One Step Too Far by Tina Seskis - a review

One Step Too Far by Tina Seskis
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I knew I was going to do a review around 90% of the way through this book. Although at the time I wasn't quite sure what I was going to say, what I did know was that I wanted to find a way to convey how this book kept me gripped and how, when finally the big secret was revealed how it felt as if I had been punched in the chest. I had had a quick look at the reviews of this book before i started and was a little weary, I admit, when I saw there were quite a few negative ones. So I went in with an open mind, not too many expectations and although I wasn't instantly gripped from the very first page, I certainly was by the 25% mark.
It's easy to see how some would judge Emily/Cat for the choices she makes. I'm sure some of us could never imagine walking away from our family like she does but appearances can be deceiving and I love how Tina Seskis weaves a tale that does just that, keeping us in the dark, even though we don't realise we are.
I enjoyed how she told the same story from different points of view and I did find it easy to follow. There wasn't a single character I was bored with and simply fell in love with soft, sweet, caring Ben, my heart going out to him and hating Emily/Cat just a little for what she did to him, but never enough that I stopped caring about her too. Caroline, oh sad tortured Caroline made me rage with disgust at her behaviour yet I couldn't help feeling empathy for her too.

But it was that last 10% of the book that really did it for me. The brilliant way the tale comes together, all the secrets revealed, everything starting to make perfect sense and the tears that I couldn't stop from rolling down my face as I sat reading -no, devouring - the final few chapters on the bus on my way home tonight that convinced me that I absolutely had to do a review as its not often that a book makes me feel such profound feelings where I have to stop for just a few seconds to look out the window and try to compose myself.
I don't know if this book was recommended to me, many that I read are, or if I just randomly selected it from Amazon but I am very glad I finally got to it.
I thoroughly enjoyed it and highly recommend it and will be downloading her second book just as soon as I can.

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