The Beauty of the End

by Debbie Howells

Living aimlessly in a cottage in the English countryside, Noah, an ex-lawyer who dabbles in armchair criminal psychology, is haunted by the memory of a former fiancé he has loved since childhood, whose name he endeavors to clear in the wake of a drug overdose and murder accusations.

• ISBN10: 149670598X
• ISBN13: 9781496705983
• Publish Date: 26 July 2016 (first published 14 July 2016)
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Kensington Publishing Corporation
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 320
• Language: English

Reviews

[chymerra]

Before I start my review, I want to thank NetGalley and Kensington Books for allowing me to review The Beauty of the End.

**All opinions stated in this review are mine and mine alone. I received The Beauty of the End from NetGalley via Kensington Books as an ARC for my honest and unbiased review**

Now, onto my review:

I tried to get into this book and like it, I really did. But I couldn’t get past Noah’s obsession with April. It was creepy and at some points, smothering. Everyone around him could see that but him. When she ends their relationship, it breaks him and he is never in the same.

The book starts when Noah gets a call from his childhood friend, Will, regarding April. She overdosed but not before killing her stepfather. He rushes to her bedside and then begins to investigate the mystery as to what really happened.

This is where we meet Ella, a troubled 15 year old who is in therapy. She has a terrible secret that she found while snooping through her father’s desk.

This is also where the book started jumping around. It would go from present to when Noah first met April to present to when they were living together. Then add in Ella’s story (which was in italics…but still), and it got very confusing.

I will say that the suspense part of the book, the whodunit, was very well written. The author did throw red herrings (to the point of even having Noah being questioned by the police) but when it came down to revealing the truth, I was shocked. It wasn’t even close to what I thought or what the author led me to believe.

The ending did seem a little rushed and it left me feeling that there should have been something more. I really didn’t like how April was portrayed at the end because it went against everything that we were told during the story. But, in a way, it made sense.

How many stars will I give The Beauty of the End? 3 stars

Why? It was well written but the book jumped around too much. Plus, there was too many twists at the end of the book and it left me going “Eh”.

Will I reread it? Yes

Will I reccomend to family and friends? Yes

Age range? Teen on up

Why? Sex scenes (but the author doesn’t get really into them) and some minor violence.