Friday 3 September 2021

Review | The Chateau by Catherine Cooper

Published by HarperCollins on September 2, 2021


When I got back into reading at the end of last year, there was one book in particular my social media feed was raving about – Catherine Cooper’s debut novel, The Chalet. Because of that I was very excited to hear about her next book and receive a copy to review for the blog tour. I had high expectations going into The Chateau and it did not let me down. This was a cleverly written and tension-filled thriller that had me absolutely hooked.

Aura and Nick have moved away from England to make a fresh start with their two young sons. They don’t talk about what happened back in England. Instead, they begin the new chapter of their lives with plans to renovate the huge, if slightly crumbly, chateau they have bought in France. Sure, it’s a lot of work but they have invited a film crew to come and stop with them to turn this new phase of their lives and their restoration of the chateau into a TV show. It is to be the perfect new start for them – but can renovating their new home really help paper over the cracks in their marriage?

The Chateau was unsettling right from the opening chapter and my sense of unease only grew the more I read. The storytelling was vivid and at times quite disturbing as a lot of the characters were quite outlandish and it was definitely entertaining reading about their antics. The way the author brings each scene to life had me enthralled as I could picture everything happening like I was actually there watching it unfold. The book is full of flawed characters of which most of them I didn’t like or trust and this made me even more invested in the story trying to work out who was behind some of the creepy stuff that was happening at the chateau. All the way through I had my suspicions but never knew the full story and I loved every single twist.

The book is so tightly plotted and perfectly paced with drama and tension filled chapters. I liked the variety of chapter lengths which kept the storytelling fresh and fast and was probably the reason why I raced through the book because it was so gripping. The book is split into parts and focused on different times and events so we could get the whole picture of the things in the past that Nick and Aura don’t want to dwell on. I much preferred this being told in parts than having each chapter alternate in timeframe as it meant I could fully sink my teeth into each part of the book and often I was so gripped by what I was reading that I was caught off-guard by a twist and so never truly knew what was coming next.

The Chateau is one of the best thrillers I’ve read in a long time. It’s dark and twisted with a killer ending and a story I won’t be forgetting in a hurry.

Review copy provided by the publisher - this was my honest review.   



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