this was a fantastic story and I'll be haunted by Sally Diamond for a while!

Hooked from the start! We follow sally through what appears to be a misunderstanding due to autism, we’re quickly told by her psychiatric father that she’s not autistic which furthers confusion at first as he labels her as socially deficient. Through the story we learn more about sallys issues, her past, her upbringing, her adoption, and eventually her family both biologically and adoptive. Sally makes great progress in learning these things and changing her life for the better, therapy leads to some amazing goals and realisations and she tries to use these new skills to lead a better life for herself, alas the tragedy of her past comes back, starting with a teddy bear and ending with her spiralling back to old habits. We meet her brother who she never knew and realise just how far the trauma as kids went and how it still impacts them today. My only issue with this is I hated the ending, it was well done but I felt after all sally had been through she’d of got a happier ending,

I’ve missed Liz Nugent as she hasn’t released any books since 2020, however she’s back with a bang with this one. What a book!
It’s one of those stories that will hit you with a range of emotions; sadness, happiness, laughter, shock. I wish I could go back and read it all over again. It will stick with me for a long time and I find that I keep talking about it to friends.
I loved it and will continue to recommend to anyone.

Wow. First off many thanks to #NetGalley for an advance reading copy of #StrangeSallyDiamond. Reading this book had me gripped from the get-go. I genuinely couldn't put it down, and devoured it in one sitting. I wish I could erase it from my memory and reread it. All I can say you lucky people who have yet to read it. If it could give it more than 5 stars I would.

Well Sally Diamond has not had the best start to life infact the hardest or worse of the worse it's fair to say.

If Your mother has been kidnapped several year before your birth and the capturer was your Dad and well what more can be said. This is how Sally life began and it was several year before she was rescued the damage is great. She is adopted by a Physiotherapist and a gp and their goal in life you will read about

This is a deep story one of healing as much as can be lots of discovery about life and it is real as in very realistic as can be. No one could real know what it whittle be like but I believe this which is what the author needs and the reader wants, in my case that is and hopefully yours. Sally is damaged goods it could be safely said but intelligent and excellent muscian.

So that's the long winded background but why do I give 5 stars? There are a lot of reasons and without giving anything away I found the story and the ending so powerful and hope you get to discover why. The ending is worth 5 stars alone but there are other reasons as well. I want to say that this sort of novel/thriller can be so badly let down but the ending that is writings Liz needs acknowledgement and honor for getting in my view such an incredible and realistic storyline.

So I recommend this a great storyline from beginning to the end and I don't think You will be disappointed.

Another absolute cracker from Liz Nugent! Great story, loved the characters and so well written it kept me turning the pages. Well worth the wait from her last offering in March 2020. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to Penguin UK and Netgalley for the advance copy of this book in return for an honest review.
Another excellent read from Liz Nugent. I found it difficult to read at first as the characters and the description of their situations and justifications of their actions was quite harrowing. Like all of Liz Nugent's books there comes a stage where there is hope of redemption and happiness (for some) before leading to the inevitable disturbing end to the book. Very well written and researched book

Sally Diamond is a straightforward talking type of gal. I was worried it was going to be another ASD narration but as the tale unfolds it becomes apparent that there are far more sinister reasons for her abruptness and desire to minimise social contact.

The plot and timelines all work together well. There are some likeable characters and some deeply disturbing characters. I have mixed feelings about this book; I whipped through it and wanted to know how things were going to pan out. But I also felt uncomfortable about gaining 'pleasure' from the terrible situations described in the story. I don't know why I felt this more with this book than say another book in which people are liberally murdered. However if you were happy reading 'Room' then you will be fine.

If there is something I have come to expect from a Liz Nugent book it’s that it will be completely twisted, highly original and very, very dark and Strange Sally Diamond is no exception.

This standalone psychological thriller isn’t published until March 2023, but pop it on your wishlist or pre-order it today if you enjoyed her previous books as much as I did.

Meet Sally Diamond, 42 years old, who lives in a small village with her father until he recently died. Viewed by the villages as “strange” and admits to being socially deficient, she’s spent her life pretending to be deaf to avoid conversation. Her father regularly told her to “put me out with the bins, when I die” so when the time came she followed his instructions and that’s when her entire life is turned upside down.

Quirky doesn’t even begin to cover Sally and if you follow my blog you will know how much I adore quirky characters. Sally is brilliant, she’s very naive and matter-of-fact and there is absolutely NO filter when she does decide to talk to people which is either cringe worthy or heart breaking.

Sally discovers after her father’s death that the reason she has no childhood memories up to the age of seven is that she had a traumatic and horrific upbringing and now she is faced with uncovering her past whilst trying to navigate a new life alone and making new friends.

