The Day we Disappeared by Lucy Robinson

Synopsis

It's springtime in London and everything is about to change for Annie Mulholland. From the moment she meets Stephen Flint, things seem too good to be true as Annie abandons her customary cautiousness for a wild love affair.

In Somerset, Kate Brady is starting a new job. Fresh air, new faces and good old fashioned hard work is just what she needs to put everything that happened in Dublin behind her.

But what are these two old friends hiding, and for how long can they run from the secrets of their past before they come crashing into their futures?

Review

I don't even know where to begin with this review. Up until now I think Lucy Robinson was my favourite author that I'd never read. I know that sounds a little crazy, but EVERYONE I know raves about her books and Lucy is really friendly on twitter, so what's not to like? I have all her books on my kindle, and when I was approved for this book on Netgalley I screamed. Yes, screamed!

So with all the excitement surrounding this book, did I enjoy it as much as I hoped I would?

I wish I could just say 'Yes, it's amazing, please go and buy now' but lets face it, that would be a poor review. In fact it is so amazing, I am unsure anything I say will do this book justice.

So obviously I love this book, it is even more than I was hoping for! It draws you in from page one so well, you delve into both Kate and Annie's life. This book is mysterious for quite a while about a lot of things, which made me quite sceptical about everything, and I just wanted to absorb this book in one go to find if my suspicions were correct and to know the full story.

Both the lead characters are wonderful, really relatable. Annie is down on her luck but is given a second chance when the charming and handsome Stephen offers her a new job. I really liked Stephen, but there was always a niggle in the back of my mind. You know the saying 'If it seems too good to be true, it probably is', it was running through my mind the whole time?

You quickly learn Annie doesn't trust men in general and you are gradually shown flashbacks which are beautifully descriptive, despite the knowledge that nothing good can come at the end. On the big reveal of this, I was silently crying at the realisation about the terror that happened.

Annie relies on her friends from 'Le Cloob', and I really liked all of the members, Claudine especially, who can come across as snobbish, but I can picture her perfectly!

We also hear from Annie's friend Kate, who has escaped a stressful job to work with horses as a groom, but she knows diddly-squat about them. I really liked Kate, but she was much more mysterious that Annie, so she kept me on my toes, that's for sure. She is obviously a hard worker, and helped with her new colleagues Becca and Joe, I felt more comfortable that she was going to be OK watching her progress through the book. The same could not be said for Annie, who I got increasingly more and more worried for, a complete role reversal from the first few chapters.

There is a big twist at the end, that I had been trying to guess the whole way through and while I was partially correct, it was so much more that I was expecting. MY jaw dropped and I had to read it several times, just incase I had mis-read it. and was suitably impressed with the reveal.

This book is as stunning as I had expected it to be, well worth all the great reviews and compliments that I keep hearing about this book an I cannot wait to get lost in Lucy's other books.

Buy on Amazon now! 
(eBook available now and Paperback is available on April 9th)

Published by: Penguin
Gratefully received from the Publisher for review.