Truly, Darkly, Deeply is a slow-paced thriller with two timelines: one in the past and one in the present. I greatly preferred the narrative from the past and found myself starting to skim the chapters set in the present day. Overall, this is a title that I would not go out of my way to recommend unless someone was really into crime fiction as the story itself was just okay.

This book was so dark and twisty while also being incredibly heartbreaking. I was invested in the characters and really liked seeing everything unfold.

Ok, this book started out kinda slow and kinda kept that pace for me. It took me a bit to get into it, but the story was interesting. It goes through this girl's childhood and life with her mother and her mom's boyfriend who is arrested for being a serial killer.

You're given bits a pieces that start to point the finger, but you're only getting part of the story. The rest is revealed at the end. And I'm pretty sure I caught something that the mom's boyfriend said to the daughter when she was older that the daughter didn't fully get. I could be wrong, but....

Giving this one a 3.5 just for the slower pace.

This was a book that I was on the fence about, but in the end I am so glad that I gave it a try. The blurb is one that sounds like it has been done before but Victoria Selman did an amazing job putting a unique and wild twist on the trope. It is a creepy story that felt like it could happen in real life and that made it even more thrilling. Thank you for my arc!

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC of this book. This book was a slow burn but well worth the wait. The multiple POVs really helped move the story along quickly. Good mystery with some good twists.

Reading Between the Wines book review #120/115(met goal in Sept!) for 2023:
Rating: 3 🍷🍷🍷
Book: Truly Darkly Deeply
Author: Victoria Selman
Available Now!!

Sipping thoughts: Told in dual timelines, with 8 year old Sophie and adult Sophie. She is navigating learning Matty, her almost stepfather and only father figure, may be a serial killer who went to jail based off of what she did. She has been battling thoughts of whether she turned a blind eye to Matty’s serial killer tendencies or whether she put an innocent man in jail. The storyline is pretty predictable in a sense until the very ending of the story. Because of its extremely slow burn, repetition and very little thrill, I was going to rate it 2 stars. The ending pushed it up to 3 stars.

Cheers and thank you to @UnionSquareandCo and @Netgalley for an advanced copy of @TrulyDarklyDeeply.

#TrulyDarklyDeeply #VictoriaSelman #UnionSquareandCo #advancedreadercopy #ARC #Kindle #Booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #bookstagram #nicoles_bookcellar #bookworm #bookdragon #booknerd #booklover #bookstagrammer #bookaholic #bookreview #bookreviewer #IHaveNoShelfControl #ReadingBetweenTheWines #fiction #thriller #suspense #mystery #MysteryAndThrillers #GeneralFictionAdult

I was unexpectedly enthralled by this book. The only reason it didn’t get 5 kisses from me is because I felt the ending was rushed and I wanted a little more. However, this story sunk its claws in me and still hasn’t let go. Potential spoiler next so keep scrolling if you don’t want to know anything at all about this book!

If you have any form of fascination with the Ted Bundy case like me, this is a book you should pick up. 👀

I did not finish this one, it was not for me, I couldn't relate to the characters, and just did not care for the story.

Truly, Darkly, Deeply had me hooked from the moment I read the blurb. I've read a lot of psychological thrillers as of late and this one felt unique and like it did stand out amongst the rest. Although it was a slow burn, it still managed to keep my interest. Thank you to Union Square & Co for an Arc of this book. 3.5 stars.

✨Book Review✨

Truly, Darkly, Deeply - Victoria Selman

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Read if you like:
✨Serial Killers
✨Dual timelines
✨Slow-burn mystery
✨Short chapters
✨Big reveals

This was quite a compelling read that had my predictions flicking back and forth throughout. It is quite predictable in its plot line but I enjoyed uncovering different elements of the serial killer’s thoughts.

Sophie is preparing to visit her only father figure in prison for the first time in twenty years. He was convicted for the deaths of over nine victims and notoriously labelled “The Shadow”. But is he actually a serial killer?

It was really interesting reading from the POV of the daughter of a serial killer. Told across two timelines, I enjoyed looking through the eyes of eight year old Sophie and how Matty came into hers and her mother’s lives. He really did grab her heart and with that it plants the seed of doubt - surely he couldn’t have killed all of those people.

I enjoyed uncovering little clues throughout the story and piecing it all together. I felt like a detective in my own right. However, this did lead me to work out the big twist at the end. Frustrating! - I need to stop doing that to myself.

I felt quite the connection with Sophie and thought her character was well developed. I felt all the feelings she did - especially visiting the prison!

Overall, it was a compelling read and one I would definitely recommend.

Thank you @netgalley and @unionsqandco for my copy of the book! 🫶🏼

I had really high hopes for this book based on the description, the cover, and the reviews. But it fell a little short for me. I found myself wanting more, and I ended the book wanting more.

This was such a different and creative take on the typical serial killer book. This one told the story from the perspective of the "family." the narrator in this book was Sophie who had been a young girl when her mother's boyfriend and her father figure, Matty was arrested and later convicted for the deaths of many young women and a child.

The book bounces between present day and the past to a time when Sophie was growing up and Matty was a large presence in her life. You feel her doubts about whether it is truly possible that Matty committed the crimes. In the past she seemed convinced most of the time that he was innocent but finally the doubts crept in. Now in the present day, the doubts that creep in are the ones where she fears he may have been innocent all along.

