56 Days

By: Catherine Ryan Howard

“Lies are spindly, unwieldy things. Delicate filaments, like bundles of nerves in the body. Easy to twist, hard to control, impossible to keep hold of.”

56 Days ago, Oliver and Ciara met at a Tesco market. They went for coffee that day, drinks soon after that, and continued to see each other. Covid-19 hit Ireland. Oliver, being a rule follower, didn’t want to break the rules by continuing to see Ciara when they lived in two separate places. So he asked her to move in with him, just during the two week lockdown so that they could see each other without scrutiny, and find out who each other really are. Present time – a fire alarm goes off in the apartment complex because a neighbor smelled something really bad. There’s a dead body in Apartment 1. What really happened?

I was VERY impressed with this book. The author did a fantastic job of layering the pieces to reveal information but keep the reader guessing. Just when you think you understand one twist, there is another that changes what you originally thought! While told in the third person perspective, I enjoyed that the author gave us chapters from both Ciara’s point of view and Oliver’s point of view, separately. And just when you think you have all the answers, the author reveals even more secrets! It was a never ending thrill ride while reading the book. I now believe that I have to read all the books by this author. There is only one other author who has ever captivated me like this, so now Catherine Ryan Howard is one of my top favorite authors.

You really need to read this book. You can get your copy here.