56 Days
After meeting at the start of lockdown, Oliver and Ciara decide to move in together, seeing a unique opportunity for a relationship to flourish without the scrutiny of family and friends. But when detectives arrive at Oliver’s apartment and discover a decomposing body inside, can they determine what really happened, or has lockdown created an opportunity for someone to commit the perfect crime?
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Community Reviews
thenextgoodbook.com
What’s it about?
Ciara and Oliver meet just as Covid hits Dublin. The lockdown threatens to end their new relationship. Should you move in with someone you barely know?
What did it make me think about?
Catherine Ryan Howard has quite an imagination!
Should I read it?
This is a novel for all those who love a mystery with lots of good twists and turns.
Quote-
“The truth is, however well this may seem like it’s going they don’t know each other, not really. This situation is revealing that, up close and in harsh lighting.
They don’t know what the other does in times like this. Are they the kind of person who wears a mask before it’s mandatory and disinfects their phones and wipes their groceries down, or are they drinking cans in the park with friends on a sunny Saturday and sneering at anyone who tut-tuts as they pass.”
What’s it about?
Ciara and Oliver meet just as Covid hits Dublin. The lockdown threatens to end their new relationship. Should you move in with someone you barely know?
What did it make me think about?
Catherine Ryan Howard has quite an imagination!
Should I read it?
This is a novel for all those who love a mystery with lots of good twists and turns.
Quote-
“The truth is, however well this may seem like it’s going they don’t know each other, not really. This situation is revealing that, up close and in harsh lighting.
They don’t know what the other does in times like this. Are they the kind of person who wears a mask before it’s mandatory and disinfects their phones and wipes their groceries down, or are they drinking cans in the park with friends on a sunny Saturday and sneering at anyone who tut-tuts as they pass.”
At this point, I can definitely say that I'm a fan of Catherine Ryan Howard. I think this is the third book I've read by her (yes, I'm too lazy to check...) and I've enjoyed them all.
I had mixed feelings about reading a book set during a lock-down period due to COVID-19 because, well, at this point it seems as though we're never going to be rid of this virus and I'm fairly tired of hearing about it. But the fact that I've read the author before and been happy with the results, I bit the bullet and requested the ARC for the ebook.
I went along pretty well for the first 20-30% of the book but started to lose the desire to keep going so I put it down for a bit. Picked it up a few times, read some lines, and put it back down. Then I saw the audiobook was available for request on NetGalley and thought that would be just the thing to get me back into the groove. And it did. I listened to the last 70% in about 24 hours and can happily report that I ended up liking the book quite a bit.
The thing with 56 Days is that absolutely nothing is quite what it seems. I can't give a lot of detail - read the blurb for basic stuff - because anything I would say is a potential spoiler and it's really best if you experience it for yourself. If you're an audiobook person, definitely go with that. The narrator does a good job.
There were a few points where my BS meter really started to ping but, overall, those bits didn't take too much away from the book as a whole. If you've enjoyed any of the author's other works, I think you'll like this one. Or if you haven't but enjoy imaginative mysteries, give it a shot!
Thanks to the publisher for letting me try both versions of the book. It made a big different! And NetGalley - thank you too.
I had mixed feelings about reading a book set during a lock-down period due to COVID-19 because, well, at this point it seems as though we're never going to be rid of this virus and I'm fairly tired of hearing about it. But the fact that I've read the author before and been happy with the results, I bit the bullet and requested the ARC for the ebook.
I went along pretty well for the first 20-30% of the book but started to lose the desire to keep going so I put it down for a bit. Picked it up a few times, read some lines, and put it back down. Then I saw the audiobook was available for request on NetGalley and thought that would be just the thing to get me back into the groove. And it did. I listened to the last 70% in about 24 hours and can happily report that I ended up liking the book quite a bit.
The thing with 56 Days is that absolutely nothing is quite what it seems. I can't give a lot of detail - read the blurb for basic stuff - because anything I would say is a potential spoiler and it's really best if you experience it for yourself. If you're an audiobook person, definitely go with that. The narrator does a good job.
There were a few points where my BS meter really started to ping but, overall, those bits didn't take too much away from the book as a whole. If you've enjoyed any of the author's other works, I think you'll like this one. Or if you haven't but enjoy imaginative mysteries, give it a shot!
Thanks to the publisher for letting me try both versions of the book. It made a big different! And NetGalley - thank you too.
I struggle with multiple timelines and multiple povs. This one has multiple pov past, middle, and present timelines then adds another timeline and another pov at the end. It’s too much for me personally.
The story in itself is good. The twist got me. I had to go back and reread a few chapters to get the story straight.
DNF at about 60%. I mean, seriously, moving in with someone even if it's just for 2 weeks after you've known them a month or two? And then second-guessing your decision and not going back home even though you had the ability to do so over and over and over? It was just a loop of 'I'm going to do this' followed by 'oh no that was probably a bad idea' followed by 'I'm so suspicious of this person.' Over and over. It doesn't go anywhere, at least not for the first 60% or so. By the time I gave up, I had found myself wishing that legit anything else would happen.
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