I was glued to this book and turning pages to see how it ended up. It was well-written and clever.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for this Advanced Readers Copy of Truly, Darkly, Deeply by Victoria Selman!

Truly, Darkly, Deeply is a good inside look at the aftermath of living with a convicted serial killer. Sophie is Matty’s stepdaughter, and a large part of the story is her POV. While incredibly slow-paced I found it interesting. I was not a fan of Sophie’s mom. The events of the book took a toll on her. Matty is the wild card, and this ending does not disappoint.

If you like family drama and crime I recommend Truly. Darkly, Deeply. Despite the slow pace, it is worth the wait.

This book had me hooked from the beginning! Lately I have been into books about serial killers and their unknowing families.

Twelve-year-old Sophie and her mother move to London for a fresh start. Her mother meets Matty and falls hard, as does Sophie. Everything seems great, until the murders start... and the women killed all look like Sophie’s mother, Amelia-Rose.

If you are looking for a clever, true crime-style novel with a WILD twist, then Truly Darkly Deeply needs to be on your TBR list. I literally devoured this book in one day!

Thanks to NetGalley and UnionSquare & Co. for gifting me an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Such a unique story. This felt a little short for me. The perspective is interesting and the writing was well done.

Fascinating premise and I LOVE the title. This story is told from the POV of a woman whose father is a convicted serial killer—a very interesting angle I haven't seen explored too much in the thriller genre. Loved the twists, loved the psychology of these characters. Grateful for the chance to read and review!

Does anyone remember the band, Savage Garden and the song "Truly, Madly, Deeply" ?

No?

Am I showing my age?

Anyway, this song, was my FAVORITE song when It came out. One look at the cover of Victoria Selman's new book paired with a title that reminded me of my best years, and I knew right there, I had to have this book.

Sometimes I want to high five myself after I make such a good decision. Choosing Truly, Darkly, Deeply, was definitely high five worthy.

This book was IMPOSSIBLE to put down!! If you love serial killers as much as I do, this book is meant for you. This is not your typical whodunit type of thriller. Right off the bat we know exactly who the serial killer is. Although Matty is important, he is not our main character. Sophie, 12 years old at the time the murders took place, is actually the daughter of Matty's girlfriend and our main character.

If you know who the serial killer is before you start will the book be boring? NO. Definitely not. This book is jam packed with twists and turns you will never see coming. The ending is pure magic and I promise you, you will not want to miss it.

Teaser:

A taut, breakout psychological thriller with a wicked twist.

Matty Melgren is a convicted serial killer serving life without parole for the murders of several women in London in the 1980s. He has consistently protested his innocence, and the evidence against him was largely circumstantial. At the time of his arrest, Matty’s girlfriend was Amelia-Rose, a single mother to 12-year-old Sophie. Sophie adores Matty. He’s handsome, funny, respectable—she could never suspect him of the brutal killings in the headlines. Then a police sketch of a suspect is released that looks a lot like Matty. Was it him? Sophie is consumed with doubt and guilt, causing her to act impulsively, ripping her family apart. Years later, she is still haunted by her actions. Was she wrong to have done what she did all those years ago? Then Sophie receives a letter from Matty—he’s dying and asks her to visit him in prison. Will she finally get the answers she needs to be able to reclaim her future?

Truly, Darkly, Deeply is a thought provoking novel about a woman, who looks back on her time from before her life fell apart. Sophie was just a girl when her mother started dating a man, Matty Melgren, who would later be convicted of being a serial killer. Not only was he convicted of the crime, but his victims looked just like Sophie's mother Amelia-Rose. Sophie loved Matty. Amelia-Rose loved Matty. Years later, whit Matty dying in prison, Sophie must decide is she wants to visit him and finally hear his side. Will his version of events change what she thought she knew?

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free copy of Truly, Darkly, Deeply by Victoria Selman, in exchange for my honest review.

The worst thing about a book's marketing is when they tell you there's a big twist because you spend your entire reading experience trying to work it out, and you're either correct and it doesn't have any of the desired shock value it was meant to, or you're correct and you realise it wasn't actually the best twist that could have happened.

This is how I would sum up my reading of Truly Darkly Deeply.

The beginning of the book has a good pace and hooked me in really quickly. I was invested in the characters and the whole "did he really do it" mystery. I liked that the past chapters were written from Sophie's point of voice as a child and how she viewed all the events happening. The entire premise that the book looks at how there are more than the victims and the victims family's that are affected by murder (or any crime) is also a unique perspective I'd never considered before. But, there could have been a lot more on this and the present-day chapters didn't feel like they really showed the extent of Sophie's psyche - these chapters felt rushed and hurried over.

Unfortunately, my intrigue was short-lived because I felt the narrative's pace started to slow down around the 40% mark, there was a lot of repetition regarding the present-day chapters that felt I was reading the same thing again and again, and I felt the character's never really developed. There was also very little distinguishing difference between the narration of 8-year old Sophie and present-day adult Sophie - she stayed the same whiny character.

Overall, it was an interesting read especially given it was mostly told from the perspective of the child of a serial killer when she was young.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers, Union Square & Co, for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.