Thank you Simon & Schuster CA and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for the honest review. The first page is hilarious. If you liked The Maid and The Good Sister, you will most likely enjoy this.

I have never read anything like Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent. The story kept me guessing from the start and I blew through it in two days.

Sally Diamond finds people confusing and exhausting. She prefers to stay at home where her routine is predictable and quiet.

Adopted as a child by two psychiatrists, she has no memories from before that time. But now, at the age of forty-three, her past is revealed when she becomes headline news. And the people around her seem to know more about Sally than she does herself.

The story is told from two perspectives, Sally’s in the present and a boy named Peter in the past. I do love a book that has dual timelines!

This book was much darker that I was expecting it to be. From the back cover copy, I got the impression that this was going to be a lighter thriller. Wow, was I wrong. Some scenes were disturbing. However, I do think Liz Nugent dealt with the subject matter as tastefully as possible. I would not describe this book as gratuitous in any way.

And while the book is serious, there is one character in particular who is like a shining bright light in the darkness.

Simon and Schuster Canada provided me with a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you so much to both of them for making this possible!

Thank you net galley for giving me this opportunity to read this book.
I have to say that I had several different emotions going while reading this book.
Sally Diamond is in her forties and is awkward around people.
She had an unconventional start in life.
When Sally's dad died she decided to cremate him herself. Her father had left instructions on what to do upon his death.
As the next couple of years go on she has found friends, a job and also possibly family members that she wasn't aware of.
As I continued to read I found that there was actually two stories going on.
In some parts I didn't know whether to cry or laugh or get mad.
I had a lot of empathy for Sally, due to her start in life.

Thrilling, haunting, and highly unnerving!

Strange Sally Diamond is a dark, perceptive, mysterious tale that takes you into the life of Sally Diamond, a socially inept, middle-aged woman with PTSD from childhood trauma and a tendency to take things literally who, after recently losing the only father she’s ever known, begins to struggle with living alone when long-buried secrets come to light, memories begin flooding back, someone is intent on tormenting her about the past, and danger now seems to lurk around every corner.

The prose is meticulous and tight. The characters are scarred, selfish, eccentric, and dangerous. And the plot, told from alternating perspectives, unfolds methodically into a seedy tale full of twists, turns, surprises, familial drama, lies, secrets, deception, self preservation, wickedness, tragedy, and murder.

Overall, Strange Sally Diamond is a nuanced, sinister, unpredictable tale by Nugent that once again highlights her innate ability to showcase the scheming, despicable, demoralizing, evil side of human nature while also reminding us of the devastating, enduring consequences of living in environments fraught with excessive control, manipulation, violence, and forced captivity.

4.5 stars

Such a riveting read! Well-done story with dark and disturbing themes that are handled sensitively by the author. A young woman, Sally, on the spectrum finds out about her hidden chilling childhood past and its impacts on who she is today. Short chapters told from Sally’s perspective and that of a key male character, move the story forward at a good pace.

Sally is a very quirky, likeable, complex character and I was drawn in from the outset. She endears herself to the reader as she grows throughout the story and starts to learn about the traumatic events in her childhood and how they have shaped what she believes, her behaviour and how she lives her life. This novel, to me, reminded me of Elinor Oliphant and Room with its own unique style. A winner of a read! My only quibble was that the end was a bit abrupt. I would have liked to learn more about Sally as she moved on with her life.

Thanks to @simonandschuster and @netgalley for this complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.

Oh my GOD. I have never been so disturbed by a book but then laughing at the next line? I don’t know how Liz Nugent does it.

Sally Diamond has always known she was adopted and a little different, but when her adoptive father dies - her past comes hurdling towards her and it’s something she could have never imagined.

I was a little worried going into this book that Sally’s neurodivergency would be played as a joke or that she would just be a “quirky” lady (I’ve noticed this in a few books lately and really don’t like it). Instead we delve into the reasons and psychology of why Sally is the way she is. It was such an interesting dive and I really loved the community and support she had.

I read this basically in two sittings because I couldn’t put it down. There was so much going on but it was all tied together so wonderfully. It’s shocking, spine-chilling, and engrossing and I can see this being MANY people’s best book of 2023.

Well damn, this title was literally the perfect title to describe this book. Strange Sally Diamond is going to be one of those books that you're either going to love or hate. For me, it was simple. The stranger the book, the better. So this is one I obviously fell inlove with.

Sally Diamond did what she was told and her whole world unraveled since doing so. All she did was follow her fathers directions and she put him out with the rubbish when he died. To make matters worse, Sally usually burns her Rubbish, so umm I'm sure you can guess what happened to her father. Sally now finds herself the centre of everyone's attention but she somehow gets off unscathed from doing that to her father. Why? Why didn't she get in trouble? And why is everyone whispering about her past? Slowly Sally's world starts to unravel and she learns about her childhood and why she is the way she is. It explains alot, but does it explain everything?

