Published 1st July 2014 by Usborne Books.

Goodreads Synopsis: The first time I was born, I was Emma.
I was beautiful. I had everything to live for.
But I died.

Now I have been born a second time, and my previous life haunts me. Because in it I think I did something very wrong. I must find out what I did to Catherine. I must uncover the truth about Emma…

Intriguing, compelling, heartbreaking.
What if your past life could shatter your future?

My Review: I’ve been really behind on reviewing ARCs due to general summer busyness, so I think I’ve left too much time between reading My Second Life and reviewing it, to be able to do it enough justice! It was, without doubt, a very compelling, suspenseful and original debut novel. I really enjoyed it, and though I wasn’t completely blown away as most readers have been, it was a really gripping read.

I fell in love with the concept of the story right from the first few sentences of the blurb, and the idea kept me hooked throughout the book. It was really individual, and makes My Second Life stand out. What if you were born into a second life, with memories of your past – and what if you did something terrible in your first life, that you know you need to rediscover? It’s haunting, and very chilling!

I felt like I really knew Ana and Emma (Both lives) really well by the end of the story. I got to know them really well through Faye’s writing. I was really absorbed thanks to Faye Bird’s writing voice. I would really love to read more from her in the future.

There were some very long scenes, particularly towards the end, that were very dialogue heavy… I don’t usually mind that, of course, but I found myself getting a bit tired during the long, long conversations – even though they were revealing massive plot twists (which were very clever and exciting!). I think that was the only big reason, really, that I didn’t fully enjoy it – though I understand why so much of the story was conversation.

Overall, I really enjoyed My Second Life, and I would definitely recommend it to fans of psychological thrillers, and gritty crime stories! The characters are very well developed, and I think the concept of the story was one of the most unique concepts I’ve seen in a debut novel. A few little things meant I didn’t full enjoy the story – but overall it was a genius debut, and I’m really looking to reading more from Faye Bird!

My Rating:

I received a copy of My Second Life from the publisher, in exchange for a review. In no way at all did this affect my thoughts.