Today I’m pleased to be taking part in the blog tour for House Of Straw. My review is written with thanks to Sarah Hardy at Book On The Bright Side for inviting me on the tour and for my copy of the book.

Blurb:

Traumatised by the tragic death of her twin brother, Brianna falls into a state of deep depression, isolating herself from the world and all those that care about her. When a twist of fate reveals that she has a half-sister she finds a new purpose in her life and sets out to find her sibling, desperately hoping she can fill the void left in her world.

Poppy has not enjoyed the same privileged lifestyle as her sister while growing up. Abandoned into the care system at the age of eight, she has encountered both physical and sexual abuse for most of her life. Passing through the hands of more care homes and foster families than she can remember, the damaged product of a broken upbringing, Poppy has never found a place to feel truly safe. Kicking back at society, she turns to drug abuse and acts of extreme violence to escape from reality.

When the two siblings are finally united, they discover that they have much more in common than their DNA. Their paths are shrouded with sinister secrets of betrayal and regret and both girls share a deep-rooted hatred for one of their parents. As the dark truths of their lives are unveiled they realise that nothing can ever be the same again…

Review:

House Of Straw is a heavily character based novel, and wow, do these characters have depth! It focuses on Bree and Poppy, who both have their own emotional issues and I found it interesting to get to know them and find out why they behaved in the way they did. The characters are so well drawn, and even the minor characters have well developed back stories that made me want to know more. I felt that Poppy was perhaps the more developed of the two protagonists and I did feel sympathy for her despite her behaviour.

There are also some scenes that are set several years previously, as the characters look back on their lives. My favourite examples of these scenes were those between Dean and Krista, as I found it interesting to see how their relationship had developed.

Through these characters, Scott explores several issues, including death and grief, drug use, childhood abuse and the criminal justice system. These are all very important issues with many layers to them and I felt that Scott researched them well and allowed the reader to consider both sides of the story.

The ending does reveal some surprises, and overall it is quite poignant, meaning that it will stay with me in the coming weeks and months.

House Of Straw is available from Amazon.

You can follow the rest of the blog tour here: