Jo is going through a time of change, her youngest child has just left home for university and she needs to redefine herself and purpose - something familiar to me as both my children begin to move on.

Close to Me by Amanda Reynolds - Fantastic Fiction Close to Me by Amanda Reynolds - Fantastic Fiction

Left alone with Rob, Jo accuses him of pushing her down the stairs, but he claims she slipped and he tried to save her. This was an okay read, but it didn’t fully hold my interest and my mind wandered a lot while reading this book.It must be absolutely terrifying to lose a whole chunk of your life and the authors portrayal of Jo`s fear,frustration and confusion was believable and realistic but I found it hard to feel any sympathy for her because of some of her thoughts and actions as the story unfolded.

CLOSE TO ME | Kirkus Reviews CLOSE TO ME | Kirkus Reviews

Jo started to suspect that things were not as perfect as she was led to believe, and she started to followup on her suspicions.Reynolds presents the reader not only with an unreliable narrator, but a cast of unreliable secondary characters as well. The lower rating is due to the execution: the litany of the lost memories become drawn out and their reveal is too wordy; the pieces of the puzzle revealed too slowly; too many extended descriptive details of non essential scenes - all of which caused the plot to falter ,the pace to become sluggish, and the reader to lose interest.

Close To Me by Amanda Reynolds | Goodreads Close To Me by Amanda Reynolds | Goodreads

The reader is never sure who to trust with the information they’re revealing to Jo about her life, as each person she talks to has individual motives to spin their stories in their best light. No one is as they should be and as the memories start coming back, she confronts a reality she didn't expect. And, you will see, what follows, as you delve into this book, grows and grows into something so much more than a simple grim miasma.

In her career, Jo has interviewed well-known names including Beyonce, Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, Kiefer Sutherland, Tom Cruise and all the Avengers, spent many an hour crushed in the press areas of award show red carpets. This is definitely a slow burner of a book but I was intrigued to see exactly what we were going to learn about Jo and her family. Flashing back and forth, it gives you enough back-story to fully realise how much the past has influenced the future. After being admitted to hospital following a fainting episode, Jo asked Rob to go home to get her a nightgown, but it was actually a ruse to get rid of him so she could leave the hospital without him. For me, the more we start talking about that experience, and showing that experience, the sooner women will have the dignity of being seen.