I really enjoyed this book. I think it's going to be really big this year. It was tragic, fascinating, enticing and funny at times. I can't wait to buy a copy and add it to my collection.

💎 I loved everything about this book! We have dual POV and dual timeline which, in my opinion, always adds depth to the story. I loved having the second POV for this one, I think the story would have been really lacking without it.

💎 Our main character, Sally Diamond, is an oddball around town. Her story is being told as present day. She has dealt with a lot in her life and nobody knows much about it, including her. She pretends to be deaf when she goes into the village shops because she doesn’t want to talk to anybody. Her character development is excellently executed!

💎 Our other character, Peter, is mostly told from the past. He is also going through a lot in life and we get to see how he deals with it all as he is growing up.

💎 It’s so hard to tell more about this story without giving spoilers but, trust me, you do not want to know anything more than this and the synopsis before reading this one!!

TW for rape, abduction, pedophilia, and dealing with ptsd.
Strange Sally Diamond follows Sally in the immediate aftermath of the death of her adoptive father, and how her strange actions directly following break open the mystery of who she was before her adoption at the age of 7, and why she is the way she is.
It’s not often you get to find yourself in such a way at 42 years old, and what follows is a challenging and confusing time, that leads to friendships and community and the full onslaught of emotion that comes with making human connections.
This book was, heavy yet easy to read. I felt Sally was written well in how her past trauma translates into her current self, and I enjoyed her journey filled with ups and downs of processing her experiences.
I did however, find the plot and backdrop of the story very disturbing. While written well overall, I was expecting a thriller of sorts and what I got was trauma porn.
Honestly, I felt guilty reading this book. Even the ironic introduction of a media deep dive, showing the gray area a topic like this covers.
In a world where this kind of subject matter is all too common, and real, with true crime everything, I felt the fictional depiction of the kind of traumatic events victims go through was unnecessary. I would have probably DNFed if I didn’t feel like I had to review it and I wanted to give it a fair shake.
I know it’s supposed to follow themes of against all odds or perseverance or friendship or whatever, but my main takeaway from this book was feeling a bit dirty for having supported it in some way, and some anger in the nature vs nurture debate. I think survivors of abuse would likely be quite appalled by this book, even if it was well researched and accurate in some form.
But it’s being well received, and I totally get it, it’s a good read that’s hard to put down, but definitely left me with a pit in my stomach:

Told from the viewpoint of Sally and her brother Peter, this is a dark tale. It's a book that once you start you cannot stop, as are the other Liz Nugent books.Full of darkness and yet moments of humor and laughter we follow Sally as she struggles with life. There is strength and beauty in the character of Sally as well as anger and violence. Mesmerizing!
StrangeSallyDiamond#NetGalley#SimonSchusterCanada

A mesmerizingly dark and disturbing well written book that I could not put down. The 2 main characters were well developed so that we had good insight to their thoughts and feelings as they confronted their past. And what a past they had. This is one of the best books I have read in a long time. I give it 5 stars and highly recommend it.

This book was all the things!! Dark, sad funny, heartbreaking, disturbing,hopeful and seriously unputdownable!
Sally was an absolute gem and I didn't want to stop reading about her.
Could not recommend this book more

Thank you to net galley for the chance to read and review

Thank you to Net Galley for this ARC. I really enjoyed this book a lot. I wasn't sure how it would play out initially and was a bit worried this would be very similar to Eleanor Oliphant is completely Fine and would be a story about an awkward female finding her way socially. This was partly that but was so much more. It was Eleanor Oliphant meets Room. It was surprising and kept me reading to find out what happened in the past and how everything would play out. It was very well written and very interesting to have the two perspectives the writer chose to tell this story. I highly recommend this one.

"Strange Sally Diamond" by Liz Nugent is a powerful and emotionally charged novel that explores the complexities of trauma and its lasting impact on a person's life. While it is a five-star story, it is important to note that the sensitive subject matter, including rape, pedophilia, abuse, and abduction, may be difficult for some readers to handle. The author does not shy away from these difficult topics, and the result is a thought-provoking and heart-wrenching read.