Seriously such an amazingly disturbing read, that I could not put down. There's is definitely a lot of triggers in this one as the book covers some Dark topics but it was amazing.

Title: Strange Sally Diamond

Author: Liz Nugent

Publication Date: July 18, 2023

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Genre: General Fiction (Adult), Mystery, Thriller

Pages: 384

Content Warnings: pedophilia, child abuse, rape, kidnapping, sexual violence, confinement, misogyny, violence, death, mental illness, domestic abuse, death of a parent, pregnancy, car accident, murder, gaslighting, racism, sexism, suicide, torture, panic attacks, COVID.

R Contains profanity, violence, drug use, or nudity.


My Review
› "Put me out with the trash," he said regularly. "When I die, put me out with the trash."

And that's exactly what Sally did. When her father died on November 29, 2017, 42-year-old Sally put him out with the trash and tried to burn his corpse in the garbage bin.

Sally is strange. She was bullied in school and had a really hard time fitting in. She's socially awkward, lacks emotion, and takes everything literally. Some said Sally had autism. However, her psychiatrist-father told her she didn't.

A family friend, Dr. Angela, came over to check on Sally and discovered that Sally had tried to burn her father's corpse. Angela called the police department and Sally was questioned for seven hours. The story ended up in the paper. Everyone was talking about her. Some people started calling her Mary.

Sally doesn't know her real name. She knows she was adopted when she was seven years old. Her father was sick for a long time and had letters written for when he died. He left instructions for Sally to read one letter per week. She would finally get to learn all about her childhood, but in small amounts so it wouldn't be overwhelming.

› An old, raggedy, one-eyed teddy bear arrives in the mail with a note:

"I thought you'd like to have him back." S.

› When Dr. Angela sees the bear she immediately calls the police and tells Sally not to touch it. This was a bear from her past. How did they get the bear? Who sent it? What happened before she was adopted? How did the country know all about it?

› Told from dual perspectives (I don't want to tell you who the other perspective is) and spanning fifty years, you will join Sally as she struggles to gain life experience, build relationships, and learn all about everything that happened from the 1970s to 2022.

› I rate reviews similar to the CAWPILE method
0-3 bad
4-6 Mediocre
7-9 Really good
10 Outstanding

› Characters: 10
These characters are so interesting. Some you'll love, some you'll hate, and some who make decisions that you'll never understand. P.S. Caroline is NOT "Sweet Caroline" I'll tell you that!

› Atmosphere: 10
There are so many times when this story broke my heart. This is a very heavy read with incredible descriptions and world-building.

› Writing Style: 10
As always, I love the dual perspective of course. I enjoy Nugent's writing style.

› Plot: 6
This is where the story felt very "meh" for me. The beginning was great, but then the pacing slowed down and I didn't like the ending.

› Intrigue: 6
I wanted to keep reading, however, I found myself struggling to pick it up.

› Logic: 7
There are plot holes.

› Enjoyment: 7
Overall, Strange Sally Diamond is a good book with some humour and a LOT of darkness.

Average 8

1.1-2.2 = ★
2.3-4.5 = ★★
4.6-6.9 = ★★★
7-8.9 = ★★★★
9-10 = ★★★★★

My Rating ★★★★

› Final Thoughts
• Strange Sally Diamond is a dark, emotional, medium-paced, tense, sad, character-driven story. I don't want to give too much away because there is A LOT that is not mentioned in the blurb, so I'd recommend you go in blind as I did. This book is about nature versus nurture, the relationship between trauma and mental illness and the importance of found family.


Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sending this book for review. All opinions are my own.

I loved this book. I loved this book so hard. I want more chapters. I must know what happens next.
This book had me hooked from the first chapter. I loved the look into Sally's state of mind. I know all too well about turning emotions off due to trauma. She intrigued me.
It bounced between a very hard read and a very light read, which made it a much easier read. If you've got any triggers, this book probably has them. But the trauma felt real, and genuine, as did the relationships.

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher for this ARC!
This book was so full of twists and turns (some predictable, some not)! If you were a fan of Room I highly recommend this book. It’s a much darker and less triumphant take on a similar story. It explored the deep roots of nature vs nurture in a way that leaves you questioning human relationships in general! A really interesting fast paced read. Definitely check your trigger warnings as there is a lot of dark content.

Strange Sally Diamond has similar vibes to Eleanor Oliphant and The Maid but is much darker.

The book opens with Sally Diamond and her adoptive father laughing about putting him out with the trash when he dies. Sally thinks the joke is that her father says she’ll be crying her eyes out, but she never cries, so har har.

When he dies, Sally, dry-eyed, takes his body out to the barn and puts him in the incinerator, as they do with all the garbage. She doesn’t understand what she did wrong. She was only following her father’s directions.

Soon Sally is in the spotlight, and revelation after revelation comes out about her childhood before her adoption.

This thriller is a fast read and is hard to put down.

I’m slightly surprised that it kept me glued to the pages since I’ve tried to read one of the author’s past releases and could not get into it. This one was engaging from the beginning to the end. Some plot lines were predictable, while others were unexpected.

This is definitely one of the standout thrillers I’ve read so far this year. It is dark and disturbing, but it also incorporates lightness and humour.

It’s sad to think that the experiences in this book are not isolated and that this has happened and probably still does. While I liked the book and storyline, there’s just something that niggles at me about reading a thriller loosely based on real-life situations and trauma for entertainment, ya know? I think the author handles the subject matter well enough, but it could have easily turned gratuitous. I still felt a little icky reading it at times.

But I was completely wrapped up in the story, so there’s that.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster Canada for providing an arc via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

https://booksandwheels.com

I actually am not even sure how to review this book. The words that come to mind are, dark, twisted, unsettling, hopeful. comical and heartbreaking.

We meet Sally, who is different from everyone. The kids call her Strange Sally Diamond, but she pretends to be deaf and doesn't hear them. Sally is odd, her psychiatrist father describes her as Socially Deficient, but as we get to know Sally and the things that have happened to her in her life, we find out she is so much more than just an awkward woman who still has childlike tendencies.

I could not put this book down. I was completely sucked into the world of Carricksheedy and it's inhabitants as well as the the backstory of Sally and her parents. We have a dual POV which is so interesting as the two stories do eventually merge into the same timeline.

I think this is going to be a very popular summer read!

This is an interesting book that had me coming back again and again. It focuses on an unusual main character with a history of unresolved childhood trauma, who understandably, has great trouble with social situations. Less a thriller and more of a slow-developing mystery, this book is , so far, definitely one of the better reads of 2023.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
.

When I first finished this book, I gave it four stars. There were some highly disturbing themes, such as pedophilia, abduction, manipulation, physical and emotional abuse, rape, imprisonment and extreme hatred toward women. I felt these dark subjects were included to show the effects on two children born under such severe conditions, causing neurodivergent thinking, PTSD, rage, and inability to fit into society. It was an unpleasant but intriguing read. Hours later, I was still bothered by the disappointing and inconclusive ending and lack of resolution and dropped my rating to 3 Stars.

Peter (Stephen) was born to a twelve-year-old girl who had been chained to a room, was inadequately fed, and had to live for years of suffering and hatred from her abductor. Peter was kept separately in his father's house, sometimes locked up. His father convinced him that he had a rare disease and would die in pain if any outsider touched him. This further isolated him from any possible friendships as he grew older. He only met his mother when he was 9; she was heavily pregnant with Mary (Sally). He had to remain in the secret room with her for two days and treated his mother with anger, abuse, and hatred, learned from his father's attitude. Years later, Peter realized that his father had done horrible things, but he still loved him. He resented that his childhood and teenage years had been stolen from him due to the lie that he would die if touched by others.

Mary (Sally)was born shortly after Peter was in the room with their pregnant mother. The location was Ireland. When she was five years old, she and her mother were rescued. They were taken into care by a psychiatrist and his wife, who later adopted Sally. It was too late to help the mother, and Sally's adoptive parents disagreed on her upbringing. The father kept her isolated from possible friendships as a study for his psychiatric papers, while the mother failed to begin socializing her and making her part of the community. When Sally and her mother were rescued, her rapist father fled with Peter to New Zealand on falsified papers.

When Sally was in her early 40's, her adoptive father died. He had jokingly told her she should throw his body out with the trash. She was a literal thinker and didn't understand humour or sarcasm, so she thought this was his wish. When it was learned by the police and community that Sally placed his body in the backyard incinerator and tried to burn it, it raised quite a stir. People realized she didn't know any better, and the police case was dismissed. Now Sally had to make her way into the community. At first, she pretended she was deaf so she didn't have to speak to anyone, but she was encouraged by a psychiatrist to try to make friends. Her conversations were stressful and awkward, but most people accepted her peculiarities, and she made quite a few friends.

Sally had no memories of her life before she was adopted. Now she is getting mail from New Zealand, including a card about her birthday and a parcel containing an old battered teddy bear. She immediately recognized the toy bear and remembered she had called him Toby. Her adoptive father left notes revealing some of her traumatic past. A woman she relies on for advice and an aunt are trying to share what they are discovering about her past life and the New Zealand connection. Sally fears her biological father may be coming to Ireland to harm her. That brings out uncontrollable anger in Sally.


