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I can’t say more about the characters because it’s honestly so twisty and unexpected and a lot of them are morally grey and unreliable. But I thought they all made the story so intriguing, twisty and dark and I think the author did a really great job of portraying such flawed and suffering characters. At one point in the story they all lied, and some ulterior motives and secrets were revealed as the story went on, that I really didn’t expect… I still have my two favourite characters, and I still hate the characters I did at the start, but the story and the relationships were all so complex and intertwined that it’s just impossible to say anything else otherwise I’ll reveal major spoilers. THEMES Fans of Agatha Christie’s classic And Then There Were None will savor this, but Feeney makes it so much more than a witty homage.”
My nana is the only person in my family who loved me unconditionally. So much so, she wrote a book about me, or at least about a little girl with the same name. If mine sounds familiar, that is why. Daisy Darker’s Little Secret is a bestselling children’s book, which my nana wrote and illustrated. It can be found in almost every bookstore around the world, often nestled between The Gruffalo and The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Nana said she chose to borrow my name for the story so that—one way or another—I could live forever. It was a kind thing to do, even if my parents and sisters didn’t think so at the time. I suspect they wanted to live forever too, but they settled for living off the book’s royalties instead. If you have ever thought that you had a difficult childhood, ENTER THE WORLD OF DAISY DARKER!! Daisy was diagnosed with a heart condition at the age of five and had “died and been resuscitated” seven times before the age of 13. So many nasty secrets. And that's before the bodies start to pile up! I've been an Alice Feeney fan--but I think she's outdone herself with this startling murderfest!" Daisy Darker is a first rate, gripping thriller. Alice Feeney’s gorgeous writing will sweep you up like a runaway train. Hold on for the ride!”I loved how this story was told. The set-up at the house with Nana was terrific, the use of the creepy poems to enhance the mystery, as well as the alternating timelines helped to build-out this story beautifully. Final twist 1: I read And Then There Were None... I remember the ending... To compare Daisy Darker to this classic is a spoiler in the blurb! So, yes, I was expecting the culprit to be a fake victim (and my money was on Nana since the beginning). A dark claustrophobic thriller takes place at dilapidated gothic house locating on a tidal island. A family gathering to celebrate 80th birthday of grandmother: who was born on Halloween!
The party at midnight in the storm in their mysterious island mansion turns into a disaster when someone starts killing family members one by one. Who is behind these murders, and what is their motive? The author is trying to answer it through this book. But if I do know more than most, it’s because I read. Books will teach you anything you want to know, and they tend to be more honest than people.” ASPECTS RATING And that ending! The potential suspects are naturally limited and it was fun for Marialyce, my reading buddy, and I to speculate. But there were still a couple of surprises that blew us away. In the hands of a lesser author, I might have rolled my eyes but I found it clever and brilliant! The bread crumbs were there, but I missed them. I enjoyed every intricately plotted minute of this novel and while wanting to race ahead to the finish, forced myself to take more time with it just to prolong the pleasure of reading the author’s wonderful prose. Wow! Echoes of Christie’s And Then There Were Nonebut turned into something wonderfully original and wrapped in a genuinely creepy dysfunctional family fairy-tale of a novel, this takes Feeney to the next level. I LOVED IT!”
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Narrated by Daisy, this book alternates between the past in the 1980s and the present on the eve of Halloween. Additionally, memories are shared via old VHS home movies. May just be her crowning achievement…In a modern take on And Then There Were None, Alice Feeney presents twist after twist after twist.” Around two-thirds of the way in, the book took a turn I wasn’t expecting but should have been. I went in expecting the usual Alice Feeney, but it wasn’t. I did really appreciate that there were clues. Clues I missed. If there are clues, I can’t be mad. There was so much about this that I loved, from the classic-feeling mystery vibe, to the over-the-top family drama, bad-acting characters and claustrophobic setting. A palm reader once told Nana that she wouldn’t live past 80 years old. Convinced this is her last birthday, she invites her estranged family members to Sea Glass to celebrate.
But then the members of the Darker family start dying one by one. At first, I really wasn’t sure what I thought of the book. But the more I thought about it, the more I loved Daisy Darker. Trixie had told Nana she could see and hear Daisy. Nana finally started to believe her when she saw Trixie playing Scrabble with Daisy and the tiles moving by themselves. Along the line of secrets, do all families have secrets? What secrets have impacted your family? My family must be very boring, because I can’t think of any secrets that affected us. Decades ago, there was the slight question as to whether my great uncle actually married his partner, or just lived with her in harmony to the end of their days…and this was as salacious as my family line ever got. Rose accused Daisy of ruining her dress. Daisy ran off onto the cliffs. She heard a car coming but couldn’t get out of the way and Conor hits her with his car.During the course of the evening, eighty-year-old Nana announces the contents of her will early, so everyone understands what to expect after her passing. Basically, everything goes to her great-granddaughter, Trixie. Connor, the man mentioned above, is a large part of these childhood memories, as that's when he first came on the scene and essentially became a member of the family. Nana then killed Nancy by poisoning her tea, Lily with poisoned perfume ( I loved that the book mentions that Lily’s favorite perfume is Poison.) and Conor by pushing him down the stairs. Nana decides this is the ideal time to use her celebrated author skills to poetically express her last will and testament to her gathered family, since she’s been assured by a palm reader that this birthday will be her last. These verses, and the ominous ones that appear written in chalk on the kitchen wall later, cleverly reflect the character deficits of each of the gathered members and portent certain fates for each.
Based on the fact that none of the Alice Feeney books I’ve read had paranormal elements, I did NOT see that twist coming, even though I’ve seen (and loved) movies where that twist was used. THANK YOU ALICE FEENEY FOR GETTING ME OUT OF MY BOOK SLUMP!!! Ms. Feeney proves, with her lyrical prose and well described characters, that you don’t need overly descriptive gore and violence to deliver a great thriller!!! In an homage to Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, the dysfunctional Darker family has come together, at Beatrice (Nana) Darker’s invitation, to celebrate her 80th birthday - on Halloween, no less! Her son, Frank, his ex-wife, Nancy, their three girls, Rose, Lily and Daisy, Lily’s 15-year-old daughter, Trixie, and an old family friend, Conor, have all arrived to this small tidal island and Nana’s home, Seaglass, for that purpose, but as you can guess … it’s never that simple.This novel has a truly gasp-inducing twist. Some readers may say it breaks the “rules” but I say let’s smash them all into smithereens if it’s to this spectacular of an effect. What I particularly love about Feeney’s writing is that her twists are always only the garnish, never the main meal. Even if you guess it or suspect it, there’s still so much deliciousness to enjoy in her clever, stylish, and utterly gripping novels. My life was never the same after I died a second time because that’s when everyone knew for sure what I think they already suspected: that I was broken. The future is a promise we can still choose whether to keep. The past is a promise we've already broken. I meant those words, and I believe that the present is my only chance to protect this family's future.
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