Never Tear Us Apart

by Mary Malone

[Leah]

Never Tear Us Apart is Irish author Mary Malone’s third novel but her first for Poolbeg Crimson, an imprint of Poolbeg with the tag line “fiction with an edge”. Never Tear Us Apart is the story of Vicky who, worried her husband, Fintan, is cheating on her, makes a devious plan to get him back. It’s also the story of Ariel who is being accused of gross incompetence but she can’t tell her boss the truth because why would he believe her?

Never Tear Us Apart was a brilliant read. It’s definitely in the women’s fiction category than the chick-lit category but was still a fabulous read. The plot was a very clever one and I really enjoyed reading from everybody’s point of view.

Vicky was the main character in the novel and came across completely normal yet also completely unstable. I could really feel for her when she was worried Fintan, her husband of 6 months, was cheating on her. I didn’t even realise who it was she’d seen him with until it was revealed! She was brilliantly written and reminded me of Mia in Lucy Dawson’s novel His Other Lover.

Ariel is our other main character and I really liked and felt for her. It takes a while to figure out exactly what it is that’s causing her troubles but it’s worth the wait. I was also completely surprised to find out who it was tampering with Ariel’s files.

As the book was written in the third-person, as well as getting Vicky & Ariel’s views we also got parts from the other main players in the book: Fintan, Vicky’s husband, Ben, Vicky & Ariel’s boss, Marcus, a colleague of Vicky & Ariel and Pete, the security guard where Vicky & Ariel work. My favourite of all the minor characters had to be Pete, he was friendly and helpful but I could also feel for him as he’d just lost his wife. I wasn’t a huge fan of Fintan until the end of the novel, regardless of what he lied about he did lie to his wife and helped to fuel her insecurities. Marcus & Ben were OK characters but only had small parts in the book.

There are definitely some surprising twists in the novel – some surprising, some I should have seen coming! The book starts with a newspaper article which, to an extent, gives away what’s going to happen at/near the end but I was still shocked when it happened. Particularly who it happened to!

Mary’s writing was fabulous and the book was really well written. I found it easy to switch between perspectives and that helped us see the plot from all sides.

It was a very enjoyable novel and has introduced me to a new genre of women’s fiction. I look forward to getting my hands on more of Poolbeg’s Crimson imprint and I look forward to Mary’s next novel!

Rating: 5/5

My thanks to Mary & Poolbeg for sending us a copy for review!