Now Sally has the support of many friends. A good-looking man has moved to the town, and her friends think he has romantic feelings for Sally. She is adamant she will only accept his friendship. Next, she has a visit from Peter, a brother she never knew existed. She recognizes that his background has made him socially and emotionally inept like her, and she values his company. Her friends are suspicious of both men. What are their true motives?

This was an interesting story, despite its repugnant issues. I thought it went way off track at the end. I wondered if this was a setup for a sequel. I hope not, but I would probably read it out of curiosity.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read the advance copy. Strange Sally Diamond is due to be published on July 18.

4.5 ⭐️


At times funny, at times quite disturbing ; definitely not for the faint of heart. It is beautifully written and I loved Sally, with all her strangeness . The ending left me wanting more … and I think that was on purpose

A traumatic story of of a young girl Sally who was born to a young mother who had been kidnapped at 11 and kept in captivity
The mother was shackled, starved, raped and punished if she disobeyed her assailant. For 7 years Sally and her Mom were kept in isolation with no comforts. Her mom was an emancipated wreck when found and Sally had major social, emotional and anger issues.
When Sally became a young lady she was unable to read peoples emotions, or let them touch her. She rarely socialized with anyone. Then she meets Mark and doesn’t know why he is hanging around and asking so many questions. As I continued to read, I became more and more caught up in her story. I highly recommend it, it is very well written.

Not a thriller. It was a little boring for me. It helps me going into starting a book if the genre is correctly classified and this one was more slow burn mystery than a thriller which resulted in me being disappointed by the book.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC.

After gaining national attention for putting her dead father in an incinerator (she was only following instructions), Sally Diamond finally begins to learn the dark story of her past and the childhood trauma that made her the way she is. As Sally seeks therapy and finally starts to participate in some 'normal' grown up activities such as friendships and parties, someone from her past reaches out with a message, and Sally is back on edge as she worries that the past may never have truly been put to rest.

I loved this book. The storyline was dark and not at all what I expected going in, and I was pleasantly surprised. I adored Sally's character, and the way her loved ones (for the most part) loved and supported her despite her history and social flaws. Her growth was fun to experience, and the effects of her trauma were heartbreaking.
Peter's story also weighed heavily, and I hoped for him the entire book.
The whole story was strange, and the ending was not what I expected, and I wouldn't change a thing.

Thank you to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster Canada, and Liz Nugent for this ARC!

"Strange Sally Diamond" by Liz Nugent takes readers on a chilling and captivating journey into the mind of an enigmatic protagonist. With her signature style of psychological suspense, Nugent crafts a haunting tale that explores the darkest corners of the human psyche.

The novel revolves around Sally Diamond, a mysterious woman with a troubled past. Sally's complex and multifaceted character becomes the heart of the narrative, compelling readers to question their own perceptions of identity, morality, and the consequences of our actions. As the story unfolds, Nugent skillfully peels back the layers of Sally's past, gradually revealing the secrets that have shaped her into the complex individual she has become.

Nugent's writing is masterful, filled with atmospheric descriptions that bring the settings to life. Whether it's the eerie streets of a forgotten neighborhood or the oppressive weight of a haunted past, the author creates a palpable sense of unease that keeps readers on the edge of their seats. Her prose is sharp and precise, delivering impactful lines that linger long after the page is turned.

One of the novel's strengths lies in its exploration of the human capacity for darkness and the blurred lines between hero and villain. Nugent does not shy away from delving into the disturbing aspects of Sally's psyche, forcing readers to confront uncomfortable truths about the potential for evil within us all. Yet the author also skillfully weaves moments of empathy and vulnerability into Sally's character, allowing readers to glimpse the complexity beneath the surface.

While "Strange Sally Diamond" is a captivating and thought-provoking read, it occasionally suffers from a slow pace, particularly in the middle section. Some readers may find themselves yearning for a more rapid progression of events. Nevertheless, Nugent's meticulous attention to detail and the intricate layers of her narrative compensate for this minor drawback.

Overall, "Strange Sally Diamond" is a compelling and unsettling novel that showcases Liz Nugent's talent for crafting dark and psychologically rich stories. With its complex characters, atmospheric settings, and exploration of human nature, the book immerses readers in a gripping tale that lingers long after the final page. Fans of psychological suspense and character-driven narratives will find themselves thoroughly engrossed in Nugent's latest offering.

I loved this way more than I was expecting. All the little twists were great, nothing was outrageous or crazy over the top. There wasn't a single moment in this book where I was getting bored or found myself wanting to skim ahead to get to a "good part." The things that happened were terrible, but saying any more than that would spoil things. I found that the author did a good job of not going into graphic detail about those parts though, which would have been unnecessary and I think would have taken away from the story.

I think this book would make a great limited series on Netflix or wherever else, I'd love to see that!