The premise of this novel was promising enough that I gave it a try. It started off as promised, a reunion 20 years after graduating from Oxford amongst six friends. One was assaulted by the end of the night, with the shadow of a dark secret that happened on graduation night 20 years ago hanging over them, who dunnit? The story was told mainly from the point of view of Ali, the wife of the alleged perpetrator and then intertwined with all the other players as the story slowly unfolds. This means, besides Ali, all the other characters did not really have a chance to develop or their sides of the story told properly. But despite having the main focus, Ali felt two dimensional and the reasons given why she did what she did just felt unbelievable and bland. The big reveal was quite predictable and the ending was hasty. As the group re-connects and the alcohol starts flowing, old pictures come out, and the discussion turns to a young female classmate, Martha, who died in the university garden all those years ago. While the men revel in their youthful memories and ply themselves with alcohol late into the evening, Jodi & Ali head for bed. The first half of this book was AMAZING. I was hooked. It covered some really difficult topics perfectly and I actually enjoyed how the author made the main character (Ali) unlikeable. Unfortunately as the book progressed it got a little boring and I was a little unsure of where the end was going to go. The ending was underwhelming and I think could have taken so many other/better directions. A novel with a bland plot can often be redeemed by charming characters, or expert prose. Sadly, What You Did can boast neither. McGowan’s style is mostly nondescript, with only the occasional sprinkling of awful to catch your attention. One particularly shoddy excerpt made me laugh aloud: The Dead Ground is the second installment in the Paula McGuire book series. It begins from where, The Lost, the first installment had left off from. The protagonist, Paula McGuire is still a forensic psychologist who resides in the small town of Ballyterrin, North Ireland. Paula lives with her father, who is a former policeman, while at the same time she is still chasing the ghost of her mother that has constantly been haunting her. With that said, Paula is an exceedingly likable character, who made lots of mistakes, with Aiden O’Hara, the newspaper owner, and DI-Guy, her boss. However, despite the number of mistakes that Paula has done, she still has work to do, considering the fact that a baby has been snatched from the hospital and everyone is racing against time to locate the missing baby. Apart from having the theme of pregnancy, this book also has the theme of missing babies, which proved to be both compelling and disturbing at the same time.

Ali and her husband Mike are having an anniversary party with their old university friends. They are celebrating knowing them for 25 years, staying up late drinking and reminiscing about the past. They are awoken by Karen who is Ali’s best friend crying that she was raped by Mike. It’s the 25th anniversary reunion for the group of 6 that created a bond while in university, a bond that is still strong today. But is it? This book has left me really torn. How do you like a book, but not like any of the characters? That isn’t to say they weren’t well written, because I think they were amazingly written. I just thought that there wasn’t really a decent human in the entire mix. Every single one was self-absorbed and self-serving to one degree or another, some being exponentially worse than others. This includes the kids. If I had to say that one character was at least partially likeable, it would be Bill, but even he had issues.From the bestselling author of What You Did comes a true-crime investigation that cast a dark shadow over the Ireland of her childhood. I really enjoyed this book. It was clever without being hard work. As with most psychological thrillers the truth is not what it first appears to be, in fact there are multiple truths uncovered as the story unfolds, some of which are life ruining and others life changing. For Helen and George, the remote fixer-upper in Cornwall was supposed to be a dream home, and a way to leave behind the problems they’re both running from. But something about the place feels wrong from day one. And why does Helen have a creeping feeling she’s seen this house before? Meet Ali & Mike, college sweethearts that seem to have it all...the million-dollar home, a boy & girl, genuine love for one another and while her husband is a prestigious lawyer Ali works to make female empowerment more prevalent in today’s world. She is a hardcore feminist who believes that women need to be heard, especially in cases of domestic violence and sexual misconduct. What You Did felt like it had a little bit of everything and wasn't strictly just about sexual assault even though that was definitely a main theme. There is also a murder mystery aspect, and I really had no idea what was going to happen. McGowan manages to make you doubt every person in the book, and completely kept me guessing. I felt like there was something going on throughout the entire book which also made it a fast read for me. The end managed to give me chills because it was so unexpected and that is something I love in a book.

