Review: Breathe and Release - Katherine Hayton

 

Review: Breathe and Release - Katherine Hayton - August 2015

I always find it interesting when I read New Zealand authors as they can either fall into two categories - they will either be really boring as they can ramble on or they will be an interesting read and keep my attention. Personally, I have always found it difficult to get into New Zealand authors - so when I saw Katherine Hayton's book I was interested for two reasons - the first she was a New Zealander and the novel was set in Christchurch and the second was that it was a mystery novel. As I was reading this book though I was in two minds as I really loved the beginning with the main female character Elisabet getting amnesia due to an accident and not remembering anything about her life, and then her husband whom she is in the middle of divorcing turns up and she gets a bad vibe from him - which gives readers a feeling that he might have caused this . The book then jumps to another female called Lillian who is being held captive and at first I was a bit confused as it was like I was reading two different stories within the one book as I didn't feel that the author had connected the two instances together with a flow, it felt a tad disjointed . We then jump back to Elisabet and learn her husband is abusive and we get the idea that he is the guy holding Lillian captive and that Elisabet discovered it and that he caused an accident which gave her amnesia to make her forget what she saw. Further down the novel , Lillian finally is set free and Elisabet starts to regain her memory back and the readers are left with the questioning of whether Elisabet was in fact part of the plan to hold Lillian captive and is a evil conniving woman or was she really a victim too ? This part which is near the end of the story , I got a tad confused on as well. Overall though, I did enjoy the mystery aspect and the new zealand history with the Christchurch earthquakes in both September and February , but in terms of writing - I felt the story for my liking was a tad disjointed in places and I got confused when reading the book to what was happening.