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Desperate Housewives meets Mean Girls, but with a twist!
OMG! I’m on a roll!! All my reads lately have been great, and so was Queen Bee!
Friends, I have to tell you this: Queen Bee was my first Jane Fallon read, but it definitely won’t be my last! I can’t believe I’ve never read her before!! Must change that RIGHT NOW!!! Big thanks to Gaby Young from Michael J Books, the publisher itself and the author Jane Fallon for letting me take part in this blog tour, for which I’m so grateful! I love finding new favourite authors this way. Now, let me tell you what this gem was about, and then we’ll move straight on to my review!
The Synopsis
When Laura’s marriage falls apart she needs to find a home for her and her daughter. And quickly.
Welcome to The Close, a beautiful street of mansions, where Laura rents a tiny studio above a garage, and gorgeous Stella is the indisputable Queen Bee – who soon suspects Laura of having designs on her fiancé.
But when Laura unearths the ghastly secret he is hiding, it threatens Stella’s perfectly curated world as well as Laura’s business and friendships. Unless, that is, she can befriend Stella and show her the truth about her soon-to-be husband. But revenge always comes with a sting in the tail . . .
‘I LOVE her books. She always delivers a fabaliss read’ – Marian Keyes, bestselling author of The Break
‘Superbly taps into our inner Avenger. Hugely compelling and unpredictable’ – Ruth Jones, bestselling author of Never Greener
‘Compelling, addictive with effortless wit and bite – gloriously connecting ’ Helen Lederer
My Review
Desperate Housewives. That’s the vibe I got from the first chapter onwards. Well, only imagine that instead of a story about Susan, Lynette, Bree and Gabrielle from an insider’s point of view, this time we get an outsider’s perspective on the beautiful, shiny, seemingly perfect neighbourhood. The Close is a beautiful street full of mansions, Mercedes and rich people, and newly-divorced Laura is lucky enough to find a flat there. However, she clearly stands out in this place, and has a hard time feeling like she belongs at first. Sometimes I couldn’t help but think that the neighbourhood gives off some high school vibes, and we do also find some popular mean girls there.
We have beautiful, rich, perfect and gorgeous queen bee Stella who is highly suspicious of Laura ever since she arrived there, and thinks she – as the only single lady in the neighbourhood – is after their husbands, hers especially. I loved that we get a big twist in that regard, but my lips are sealed! No spoilers here!
What I loved is that we make all the experiences in this new neighbourhood together with Laura for the first time. You can definitely understand that she rather wants her peace and quiet after what she has been through, but she is trying to be strong and find her place in this new area. Even though it’s not easy for her, Laura tries to be strong and to get along with her new neighboors, who often reminded me of the Hollywood A-league.
I loved loved LOVED Laura’s humour. Oh me, oh my, she made me laugh out loud SO often, she’s just hilarious! If you love sarcasm like I do, you will LOVE her immediately. I also loved how the author played with stereotypes. Sometimes, some of them were reinforced, but other times you will be surprised to see what she did with them! That’s what added a lot of depth to the secondary characters also, and that’s what I love in a good novel. You don’t want shells of characters, you want real people, And I feel like you get them here. I know some people might say they come across as unrealistic, but I think just because we don’t know such people doesn’t mean they don’t exist! The characters were written very nicely in my opinion. I also loved seing some great character development in some – and a pretty big lack therof in others. All of this added to the fact that for me they seemed very real.
The ending was WOW! The build-up to it has enough twists and turns to make you want to keep reading until you know how the story ends. The relationship between Laura and Stella shows that everything is not as it initially seems, and I really liked that. If you are looking for some escapism, a book that thoroughly entertains you for a couple of hours, this is the book for you. 4.5 stars from me!
Thank you all for reading!
xoxo
Noly
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jane Fallon is the multi-award-winning television producer behind shows such as This Life, Teachers and 20 Things to Do Before You’re 30. Her books include Getting Rid of Matthew, Got You Back, Foursome, The Ugly Sister, Skeletons, Strictly Between Us and My Sweet Revenge. She is a Top Ten Bestselling author and has sold over a million books in the UK.
You can find more information at www.janefallon.co.uk or on Twitter: @JaneFallon
