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Book review: Don’t close your eyes by Holly Seddon

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Don’t close your eyes by Holly Seddon (first published in 2017 by Corvus, an imprint of Penguin Random House)

Trigger warning: This book contains scenes of rape, violence and suicide.

Don’t Close Your Eyes centres on twin sisters Robin and Sarah who live completely separate lives and have not spoken in years. 

Robin is a complete shut in. She hasn’t left her house in years. She has groceries delivered. She doesn’t even answer the door when someone knocks. She spends her days watching her neighbours and involving herself in their messy lives, while also trying to figure out who the person is that keeps pounding on her door wanting to be let in. 

Sarah is a mom to a little girl, but she’s been kicked out of her home by her husband and is not allowed access to her daughter. She’s desperately trying to get her daughter back, but all the lies she’s told are coming back to get her and she also realises she needs to find her sister. 

You get a look into the twins’ past and find out who and what lead to the sisters becoming estranged and why they’re both so emotionally damaged. 

While Don’t Close your Eyes is only Holly Sedon’s second novel, it reads like it’s been written by the hand of a much more experienced author. 

Sedon Knows how to captivate her reader from the first page and to keep you guessing as the story goes on. I also feel that she addressed mental illness quite well in the book and you can see how it affects different people even if they grew up in similar circumstances.

If you’ve been affected by issues stemming from your childhood, then this book will either be extremely relatable, or very triggering. Perhaps both. But it might even help you look at your own issues from a different light. 

If you’re looking for a smart, fascinating thriller then this is the one for you. There are lots of things you don’t see coming and it’ll keep you turning the pages because you just won’t be able to put it down. 

The book switches between present day where the twins are dealing with the issues their childhoods have brought, and their pasts where you learn how exactly their stories ended up where they did. 

While the book has twists and turns and keeps you guessing, it’s a easily consumable read and will leave you with a feeling of satisfaction afterwards. 

Purchase a copy of the book from Takealot.com

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