The novel follows Sally Diamond, a recluse who is thrust into the spotlight after her father's death. As she navigates the media attention and the sudden interest in her past, Sally begins to uncover the horrors of her childhood and the trauma that has shaped her life. The author masterfully weaves together Sally's past and present, slowly revealing the layers of her story and the impact of her experiences on her relationships and mental health.

While the subject matter may be heavy, the novel is not without its moments of humor and hope. Watching Sally come out of her shell and discover herself is a beautiful and uplifting journey, and the author's portrayal of her growth is both realistic and inspiring. However, just as Sally begins to find her footing, she is thrown into chaos once again with the arrival of messages from a stranger who knows far too much about her past.

Overall, "Strange Sally Diamond" is a must-read for fans of psychological thrillers and character-driven narratives. Liz Nugent has crafted a haunting and unforgettable story that will stay with readers long after they turn the final page.

This was my first book by Liz Nugent. I can’t believe how good this story was. All I’ve got to say is “wow.” What a story. Just when you think it’s all sewn up along comes another twist. I definitely recommend this one. I personally will have to check out her previous books because I know I’ve been missing out.

Sally Diamond is an eccentric woman who is now an orphan after her adopted fathers recent passing. Sally who had a difficult childhood is now on her own to try to make her way through life. She has always led a very isolated life and has little to no street smarts or awareness of how a person should act or behave. With the help of her fathers doctor, Angela and a family member she begins to learn life skills. While all this is happening she is also starting to learn more about her childhood and her biological parents. What she finds is not exactly what she thought and her family is a lot larger than she thought.

I really enjoyed this read and found the book to be extremely unique. Sally is such a great main character that had me laughing out loud at times. The author does a really great job of making some difficult subject matter not feel as heavy. The story intertwines chapters from Sally’s present to the past. The book does deal with difficult topics such as kidnapping, rape, torture so just a warning. I think the story unraveled at a perfect pace and the ending wrapped up everything in a perfect way. I would definitely recommend this to all thriller readers.

Wow, 5* Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. This was one of the best reads of the year so far. Could not put it down!

Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent is an original, disturbing, yet exciting, and strange story that kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. Liz Nugent is known to create gripping stories that delve deep into the human psyche, exploring the darkest corners of the human mind. Here she adds something different by delving into Sally's mind, whose mother was abducted and held captive by her father when Sally was a young child.

Some dark heavy themes of misogyny, abduction, captivity, sexual and physical abuse, and more hopeful themes of kindness, embracing differences, family, healing, and friendship are explored. Liz gives something fresh here by exploring how trauma can affect others connected to the victim.

My two cents

Sally might seem strange to other people, and how she was raised is different from other children after surviving her horrifying, dark, and disturbing early childhood is strange. She is dazzling, unique, and like a flawed diamond emerging from the toxic, devastating dark past as she learns about her mother's abduction and the cruelty done by her father. She starts to learn to understand and manage her differences, giving the story a heartwarming and enduring tone. I was fully invested in her character's growth and rooted for her from start to finish.

While Sally's growth feels authentic, the believability element could be stronger, making this one not as chilling and disturbing as you might think, and I found it hard to buy into some things that happen to the characters.

Overall the pace is fast, the characters are well developed, with plenty of tension and suspense and with an exciting pay off in the end.

Review to be on my blog https://travelingsistersbookreviews.com closer to publication date.

Holy Moly, this book!!!

I didn't know what I was gettingi to when I started this but what a ride.

Yeah, Sally is strange. She has every right to be.

I'm gonna do an immediate reread. It was THAT good.

Fantastic book! Read this in its entirety in 24 hours and could NOT put down. This will be the book of 2023, mark my words.

This story beautifully offered a glimpse into the day-to-day life of a neuroatypical Irish woman and her struggles to make sense of an often mystifying society. Sally Diamond has gone through an unspeakable childhood trauma that left her "socially deficient", but we join her as she slowly works on opening herself up to new friendships, opportunities, and to secrets of the past.

Unsettlingly, yet fascinatingly, we are also witness to all the horrors inflicted by a sadistic abuser who flees to the other side of the world, but can't escape his own sick tendencies - sending cold waves of trauma crashing into his abductees, his son, and back to the shores of Ireland and Sally.

