A Version Of The Truth by B. P. Walter – Blog Tour Review.

About The Book

We all see what we want to see…

2019: Julianne is preparing a family dinner when her son comes to her and says he’s found something on his iPad. Something so terrible, it will turn Julianne’s world into a nightmare and make her question everything about her marriage and what type of man her husband is or is pretending to be.

1990: Holly is a fresher student at Oxford University. Out of her depth and nervous about her surroundings, she falls into an uneasy friendship with a group of older students from the upper echelons of society and begins to develop feelings for one in particular. He’s confident, quiet, attractive and seems to like her too. But as the year progresses, her friends’ behaviour grows steadily more disconcerting and Holly begins to realise she might just be a disposable pawn in a very sinister game.

A devastating secret has simmered beneath the surface for over twenty-five years. Now it’s time to discover the truth. But what if you’re afraid of what you might find?

My Review

With thanks to the publisher for the copy received. A Version Of The Truth wasn’t really what I expected it to be. I did expect secrets to be revealed and for lives to fall apart. What I didn’t expect was for the storyline to be mainly about how one of the characters dealt with what she found out. I also didn’t expect to detest so many of the characters, most of them are repulsive. There were only two I liked throughout, but they appeared less than everybody else. Two did grow on me as I read more and I realised how they had been duped. The others were cruel, controlling, elitist and they had many other faults that I struggle to reveal without spoilers.

Narrated by both Julianne and Holly my feelings changed a few times about whose account I preferred to read. Julianne appealed most at first, her account was more about how she handled realising that she had never really known her husband. When I found out what really happened to Holly and saw more of her strength I found I preferred her. I wanted her to be strong, happy and away from the university and her unfeeling mother.

I did find the ending a little abrupt, but overall its a good debut.