Don't Close Your Eyes

Don't Close Your Eyes

Blurb

Robin and Sarah are twin sisters who have grown apart and haven’t seen each other for a number of years.

Robin is agoraphobic and hasn’t left her house in years. She relies on a series of obsessive routines to keep her safe. When a stranger from her past comes knocking, and demands to be heard, Robin realises she is not as safe as she thought.

When we first meet Sarah she is reeling from the collapse of her world. Her husband read her a list of concerns he had about how she deals with their daughter Violet and know he has kicked her out and changed the locks. Sarah will do anything to get Violet back but in order to do that she needs to come up with a plan.

Through a series of flashbacks the reader gets to view the traumatic events of their childhood which made them into the women they are today. Don’t Close Your Eyes is a book that will keep you gripped until the final page.


Our Review

I used to think that I wasn’t a fan of books falling in the Thriller genre but I have recently realised that the reality is that I was just reading the wrong books. Don’t Close Your Eyes is a prime example of why I was wrong to write off an entire genre.

Holly Seddon had my fooled into thinking I knew where the book was heading, I spent the first quarter to the book congratulating myself for guessing what was going to happen next. I am pleased to say that from then on I was unable to predict what was going to occur.

Don’t Close Your Eyes had so many things going on in it that it felt like I had been reading it forever even though it only took me a day to finish it because I enjoyed it so much.

Robin and Sarah are twin sisters who have grown apart and haven’t seen each other for a number of years.

Robin is agoraphobic and hasn’t left her house in years. She relies on a series of obsessive routines to keep her safe. When a stranger from her past comes knocking, and demands to be heard, Robin realises she is not as safe as she thought.

 When we first meet Sarah she is reeling from the collapse of her world. Her husband read her a list of concerns he had about how she deals with their daughter Violet and know he has kicked her out and changed the locks. Sarah will do anything to get Violet back but in order to do that she needs to come up with a plan.

Through a series of flashbacks the reader gets to view the traumatic events of their childhood which made them into the women they are today. Don’t Close Your Eyes is a book that will keep you gripped until the final page.

Don’t Close Your Eyes deals with many emotive topics which I think Holly Seddon handles with incredible insight and sensitivity. For example, Robin’s agoraphobia and OCD, are thoroughly outlines throughout the book, as are the reasons she developed both conditions.

“Robin did not go out yesterday and she will not leave her house today. Bar fire of flood, she’ll still be inside tomorrow. Just as she has been inside for these last years.”

Robin carefully sorts her post to intercept unwelcome greetings from the past and she will only open the door to pre-arranged visitors such as the man who brings her online food shopping to her house. The reader Is frequently left to wonder what occurred to transform Robin from the bright, vivacious girl she is in other areas of the book.

She has daily rituals she needs to complete around her home before she can go about her day within the confines of her home.

“There are other essentials too, of course, that slot together to make Robin’s day. The steps. The weights. The sorting and careful disregarding of the post. Always the watching. When I don’t pay attention Robin thinks, people die, unlike most of her ‘what if’ thoughts, this one carries a certain truth.”

Sarah’s life is no easier, since her husband stopped her seeing her Violet she is at a loss and keeps replaying the scene over and over in her mind.

“My child has been torn from me and there’s nothing I can do. Four days ago she walked off happily holding her uncle’s hand and that was the last I’d seen of her golden hair, doe eyes and tiny pink nose. Violet was smiling and oblivious, waving to me while I sat at my own dining table and heard accusation after accusation with no right of reply.”

Robin and Sarah don’t have each other to lean on because a series of events in their childhood caused a rift between them.

The flashbacks in the book begin in 1989 when the twins were still at school. Already the twins have two very separate identities, Robin is very much a tomboy and favours spending time with her dad. Sarah, on the other hand, is more prim and proper and enjoys more attention from their mum.

The girls gets on well despite the odd sibling rivalry and their very different personalities. Then a new boy named Callum arrives in their class.

Callum’s parents and the twins’ parents soon become friends and start spending time. Before long life as they know it is irrevocably changed, as is the close relationship between the girls.

This was a really interesting read and the characters were clearly well-developed despite none of them being particularly likeable. In particular, I disliked the parents and can’t believe one particular big decision they made which was supposedly in the children’s best interest but was actually quite selfish.

Don’t Close Your Eyes is a story of the fractured relationships that can occur when there is a lack of communication. It is also about the guilt and regrets that can haunt memories of lost opportunities. It was haunting and gut-wrenching and frequently disturbing. It has definitely made me a fan of Holly Seddon’s writing.

Our Final Rating...

Our Rating

  • Currently 4.5/5

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