The author, Liz Nugent, has the unnerving talent of making dark minds seem reasonable at times. She also lays bare that it's not only the atypical criminal types that do horrible things; that there's in fact plenty of everyday abuse perpetrated by 'normal' people all around us.

⭐️ 4.25/5

⚠️ TW: child abduction, child kidnapping, lengthy captivity, pedophilia, abuse, sexual abuse, rape, manipulation, brainwashing, isolation, suicide

Sally reminds me of Eleanor from ‘Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine.’ Though Eleanor’s story is all endearing, Sally’s was not—in the best psychological thriller fashion.

This novel was very captivating, intriguing and gripping. If my powering through all those TW —which I’m very sensitive to especially involving children—isn’t any confirmation, I also finished this in a day. That’s how good this book is!

The tragedy in it is almost realistic (that makes it even more heart wrenching) and if you’re a true crime fan, you’d probably heard an incident very similar to Sally’s mother.

I love the demonstration of how effective therapy can be. And working in mental health—as unfortunate and even frustrating as it is as a health care professional—we can’t help you if you don’t help yourself. So, the contrast between Sally and her brother is a bit heartbreaking. It also plays on that nature vs nurture. It is gripping, tragic, both despairing and hopeful.

I wished it had more of a closure but it leaves it to your imagination, and I can imagine that it’s not redemption for everyone and that adds to the tragedy of this story. I love the growth of Sally and the fact that she really worked hard and continue to work on that is very rewarding. I definitely recommend this novel. It’s easy to read; it’s tragic and riveting. If you love psychological thrillers or true crime, definitely DO NOT miss out on this one. This novel will haunt me for a long time (in a good way).

Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for this eARC. Coming out 18 July 2023!!

This is an interesting book, at first I thought it was going to be humorous, but it turned out to be a much more darker story than I had anticipated, though still a very good book. Sally Diamond is a forty three year old single woman who has lived her entire life in the same village with her parents. She's looking after her elderly father who passes away, as expected, and Sally does what her father had told her many times to do, she put him in the trash, literally. Sally is simple minded, she had zero social skills and most of what someone tells her she takes literally. The story is told from Sally's present day point of view and that of Peter in flashbacks, who you don't realize at first who he is. After her father's death and the publicity around the funeral, Sally begins to wonder what she'll do now. The publicity brought attention to her that stirred up old long forgotten memories, Sally had been adopted by her parents when she was around six, her mother had been abducted and confined for many years by a man who did terrible things to her, including impregnating her. If that type of thing is a trigger for you, this book is not for you, though not graphic, the details and dialogue are disturbing. Overall though I did enjoy this book and would recommend, the way Sally grows intellectually is inspiring, a very worthy read. Thanks to #Netgalley and #Simon and Schuster Canada for the ARC, all comments are solely mine.

I am a fan of Liz since I read "Lying in Wait" and so I was excited when I got the ARC of her latest, "Strange Sally Diamond"!

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for the e-arc in exchange for my review.

I found myself taking a bit to get gripped by this one, but once I was, I finished it in one sitting. I was at 35% this morning and just finished it a few hours later.

I love how she writes, this is a true psychological thriller. Sally is such a complex, dark, but funny character who has a very tragic, heart-wrenching back story. This book got far darker than I expected. It is very dark.

This one is not twisty per se, but the dual timelines do come together by the end.

The ending had me starting to feel quite emotional actually. I really liked this one.

What a story - nuanced, well paced and intense. Finished it in one sitting, I haven’t done that in a long, long time. Definitely digging into author’s backlist.

I absolutely love characters who are 'socially challenged'. One of my all-time-favourite books is "Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine", and dare I say, I might like this book even better?

Sally Diamond definitely will give you Eleanor Oliphant vibes, but the story it completely different. It takes you on a journey through generations, and you can see the trauma trickling down through the family tree, and how it affects everyone involved. A lot of raw emotions.

Absolutely amazing. I didn't want it to end! I can definitely see why people are already saying it might be "Book of the Year" and it's only March!