My Review of Come Back For Me by Heidi Perks

My Review of Come Back For Me:

What a brilliantly written and worthy successor to Now You See Her. 

Come Back For Me is told primarily through the eyes of Stella Harvey who has had an idyllic formative eleven years on the equally idyllic Evergreen Island set off the coast of Dorset. Chapters flit between Stella and her family's last summer on the island before they suddenly and mysteriously flee the during a storm, and the present when a body is discovered in the grounds of the former family home. 

The narrative is fast paced and gripping for so many reasons but the innocence of the eleven year old Stella that still lives within the adult Stella tugged at my heartstrings. Heidi Perks crafting of characters is superb, there are so many secrets and unanswered questions that have shaped Stella's life that you can't help but feel for her. All characters, no matter how minor, are expertly drawn and very human, their hidden reasons for behaving the way they do are slowly revealed to the reader and crafted to wring every ounce of sympathy out of the reader. We may ultimately dislike them but Heidi makes sure that we understand them.

At the core of Come Back For Me is a story of family with its dormant volcano filled with guilt, jealousy, secrecy and revenge that ultimately erupts and devastate both the innocent and the guilty. Heidi Perks made me think about the secrets we all keep and makes us wonder about the price that will eventually paid for them and if it's worth it.

A superbly written novel that I would definitely recommend and also plan to re-read.

Thanks go to Rachel Kennedy and Arrow Publishing for inviting me to be part of this tour.