Apple Of My Eye by Claire Allan Review

Hi Foreverbookers, 

I’ve just finished “Apple Of My Eye” by Claire Allan and I absolutely LOVED it! It’s a psychological/domestic thriller, which really isn’t my normal genre but I found “Apple Of My Eye” addictive. It's also a standalone, which I don't normally enjoy either but this was tense and kept me hooked.  

5 Stars!!!!!

I was granted "Apple Of My Eye" from NetGalley so it's thanks to them that I was able to read it!

READATHONS

POPSUGAR 2019 Reading Challenge - A book that’s published in 2019 - Apple Of My Eye was published 24th January 2019. 

Reading Rivalry - Book with the title written in Green, Purple or Gold - The title of the book is written in a bright green colour. 

Litwits - About family - although, it’s quite a disfuctional family, family still is at the centre of “Apple Of My Eye.”

Fiction Feud Society for the game of Clue - I read this for LOUNGE - A book published in the year 2000 or later. 

Literary Love Affair - because this didn’t work for any criteria this time, I used the page count points instead. 

mARCh-a-thon - “Apple Of My Eye” takes me to 4 arcs in the month of March! I’m really proud of this. Can i get to five? You’ll have to wait and see...

“Apple Of My Eye” is set in Ireland and surrounds a small cast of characters. Eli, our main character is pregnant and lives with her husband, Martin. Eli’s mother, Angela is the second most prominent character in the book, I’d say, as she looks after Eli throughout her pregnancy woes and struggles. Eli has a few friends as well but the main plot story centres around Eli having to deal with a stalker like character wanting to steal her baby...who is this person? You’ll have to read to find out...   

I’d say that “Apple Of My Eye” should be read by +17 year olds because of the psychological aspects of the book.

In “Apple Of My Eye,” we see from 3 POV’s, throughout. Eli, who has the most chapters, Louise and Eli’s mother, Angela. The other characters are secondary characters, Martin, Eli’s husband for example. Like I said, there aren’t many of them, though. It’s still a very character driven story, as I think most psychological thrillers are. We want to see the internal monologues of the characters. We do see that for Eli, Louise and Angela...

SPOILERS BELOW

“I deserved to be a mother. This woman, tired and worn out and miserable, didn’t. Not as much as I did, anyway. 

This is from the prologue of “Apple Of My Eye.” This is from Louise’s perspective. Louise is the antagonist of the story. She’s trying to steal Eli’s baby. We don’t know who Louise is until near the end of the novel. I was able to work out who Louise was in regards to Eli at the end, although I was questioning who she was throughout the story. I think you’re meant to be able to work it out, though as you read the book. It’s a little like a game of Cluedo but instead of a murderer, you’re trying to work out who the potential baby stealer is. 

Louise has lost many children before. All she wants is to be a mother. She’ll literally go to any length. We see this as the novel progresses towards its conclusion. I found myself reading this e-arc much quicker than I would a regular one. I think that was because the author was able to capture the right tone needed for a psychological thriller, especially towards the end.

“I’m not trying to be harsh, darling. But maybe you need to start accepting that he’s not the man you thought he was.”

This is Angela, trying to be nice and calm to a stressed Eli, when she discovers her husband might be cheating on her. Is he cheating? You’ll need to read to find out. Eli isn’t sure she wants to be a mum at the beginning of the story. She doesn’t feel connected to her baby.

“I stroke my stomach, whispering, ‘I love you,’ hoping if I say it enough I’ll start to really, really feel it.”

I think most first time mums in real life have doubts about whether they’ll be good enough for their child but Eli seems to be worse than most, even though she’s fictional. What with all the issues she goes through in “Apple Of My Eye,” though, it’s no wonder she feels that way. By the end of the story, can she connect? Eli finds out the sex of her baby behind the baby’s father, Martin’s back, because she wants to so badly connect and she feels that this will help. Does it or does it just create a bad situation between her and Martin? You’ll have to read to find out. 

There are lots of questions put to us, the reader as we’re reading. I guess this is the formula of a good psychological thriller, though. You’re always supposed to be questioning the morals of every character and whether or not what they’re doing is right. Even Eli, our heroine or damsel in distress is to be questioned a couple of times throughout the book. She’s a nurse and accidentally drugs a patient to much causing them to die. Are her morals always right? Does she deserve to be a mother? These are two of the questions thrown up at us a few times throughout “Apple Of My Eye,” too. 

I don’t want to spoil just who Louise is or the lengths that she goes to to steal Eli’s baby or if she actually manages to worm her way in and steal those that Eli holds most dear in “Apple Of My Eye,” as that would completely take away the excitement but the reveals are exciting and shocking, to say the least.

What did I like about “Apple Of My Eye?”

* I liked how we were always kept guessing as to the plot. Nothing was clear apart from a character, Louise wanting Eli’s baby, which we know from the blurb is the main plot point of the story. 

* I liked how the character’s intentions were mysterious. Every character apart from maybe Eli we were questioning throughout. 

* I liked how the setting was in Ireland and not in the US or UK, where most contemporary/thriller stories I’ve read are set. 

I liked how creepy “Apple Of My Eye” got. It wasn’t scary as in horror but it was unsettling. This made it exciting, though, as I summarised above.

* I liked how quickly I was able to get through “Apple Of My Eye.” It became a book that I NEEDED to read instead of one I just wanted to read, which is what I want in a thriller of any kind.  

* I liked how I was able to enjoy a standalone to its fullest, which I don't normally experience. 

What didn’t I like about “Apple Of My Eye?”

I didn’t like how every perspective was from a woman. Yes, the writer is female but I thought it would have been good to have some male insight. But I do understand why it was only female, at the same time. 

I finished “Apple Of My Eye” in a few days and I normally read around 50 pages a day, so for a 300 page book, it should have really taken me six or so days to read it. It felt like it didn’t take long at all! It went so quickly. I loved how the author kept my eyes glued to the page. I highly recommend this for fans of domestic/psychological thrillers. I’m therefore giving “Apple Of My Eye” 5 Stars because it was so gripping, exciting and well written.  

Stand by for my next review, coming soon...