I’m not going to go on much more, except this is everything you would expect from Liz Nugent. Unlikeable characters, plenty of twists, dark and disturbing plotlines, much needed humour for some light relief in the darkness and a heroine you can’t help caring about.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This was such a great book, I was gripped from the first few pages, the main character Sally is someone who stays with you even after finishing this book that’s for sure, I mean who incenerates their father! Loved this book x

I love Liz Nugent's work - because whilst she's fantastic at crafting compellingly dark thrillers, her true power comes in just how deep she gets into the mind of her characters, and how she allows the readers a glimpse into those peoples lives. Strange Sally Diamond is her best yet - dark and unputdownable. Another blindingly good book by Liz Nugent

Well written with a riveting storyline and well developed characters that were all flawed but that I took to me heart anyway. This was a gripping read that kept me guessing and I was stumped right until the big twist,. The book does deal with some hard hitting issues but I think the author handled it very well I really enjoyed this read

Liz Nugent is one of my go to authors whenever I want a guaranteed good read and she has done it again with ‘ Strange Sally Diamond’. In this novel Liz has created a wonderful character in Sally Diamond who will take you through every emotion. Another excellent read that will absorb you and hold you to the very end.

Sally Diamond cannot understand why what she did was so strange. She was only doing what her father told her to do, to put him out with the rubbish when he died.

Now Sally is the centre of attention, not only from the hungry media and worried police, but also a sinister voice from a past she has no memory of. As she begins to discover the horrors of her childhood, recluse Sally steps into the world for the first time, making new friends, finding independence, and learning that people don’t always mean what they say.

But when messages start arriving from a stranger who knows far more about her past than she knows herself, Sally’s life will be thrown into chaos once again.

I would like to thank both Netgalley and Penguin UK for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

This book gripped me from the start. Sally does not connect with people in the usual way and her behaviour, and how other people treat her, has some brilliant insights. However, the story then takes a very dark turn and I found it quite distressing to read so didn’t continue. I’m sure other readers will love the book.

Let me say that Liz Nugent is one of my favorite authors, and when I found out the new novel was going to be deviating from form, I was a bit disappointed Surprisingly,, I loved Sally Diamond. At first I was worried that this was just going to be another autism romance, and I usually don’t love those if they’re written by Neurotypical writers. However, she was able to add the appropriate amount of twist to make it worth reading.

I’m glad I gave it a chance

I loved this book. The twists and turns made it appear like unrealistic fiction but how it was dealt with made it so realistic.
The way that the twists were revealed was good. I kept having to turn the page.
I went in blind to what this story was about and I think that it’s experienced best that way. This is the best book using the trope of “quirky because of trauma” they I’ve read.

******Spoilers*******

This could be viewed as a continuation of Emma Donagues Room. Different characters but similar premise.

Another fantastically written page turner from Liz Nugent - from page one, I was gripped & enthralled by the character of Sally who is developed so well as we learn more about her. An excellent novel, full of twists and turns.

Captivating. Couldn't put it down. Like her other books it's so so dark and skin crawling but it's another cracker just like Unraveling Oliver. Sally Diamond was the centre of a media storm in her childhood and again as a woman in her 40s when she tries to incinerate her dead father, taking him at his word literally when he said put me out with the bins. Sally is a strange but at times endearing character. Over the course of her book her childhood trauma is unveiled and someone is trying to make contact with her from her past. It's very twisty, it's very page turning but it's also a book you would like to put in the fridge for awhile!

Thank you netgalley for this ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was just thinking it seemed like a long time since there'd been a new Liz Nugent book, when up popped Strange Sally Diamond. Cue rejoicing.

Liz has tended to specialise in horrible main characters, but that certainly doesn't apply to Sally, who is odd, but far from unlikeable. In fact, she is admirable in many ways and the reader is rooting for her throughout.

Sally has led an isolated life with her father, and she doesn't remember anything that happened to her before the age of seven. After her father dies, and Sally makes an unfortunate but - to her - perfectly sensible decision about how to dispose of his remains, her story comes to national attention and the past she can't remember is back with a vengeance. And it's about as harrowing a past as it's possible to imagine. As Sally begins to move out into the world, is it really possible for her to ever have anything approaching a normal life?

We also hear from another character, Peter, who is less likeable, although that's hardly surprising given the context in which he has grown up. Peter's story is equally horrific in a slightly different way, and while it's hard to read at times it was a good decision to include his character and perspective.

This is a story which goes to some very, very dark places, although there's enough lightness in Sally's narrative to provide a balance. The end, though, was a real downer - I kind of suspected how it was going to end, at least with Peter, but I wished it had been different.

A great read.