Este livro não é nada o meu estilo mas com tantas reviews a dizer o mesmo e a dizer que acabaram por ficar surpreendidos e adoraram fiquei curiosa e acabei por ler.
No inicio acabei por achar um bocadinho lento, e a personagem principal, Tami, irritante em partes. Mesmo com o que já estava a acontecer estava sempre à espera de mais. Quando esse "mais" chegou o livro ficou mais interessante. A Tami deixou de ser tão irritante e gostei da Fleur como personagem, mas gostava que ela estivesse mais envolvida na história do presente. O mistério em si não me trouxe nada de novo porque sou uma consumidora àvida do estilo desde muito cedo, sejam em livros ou séries de televisão, mas mesmo foi uma leitura rápida e agradável.

This book really had me guessing the entire time. Behind every new page, there laid a new clue as to how the life of Tamia Challey had turned into a complete and utter mess. The story begins with an arrest and there starts the journey into the lives of Tamia, her family and friends. Tamia is one of the most likable characters I have come across in a some time. She seems genuinely real, with ambitions, flaws, and regrets. However, all the other characters I rather despise. This story made me think how well do you really know anyone and can those closest to you be withholding secrets that could shatter you to your core. I appreciate how the author allows the reader to be in the head of multiple characters although I did find it very disconcerting when one of the characters attempted to deceive me, the reader. The ending definitely had a twist, but it rather weakened the overall story because it seemed to not really have much of a foundation. However, I will be reading more novels by Dorothy Koomson because she seems to have an unique style and focuses on stories with a bit of love and mystery that are engaging and entertaining.

TW: traição, cancro, violência sexual
Quem me conhece, sabe que adoro Dorothy Koomson. E é muito difícil um livro dela desiludir-me. Já aconteceu, mas é muito difícil. Este livro não foi exceção. Surpreendeu-me para além daquilo que achava possível. Tem personagens fantásticas, com um enredo que me envolveu desde o início ao fim e me agarrou a cada página. É uma história sobre o amor, e o poder que lhe damos quando tomamos as nossas decisões usando-o como uma justificação, mesmo que signifique a destruição de vidas alheias. Adoro como neste livro a autora criou personalidades e personagens marcantes, que são exploradas até ao máximo e como a história se desenvolveu em função das personagens, e não o contrário. E esta é uma história emocionante e arrebatadora, de um mistério enorme, que me deixou chocada a cada revelação. Trata de temas sensíveis com uma mestria que só Koomson poderia ter, que são inseridos na narrativa de forma tão sorrateira que quando nos apercebemos deles, faz todo o sentido que lá estejam. É um livro para refletir sobre as nossas justificações e como o amor nem sempre é uma explicação, para além de entreter e muito bem, e é isto que torna os seus livros os melhores do mundo.

Quem tem me acompanhado no Goodreads e no instagram, e até mesmo aqui no blog, tem conhecimento do meu amor por Dorothy Koomson. Este ano tem sido cheio de leituras de livros da Dorothy Koomson, e a cada livro que leio dela amo-a cada vez mais.
Ainda pensei em dar 5 estrelas a este livro, ele está lá perto, 4.5 estrelas por aí. Mas comparei com o livro da Dorothy Os Aromas do Amor e não está assim tão bom. Tem uma história super bonita mesmo, nunca pensei que se tratasse de uma história assim. E o livro não foca apenas numa história, ele relaciona duas histórias de vida que se cruzam.
A Dorothy tem um talento para retrartar os problemas da sociedade, ela fala do que acontece diariamente e que pode acabar por acontecer a nós. Traição entre casamento e mesmo amigos, isso acontece. Depois amor entre o mesmo sexo, filhos escondidos, morte... Ela junta tudo neste livro.
Quando começámos a ler o livro ficámos apaixonados pela personagem principal, depois ficámos com pena dela e com pena da vida que ela tomou. Dona de casa a tempo inteiro, cuidar das filhas enquanto o marido só se preocupa em aumentar o ego. Quantas vezes ouvimos falar disto? Muitas vezes, e na maioria das vezes é um assunto que acaba por ser ignorado.
O livro dá imensas reviravoltas. Quando pensámos que aquele é que é o traidor, ocorre uma reviravolta e o traidor é quem menos se espera. E vemos que a personagem principal está cada vez mais sem conseguir aguentar com tudo, mas mesmo assim arranja forças para lutar por ela e pelas filhas.
Podemos encontrar neste livro diferentes tipos de amor pelos filhos, e isso foi algo que tocou-me. Eu li o livro sem conseguir descobrir que iria acontecer depois, nunca estava a espera que aquilo pudesse acontecer.

