Returning to my TBR list

Kia Abdullah’s Next of Kin is a book that I had as a pre-order. However, because of the subject matter, it was very difficult to read, because one of my carers has had similar experiences to the characters. Because of this and how it was described, I felt decidedly uncomfortable, because I read on audio and my carers can hear the book as I read. As a writer, Kia is excellent at choosing emotive subjects, but the death of a baby in the back of a car is definitely one that pulls at the heart strings. Unfortunately for Kia, though, at the time this was released, I’d just read one very similar, for my UK Crime Book Club interviews, that had been based in America, so this may well have been another reason for the delay in reading. The characters of the two sisters made you really look at family in a whole new way. In the build up to the trial, Kia’s use of the tension of the situation is written really well and you felt empathy for all involved. As the story was rehashed at trial, all logical witnesses were used without much repetition. Although the way the book was written was not easy to listen to, with very few chapters and the two narrators sounded very similar to my non-Asian ears. The story itself was really well summed up in the final part, with lots of unexpected twists right up to the last minute. Take it Back is still one of my favourite books of recent years.



https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Next-of-Kin-Audiobook/0008433666?qid=1682414806&sr=1-5&ref=a_search_c3_lProduct_1_5&pf_rd_p=c6e316b8-14da-418d-8f91-b3cad83c5183&pf_rd_r=D3YAJZ4J4M20N6P5CNAS&pageLoadId=eFY1W41yDZdli9OC&creativeId=41e85e98-10b8-40e2-907d-6b663f04a42d