Theo's wife Theresa has known about several of his affairs with students, but been willing to put up with it because she loves her husband. But when Theo's career really takes off, will the man she adores turn his back on her once and for all, or is Theresa enough for the famous Theo? And how exactly is Sasha planning to get her revenge on Theo once and for all?
I have read almost everything that Tilly Bagshawe has written, so I was really excited when I received a copy of her new novel Scandalous to review. The cover looks really great, like a perfect summer blockbuster read so I eagerly started to read it pretty quickly after it arrived. Straight away, I was hooked by the book and couldn't wait to find out how the story was going to pan out. I was even more thrilled when I was given the chance to interview Tilly who kindly answered all of my questions, and we'll be posting this exclusive interview with Tilly tomorrow! But until then, back to the review...
First of all, this book has a fantastic set of characters, and I was really drawn into the book because of them. Sasha is great, she starts off as a normal schoolgirl but soon becomes this revenge ridden woman and I really liked seeing her change and become a different character due to what has happened to her. Although I think we are supposed to love Theo, I thought he was fantastic for the book because he was SO dislikeable and the typical baddie of these sort of books. He really does love himself and reading about him throughout the book made me really hate him but also love his nastiness!
I liked the rivalry between the characters, it was built throughout the whole book so things weren't sewn too quickly, in fact it almost seemed like Sasha had forgotten about her revenge in parts but then Bagshawe would bring back the revenge plot line to remind you that Sasha was still intent on revenge! The book moves over to New York for the most part, and this fitted in with the theme of the book and how different life became for both Theo and Sasha, and allowed for some great storylines to develop too. The book was set in the world of finance and real estate, and whilst I don't really understand either, Bagshawe makes it plain enough for the readers to get the gist of what is going on!
The pace of the book is just right. We meet the characters while Sasha is still a student and Theo is a professor at Cambridge, but this portion of the book is done quite quickly. It soon moves on with Theo and Theresa moving over to New York, and also Sasha following them too, albeit in a slightly different way. It allows for more characters to be introduced and some more sub-plots to be developed along the way too. To be honest, while I guessed one part of the ending, I wasn't sure about other things in the book, and it was a nice surprise when certain things happened. I liked that Tilly had kept me guessing and stopped the book being totally predictable!
This is definitely a great summer read, and I highly recommend it for packing in your suitcase if you're off to warmer climes this summer! Whilst the cover is slightly mis-leading (there isn't a yacht in the whole book from what I remember!), it is still a great blockbuster and one I expect to be reading again next summer too. Tilly Bagshawe really has the knack for writing stories that draw you in, and make you want to keep reading until the end, and Scandalous is no exception. There are some great characters, interesting plot lines and twists, and most importantly, it's just a really fun and brilliant read! Can't recommend it enough!
Rating: 5/5
You can buy Scandalous on Kindle/eBook or paperback (all links go to Amazon.co.uk)
This sounds like a good one! Linz x
ReplyDeleteJust finished this one and loved it. Would def recommend this book.
ReplyDeleteI predicted the storyline before I even read the book. I found it trite, predictable fluff.
ReplyDeleteAnd its so clichéd too, and it usually follows a theme. The heroine has usually been wronged somehow in the past. There's always rich people involved. The tension is excess and superfluous. The writing style aims to shock and appear sophisticated but comes across as pathetic. I just wanted to gag. And there's usually a tall, dark and handsome hero, blond male villain, affairs galore, and a seedy plot.