I cannot believe it has taken me so long to read The Rose Petal Beach! I have owned this book for years! It is a wonderful mystery/thriller with so many twists that just had me turning the pages. It is packed full of so many different topics such as murder, rape, cancer and divorce! For being nearly 700 pages long, I actually read the majority of this book in one day.

The Rose Petal Beach is set in the UK seaside town of Brighton. And though I've never been near Brighton, it did feel very real. In fact, this story could have been set in any British seaside town. And I feel this related very well to the characters lives, as well as how they came to be in Brighton.

The characters were all fairly likeable and I found I could connect pretty well with most of them. Of course, the story is a mystery so you're never sure who to trust, but the way it is written makes you want to trust all of them. I really felt for the main character, Tami. Her whole life just falls apart overnight and she is forced into so many difficult situations.

The Rose Petal Beach is told from the alternating first-person perspective of the various female characters involved in the story. They all interconnect right from the very start. Most of the characters already know each other. And due to the multiple perspectives, I didn't find the story predictable at all! In fact, The Rose Petal Beach is packed full of extremely unpredictable plot twists that I didn't see coming at all. And this, together with the fast pace of the story, meant I struggled to put the book down (when I really should have!).

And the ending was so unexpected too! It completely threw me! However, I also found that all the plot points were tied up very nicely with most explained as best as a mystery can be.

The Rose Petal Beach is a brilliant thriller that I would recommend to everyone. It is just packed to the brim with so many different plot twists. I cannot wait to read more by Dorothy Koomson (this being my second read after The Ice Cream Girls).

This review and many more can be found at My Expanding Bookshelf.

Was hard hitting, truthful, blunt and fast. Tamia Challey has hadto fight for her relationship with scott...more than you could ever imagine. When love turns to murder, their lives and the people involved unravels. This book touches on every thing you can think of that comes with marriage, relationships, friendships, motherhood, love and death. A very good story...but one that leaves you with an unpleasant taste in your mouth. If you read this, make sure you can handle it! 😉

The only words that occurs to me after finishing this is: meh

The Rose Petal Beach by Dorothy Koomson

Tamia has a seemingly perfect marriage and home life but appearances can be deceiving. Everything starts to crumble when one night her husband is arrested for a shocking crime, but will Tamia believe his pleas of innocence. Their past and present is weaved throughout the book alongside the tale of The Rose Petal Beach, but is it a tale worth killing for.....

I like the way the novel is narrated by multiple women. Dorothy Koomson has written it in such a way that its like the characters are talking to you. The author has a talent for description and a great use of language. There are about 4 individual stories wrapped into the main plot all intertwining and connecting. I enjoyed finding out how they all fit together.

Overall the story had me hooked, there were moments of shock and sadness that had me sympathising with Tamia and plenty of irritation with some of the other characters. There are so many secrets and twists it keeps the book interesting despite its 657 page length (549 depending on which issue you have). The ending is definitely unexpected and I'm pleased that i didn't manage to guess the twist before it happened.

I would have rated the book higher than a 7 but there were some elements of the story that i felt were a bit long and drawn out and potentially didn't need to be there. I was so keen to find out the twist that some of the novel felt like a massive detour. This didn't deter from my enjoyment of the book and I would definitely recommend reading it and will most likely track down other novels by Dorothy Koomson.

7/10

I don't know what exactly about this book that made me feel weirded out. I felt the writer was reaching somewhat. I tried liking the characters but I found them so over done. Not my favourite book.