Mind blowingly amazing: The Taking of Annie Thorne by C. J. Tudor – Book Review (Blog Tour) #BookReview #BlogTour @MichaelJBooks #TheHidingPlace

 

I am so honoured to be today’s host in The Taking of Annie Thorne blog tour.
I want to thank Jenny Platt from Michael Joseph, Penguin for inviting me.
This novel blown my mind and it is now the best book I’ve read this year so far.

About the book:

Joe never wanted to come back to Arnhill. After the way things ended with his old gang–the betrayal, the suicide, the murder–and after what happened when his sister went missing, the last thing he wanted to do was return to his hometown. But Joe doesn’t have a choice. Because judging by what was done to that poor Morton kid, what happened all those years ago to Joe’s sister is happening again. And only Joe knows who is really at fault.

Lying his way into a teaching job at his former high school is the easy part. Facing off with former friends who are none too happy to have him back in town–while avoiding the enemies he’s made in the years since–is tougher. But the hardest part of all will be returning to that abandoned mine where it all went wrong and his life changed forever, and finally confronting the shocking, horrifying truth about Arnhill, his sister, and himself. Because for Joe, the worst moment of his life wasn’t the day his sister went missing. It was the day she came back.

My Review:

It’s been a long time since a book scared me. When I say long, I mean more then a decade long, and The Taking of Annie Thorne managed to do just that: scare me.
And what is even more interesting, I read the scene that made my heart jump while I was working. I think that tells you how invested in this story I was. I’ve even put my daily obligations aside.

C. J. Tudor is a well known author who wrote a novel called The Chalk Man. I haven’t read that book even though I’ve heard it was amazing.
Because of that, I wasn’t prepared for the story The Taking of Annie Thorne actually is.

The whole time, I was sure this would be one of those psychological thrillers, but it is actually a real, blood curling horror.
And I loved it!

It reminded me of stories Stephen King wrote, but with it’s original quality.
I have to stress out here that I have never read a book written by Mr. King, but I’ve watched movies based on his stories.

This book was so good, I can’t even properly articulate how positively surprised I was.
And I don’t talk about the story only, but about the writing style too.
It is so thrilling and the book is unputdownable, but also it contains numerous beautiful (or just awesome) sentences.
Trust me, this book is full of good quotes!

The story is written in first person, following Joe’s POV.

The Taking of Annie Thorne is also known by the name The Hiding Place.

I was so satisfied with this novel that now I want to watch the movie based on it.
I know that is something we readers often say, but this time I mean it on a whole different level. I really want to watch this movie, and I can’t even imagine the world without it.
I have no idea what is the situation when it comes to film rights and this particular novel, but I am sure that it will happen!

Now when I finally read a horror book, after years and years of pause (my last one (I think) was sth written by R.L. Stine, and we don’t count rereads here!), I want to read more.
This book showed me horror books can actually be amazing.

The Taking of Annie Thorne left us with some unanswered questions, but even despite that, I have to admit that I loved the end.
I mean, I wouldn’t mind getting some answers (or epilogue no 2) but the end itself was pretty awesome.

In the end, I just want to say that this book is the best one I read in 2019 so far.
I can’t wait to read The Chalk Man now!

Follow the tour: