This was super weird and captivating and hard to put down. I don't really know what I like about it, but I liked it and I felt like it kept my interest. It was peculiar but Sally was intriguing. Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

Dark, disturbing and chilling! A psychological thriller that will really mess with your psyche, keep you on the edge of your seat and likely be a far cry from any thrillers you’ve read before. Sally Diamond is strange. At forth-two years old, she describes herself as socially “deficient”, does not like to be touched, has no filters when speaking to others and takes everything said to her in the absolute literal sense. But Sally has every reason to be strange. The horrific trauma she suffered as a child is unimaginable. What will happen as Sally’s past meets her present? Beware of the many triggers in this story….physical, psychological and sexual abuse, pedophilia and abduction are just a few. Liz Nugent weaves a masterful and gripping story about the dark side of humanity which will leave you rooting for Sally til the very end. Thank you NetGalley, Sandycove and Liz Nugent for the opportunity to read and enjoy this digital copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Sally Diamond is known for being ... 'strange'. This isn't really a problem when you never leave your house. But when her father dies and there is a bit of a 'miscommunication' on what to do with his dead body, the spotlight is cast directly on her. Who is Sally Diamond?

Now Sally, a middle-aged woman, has to step out into the world. Make adult decisions. Make friends. And learn about her childhood.

I went into this book completely unaware of what I was picking up. As I started reading and learning about Sally, I thought to myself, 'Oh, another book like The Maid'. This will be cute!

Cute is the worst word to describe this book. It's dark. It's intimidating and it comes with a long list of trigger warnings ... and I loved it.

Nugent does an excellent job staying true to Sally. Sally is complex and layered. There is a skill to present to the reader MC Sally, a middle aged adult with severe mental short comings, as well as Nugent did. The slow reveal of all the horrors, keeping the timelines weaving around each other, taking the reader on a slow motion whirlwind of a journey ... Nugent excelled.

Although the overall ending gave me 'meh' vibes, I disagree with a few reviewers that I loved Peter's ending. To me, it's the most realistic outcome for him and what he has been carrying with him his entire life.

I started with 3 stars when I finished. As I was reflecting to write this review I realized what mastery this novel is. I struggle to even find the words because I want to avoid giving away too much so you, reader, can go in blind and be as curiously surprised as I was. I would recommend this novel to you, my reader friends.

Amazon Link - Strange Sally Diamond By: Liz Nugent

Stats: 312 pages - First published July 18, 2024

Thank you to NetGalley for a  copy of the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Out now!

The main character is the real star of this book—quirky without being unbelievable, with a dark edge that brings an exciting twist to the plot. I really enjoyed the way this story unfolded, revealing secrets and fates, and keeping me guessing the whole time.

I received a free copy of, Strange Sally Diamond, by Liz Nugent, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I kept seeing this book, and could not wait to read it. Most people dont try to throw dead bodies away, but most people are not like Sally Diamond, who is sadly called Strange Sally Diamond. This was a good read, but it was dark and sad read too.

This book is just.. odd. The writing is simple, but I wasn't quite sure where the book was going. I actually love the character of Sally. She definitely evolves. I definitely recommend this book for those who enjoy thrillers.

Once again Liz Nugent writes a gripping, shocking, and tense Irish psychological drama with a unforgettable and quirky central character in her 40s, Sally Diamond, complex, blunt and unfiltered in what she says, so much so she might initially give the impression of being on the spectrum, but this is far from the case, the term 'socially deficient' is used. This has chilling, harrowing and heartbreaking themes that will take you through a rollercoaster of emotions, and have you rooting for Sally as the trauma in her background begins to emerge. Sally has been isolated, she has no circle of friends, her mother is dead, and in her naivety she literally does what her father had asked when he dies, she puts him out with the bins.

An act that attracts headlines with the attention of the media and the police, and all the tumult, trauma and chaos it brings. It opens up a can of worms when out of the blue emerges family and a past she cannot remember, but will have inevitable repercussions on her life, and there are letters that detail how she came to be a part of the Diamond family. In this darkest of stories, there are surprising twists and turns, there are the odd chinks of light, hope, and humor, we learn just how much a human being can endure. This is a hard, disturbing, and challenging read, skillfully plotted, with a wide cast of disparate characters, and despite all the horrors, it has heart and soul. Highly recommended. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

My last book of summer, and apparently I saved the best for last. Another Liz Nugent triumph. Her novel, "Lying in Wait," was the best book of summer 2016 and "Strange Sally Diamond" was the best book I read during the summer of 2024. The character development was phenomenal, her writing from the perspective of Sally truly showed how Sally developed as a dynamic character throughout the story as the plot unfolded. Her writing also perfectly portrayed the essence of Peter, the other narrative point of view. It was funny, mysterious, and now I can't wait to read her next book, hopefully sooner than an eight year gap!

Sally's dad always said, 'When I die, just put me out with the trash'. So that's what Sally did, incinerating him in the burn barrel in the barn. But it turns out, that's not what one does when your parent dies. The police are called and Sally is in the news. Everyone wonders about her anyway as she lives out in the country and doesn't socialize with anyone in town. She has lived there for years with her father.

