Book Review - The Fifth Letter By Nicola Moriarty

Hello lovelies,

One of my New Year's Resolutions was to read more. I've set myself the task of reading at least 8 books this year. It's a massive goal as I only tend to read when I'm on holiday, never in my day-to-day life.

I started reading The Fifth Letter on 1st February & finished on it 5th February. Nobody was as surprised as me.. haha! I'm starting to think 8 books a year wasn't a high enough goal, but I know it will definitely be a test now that I've finished one book to move onto the next & keep it up through-out the year.

I wanted to start documenting my thoughts on the books I've read to remind myself of what I've accomplished this year & also to advise you guys if you're looking for a new read!

"Joni, Trina, Deb and Eden.

Best friends since the first day of school. Best friends, they liked to say, forever.

But now they are in their thirties and real life - husbands, children, work - has got in the way. So, resurrecting their annual trip away, Joni has an idea, something to help them reconnect.

Each woman will write an anonymous letter, sharing with their friends the things that are really going on in their lives.

But as the confessions come tumbling out, Joni starts to feel the certainty of their decades-long friendships slip from her fingers.

Anger. Accusations. Desires. Deceit.

And then she finds another letter. One that was never supposed to be read. A fifth letter. Containing a secret so big that its writer had tried to destroy it. And now Joni is starting to wonder, did she ever really know her friends at all?"

-----------------------------------

When you begin the story, you are taken to the present day, where Joni is confessing to a priest about her recent admissions on the girl's holiday. You flit between the present day & the previous month where the four friends go on their annual holiday & decide to write anonymous letters revealing a secret from their lives. 

The narrator uses the 3rd person, but you emphasize with Joni's character the most. As she discovers secrets about her friends, you learn them too, but you have no idea who has written each letter except from the clues the author choses to give you. It does get you thinking & Joni goes through every possible senario you can think of!

I wasn't 100% sold on the characters to be honest. I didn't feel like their personalities shone through & I struggled to visualise them from the description the author was giving. I had to keep reminding myself which person was who & how their families came into the storyline.

You actually get to read the 'fifth' letter, quite early on & even though the whole book is about finding out who wrote it, I have to be honest & say I guessed first of all, but then was put off, but eventually it concluded I was correct.

The conclusion of the book was a little disappointing, but if I really think about it, I wasn't sure how I wanted it to end as it was quite a far fetched storyline! I was really intrigued when I was reading the book & found myself desperate to read more, however I wouldn't actively seek out any other books from this author as there's so many more I'm keen to read first!

Overall Rating - ★★

Let me know if you like these sort of posts & if you've read anything by Nicola Moriarty. I'd love to hear your thoughts : )

Twitter / Instagram / YouTube / Bloglovin' / Pinterest / Facebook