Review: Black-Eyed Susans

Black-Eyed Susans by Julia Heaberlin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Published: 13/08/2015
Author: Julia Heaberlin

This novel is mostly centered around a 17year old girl called Tessa who has been nicknamed 'Black-Eyed Susan' due to the fact that she survived a vicious attack from a serial killer. This story has a twist in store for Tessa as when she has helped to put the killer behind bars she didn't realise that years down the line the killers case will be reopened. Black-eyed Susans flowers begin to appear outside her bedroom window seeming to be a message from the dangerous killer that she helped to put behind bars. It is a quest against time as she helps with the investigation and has to relive the moments from her past.
This novel is very well written and captures the readers attention right from the very first sentence and it keeps hold of it right until the very last word in the book. The author does a great job in keeping the book flowing throughout and keeping up the pace so there isn't a slump where you don't want to read it or you even think of putting the book down. The words that the author uses helps the reader to picture the events playing out and the people that were involved in the event.
The novel is told in the point of view of 2 people, one is 17 year old Tessa and the other is the present day Tessa, in alot of books I would have found this very confusing but the author has seperated the two different views by using chapters which helps to keep track of which one the author is telling you about. The characters that feature in the book I thought were really great. I especially like young Tessa, I really felt for her with her going through such a vicious attack that left the other three 'Black-Eyed Susans' dead, you really get a sense of the damage that the event made on Tessa's life.Even though a couple of the twists were predictable it doesn't make this any less of a truly brilliant book to read!

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