As things emerge, Sally learns the truth about her life. She was the daughter of a man who kidnapped her mother at age eleven and kept her imprisoned for fourteen years. When they were rescued, Sally was five and while her mother never recovered, Sally was adopted by the doctors who were given her care in the hospital. They kept her apart and never really socialized her into the village life.

But things are changing. Sally slowly starts to make friends. She enters psychiatric counseling and she slowly starts to integrate into society. She also makes other discoveries. She has relatives she has never met. One is her uncle Mark who becomes a friend and someone to guide her along with the village doctor and her counselor But Sally worries that the man who kidnapped her mother might still be alive and now might know where she is.

Liz Nugent is an Irish writer whose work falls into the crime genre although her work is not the typical murder mystery. Readers will be interested in Sally and her attempts to integrate into society after a life that was stunted for three decades, first by her captor and then by her family. There is tension as the story of the man who is her birth father is revealed and what his life was like after Sally and her mother were discovered. This book is recommended for crime and literary fiction readers.

I kept reading Strange Sally Diamond, by Liz Nugent, just because I wanted to see what would happen.  At first, I was intrigued by the main character.  She was a literal thinker and when she decided to cremate her father, I was hooked.  As I continued to read, the excitement calmed, and finishing the novel became a task to find out the ending. There were a few unexpected twists, but, this one was only an ok read. Thanks, NetGalley and the publisher, for providing me with the ARC ebook I read and reviewed. All opinions are my own.

This is a well written dark story about effects of brainwashing and trauma. There were many dislikable characters but I found Sally to be enduring over all.

Thank you to Netgalley and Gallery Books for allowing me to read and review this book!

This book was strange and odd and just not for me.

Sally Diamond has a reputation in her small village for being a strange woman. In her 30s, never married, still lives at home and very reclusive, she is a bit of a mystery. After her adoptive mother passed away years ago, it was just Sally and her elderly father, who she took care of until he passed away. Her father always told her to put her out with the garbage when he died, that is exactly what Sally did. With this act, much unwanted attention came Sally’s way. Slowly, she began to open herself up to a new way of living and building friendships, even getting a job. But when the dark truth of Sally’s early childhood comes to light, she starts to find that some of the new people in her life can’t be trusted and her healing is threatened.
I really loved this story and the characters and different points of view. So well written and at times very dark. But I rooted for Sally all the way and hope she finally found the happiness she deserves.

This was a highly anticipated read, & it exceeded my expectations!

𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 :
- Alice Feeney
- Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth
- Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell
- Character driven stories
- dark themes
- dual pov
- neurodivergent main character

𝙈𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 :
Nugent writes with exactly the right tone - painting a picture of darkness & humour, despair & hope, of empathy & optimism. The plot was intricate, with well placed twists.

Despite her tragic upbringing & blunt exterior, Sally manages to become a resilient, capable, quirky adult. She is a character you can’t help but root for.

The audiobook was impeccable. Sally’s point of view was narrated perfectly & the addition of the interview audio recordings were so authentic.

While the ending was a tiny bit underwhelming, Sally & her story deserve 5 stars, one of my most memorable reads of the year. I’ll be thinking about Sally and her strangeness for a long time.

**the topics discussed in this book are heavy - I definitely recommend checking trigger warnings.

Thank you @netgalley for the opportunity to read this book for the paperback rerelease!

Pretty dark; not for the faint of heart. Yet I was captivated by Sally’s story and her journey from being born under horrific circumstances, and then having an overly sheltered existence well into adulthood, and then suddenly being forced to figure out how to function independently. Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚: ★ ★ ★ ★
𝗥𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗘 𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: July 30, 2024
𝗔𝗥𝗖 𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪:

This book had me from the very first page. The way that Liz writes always blows my mind and I was so impressed with even this read. This will be one of my favorite reads that I will recommend to my friends and book readers. Our main character is so well written and so interesting in so many ways. I want to leave this review vague because you can give so much away so easily. The dark aspects and eerie vibes of this book leave you with a heavy atmosphere that will keep you turning pages and needing to know what’s next. Sadness, intrigue, fast pace, dual timelines and well fleshed characters make this an amazing read.

𝗧𝗥𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗦: Dual Timelines, Fast Paced, Short Chapters, Suspense, Dark, Family Secrets, Crime, Mystery, Small Town, Neurodivergent Character, Twisty

While this story starts out with a disturbing albeit somewhat humorous misunderstanding, from there it heads into some seriously disturbing events. I was intrigued through the entire book, right up until the ending. I was disappointed with the open ending of Sally's character development that's portrayed throughout the book. While the ending was not what I hoped for, the book did keep me intrigued throughout. And I hope that the epilogue is indication that the cycle has been broken and the next generation will prosper.

Before I go, can we talk about the egos of the men in this book? I'm not sure how Mark and Peter fit into the same house.
3.5 stars

I did not see ONE plot twist coming in Strange Sally Diamond, Full marks! Cannot recommend highly enough! Will purchase for libraries.

My book of the year! Loved the setting, the multi-layered story and the characters. This book isn’t talked about enough, it’s absolutely brilliant! Sally is one of those characters that stays with you for your entire life! I cannot wait to read more from Liz Nugent!

I loved that most of this was from Sally’s POV, and she’s a very like able and relatable character. The book gets off to a crazy start and I couldn’t quit reading it! Highly recommend!