Review ~ Disclaimer by Renée Knight.

Title: Disclaimer.
Author: Renée Knight.
Publisher: Transworld.
Genre: Psychological Thriller.
Publication Date: April 9, 2015.
Source: Netgalley.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars.

Purchase: Amazon UK

What if you realized the book you were reading was all about you?

When an intriguing novel appears on Catherine’s bedside table, she curls up in bed and begins to read.

But as she turns the pages she is sickened to realize the story will reveal her darkest secret.

A secret she thought no one else knew…

Disclaimer has without a doubt one of the most intriguing premises to a book I’ve seen. Photos of the proof copy have been circling Twitter for months now and I absolutely love the quote on the proof cover.

This is a work of fiction. 

Names and characters are the product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. **

**Everything you have just read is a lie.

Argh! Just one mention of this book on Twitter had me desperate to read it, hoping it was worth the wait. I’m quite good at convincing myself books are going to be more amazing than they actually are. Disclaimer didn’t blow me away but it’s intelligently written and for the most part, compelling reading. If I’m honest, I found the start a little slow and difficult to really get into but after a little bit of perseverance, the story gets darker and a hell of a lot more captivating. Twists, finely delivered, keep the intrigue up and I loved how wonderful Renee Knight was at turning the story on its head.

The issue with reviewing Disclaimer is I want to shout about SO many things but anything I mention would be a spoiler (I’ll still try). I can say it’s a book you must buy whether it sounds like your kind of thing or not because the concept to it is great.

The story focuses on two families and two main characters – Catherine Ravenscroft and Stephen Brigstocke. The connection between both families is to be discovered, as the book switches between characters and backwards and forwards in time. Catherine’s perspective we read in the third person, as one day she picks up a book on her bedside table, without knowing where it’s come from and definitely without knowing the story is all about her. And no it’s not a love story. We hear from the second main character in the first person, which to me without knowing what was to happen, made it feel quite eerie and sinister – why Stephen would have the luxury of the first person style of writing. Stephen is widowed, a retired teacher and someone who appears to have a bee in his bonnet. I was eager to know why.

Unlikable characters in books seems to be a bit of a thing at the moment and it’s the same here. It’s hard to like anyone in this book although I guess some do have traits maybe you could feel for. I can’t say I particularly did but even though I didn’t like the characters, somehow I did still care for them and how things were going to work out. That’s so annoyingly ambiguous but there’s just nothing I can discuss! The characters are multi-layered and built up extremely well, developing throughout the book and often surprising me to the extent I didn’t know what to expect from them anymore. If I ever did in the first place.

Disclaimer was ultimately, for me, a really clever, fascinating tale about the biggest secrets and how they always come out in the end. This book is full of hatred, obsession, anger and the strongest of emotions. The ending, I have to admit, was a bit of a flop for me and a little forgettable. However, the build-up and the majority of the book was interesting, unpredictable and very impressive. I think what impressed me the most with Disclaimer was its originality. The concept was unlike anything I’ve read before and something highly creative and quite stunning.



Review also posted on Goodreads | Amazon UK