a university ball twenty-five years earlier where something else terrible happened (has there ever been a fictional university ball where something terrible didn’t happen?). I feel like I’ve read several books where the plot sounds very similar to that; however, What You Did feels a bit different and is very well executed. DS Alison Hegarty, herself struggling with infertility, is called in to investigate. She’s convinced the fall was not an accident, and finds the new parents have a lot to hide. Wealthy Ed and Monica show off their newborn while their teenage daughter is kept under virtual house arrest. Hazel and Cathy conceived their longed-for baby via an anonymous sperm donor―or so Hazel thinks. This plot line could go badly wrong in the wrong hands, but I feel it’s sensitively and responsibly handled. Ali’s confusion and grief are utterly believable - she knows Karen, she knows women rarely lie about rape, but she also knows her husband - who can she believe? Trying to make sense of what’s happened and find an explanation she can live with, Ali finds herself thinking and acting in ways she can’t quite believe. The book doesn’t get too graphic in its depictions of the assault, but it’s a constant part of the story. So, this is probably one to skip if this topic is a trigger.From the very beginning of this book I was hooked. It started off so dramatic with the assault on Karen during a weekend get together of long time college friends. You thought you knew who did the assault, but weren’t so sure as the story and characters unfolded. So many different secrets and twists are slowly revealed. And that ending just threw me completely! I certainly didn’t see that ending coming. Ali and husband Mike are hosting a twenty-fifth reunion weekend for a small group of their friends from Oxford. But things take a very dark turn when Ali's best friend Karen accuses Mike of raping her in the garden after the rest of the group has retired for the evening. Not only is the act, and the following accusation, horrific, but secrets that have long been hidden within the group begin to come to the surface, specifically details surrounding the mysterious death of a fellow student. The group begin to question not only their friends, but also themselves in a way that they have never done before. How well do we really know those in our inner circle, and what are we willing to conceal under the guise of friendship? I'm not sure where to start with this one. I feel like I should get a few start for being able to finish it. The protagonist is one of the most unlikable characters I've ever read about in a book. That in and of itself is not the problem - the problem is that I don't think it was the author's intent. As her family and best friend go through the unthinkable, she worries about her beautiful home and her beautiful things, and that's just a start.

Enter their 4 best friends from university: a second couple Jodi & Callum ...both married and pregnant and then the two single outcasts of the group, Karen and Bill, that have been pushed together more than a few times but just don’t feel that way about each other. Karen’s son also tags along, Jake, who is supposedly best friends with Ali’s daughter Cassie, but their bond to one another seems a bit TOO close for comfort. Ali and Mike host a disastrous 25th reunion (from the day they started) for their university friends. Karen is first to arrive as Ali gets a frantic call from the "feminist" group (charity) that she chairs. She leaves for just a while. As Ali arrives home, Jodi (8 months pregnant) and her husband, Callum. pull up. Bill arrives later on his motorcycle. Rounding out the group are Jake (17), Karen's son - and Ali and Mike's two children: Cassie and Benji. There is decent character development; you get to know Ali the most, followed by Karen, and understand each individual's personality and motivation as to who they are and why they do what they do. Mike and Ali seem to have it all. They’ve been together since university and have the perfect marriage. Two kids. A beautiful house. And money. Ali feels like she has it all and is content being an activist for rape victims. She has the life she has always wanted and naively believes that nothing could shatter that. McGowan reveals an Ireland not of leprechauns and craic but of outdated social and sexual mores, where women and their bodies were of secondary importance to perceived propriety and misguided politics―a place of well-buttoned lips and stony silence, inadequate police and paramilitary threat.Even though I didn’t like the characters, the story still worked well. There were directions I saw the story going and it did go there. Then there were a couple of twists I did not see coming at all, which I really enjoyed. I think I probably would have been perfectly content to say that this was a really good book until I hit the final chapter. That felt like it was just a bit too much and pushed me into eye roll territory because it didn’t feel necessary and took away from all the drama that had just occurred. Recommended: It wasn't for me, maybe it is for you. I see that some found it to be a delightful read. Maybe, you would too.