#BookReview: The Old You by Louise Voss @LouiseVoss1 @OrendaBooks #TheOldYou #Orentober

Another day, another #Orentober post! Today is the day that I get to tell you about the shiver-fest of a read that is The Old You by Louise Voss, it’s the first of two Louise reviews, which makes sense because it’s also her Orenda first born, which was published in May 2018. Louise lives in southwest London and can be reached at @LouiseVoss1 on Twitter or at www.facebook.com/LouiseVossAuthor.

You can grab yourself an e-copy of The Old You directly from The Orenda eBookstore, as well as many other Orenda reads! Check out this read here. Seeing as we are supporting a great indie publisher, why not support a great indie bookseller? You can order / request a physical copy of The Old You from Bert’s Books, who are just great and super doper helpful! The link for The Old You is here -> https://bertsbooks.co.uk/product/the-old-you/

Lynn Naismith gave up the job she loved when she married Ed, the love of her life, but it was worth it for the happy years they enjoyed together. Now, ten years on, Ed has been diagnosed with early-onset dementia, and things start to happen; things more sinister than missing keys and lost words. As some memories are forgotten, others, long buried, begin to surface … and Lynn’s perfect world begins to crumble.
But is it Ed’s mind playing tricks, or hers…?

Oh my days, this book, THIS BOOK was absolutely on point and a pleasure to read. Louise has created a plotline that is naturally unfolding, yet drenched in suspense and deliciously served revelations. Lynn is a mildly strong character whose world begins to fall apart brick by brick when her older husband Ed has been diagnosed with a genetic disorder and he begins to lose the way to function both mentally and physically. It’s quite a gut wrenching revelation for Lynn, you sympathise for them both, but I also felt quite frustrated at times with her ‘yes husband’ type attitude but I suppose it was out of pure worry for Ed’s health. I found myself hanging on to every single word!

The whole book is told from Lynn’s point of view, the way it’s written sucks you into a read that can be labelled as a twisted domestic thriller – you’re drawn into Lynn’s emotional psyche and it’s hard to detangle yourself from the twistingly great plotline. You knew, KNEW that you were the rabbit falling down the rabbit hole without knowing when your feet were going to crash against the ground, that’s what The Old You was like – you’re falling into the darkness. The unravelling of the plot, as well as the inclusion of flashback scenes bring some deceptively whiplash to the read that will keep you hooked until the last page.

After being introduced to Louise’s Orenda work via The Last Stage – review to come – I am solidly Team Voss and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next, her ability to develop subtly chilly storylines that both psychologically affect you, as well as leaving you gasping for breath is astonishing. She is a truly fabulous writer and I highly recommend this suspensey (made up word) little bookish number.

Thanks for reading another one of my #Orentober posts, make sure to check out all the other posts using the same hashtag and you can get involved by sharing your Orenda buys, reviews and retweeting!