Blog Tour: The Taking of Annie Thorne by C. J. Tudor

Hey guys! I was lucky enough to be asked to take part in a blog tour for a book that I’ve been patiently waiting for the release of! With not long before the official publication, here are my thoughts on The Taking of Annie Thorne by C. J. Tudor!

Here you can find my review of the book as well as all of its details and a little more about the author! What more could you want?!

You can also check out my thoughts on C. J. Tudor’s first novel, The Chalk Man (which I loved!) here!

Synopsis:

It arrived in my inbox just over a month ago. Surprising, really, that it didn’t get shunted straight into junk.

Sender: MSG@hotmail.com

Subject: Annie

‘I know what happened to your sister. It’s happening again…’

Because when my sister was eight years old, she disappeared. At the time, I thought it was the worst thing that could ever happen.

And then she came back…

Review:

First things first, I had high hopes for this book. After reading The Chalk Man a few months ago, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on C. J. Tudor’s newest release and I have to say I was most definitely not disappointed! If you’re a fan of mysterious goings on in small towns and creepy younger siblings, then I’d definitely say that this book is one for you.

This book follows Joe Thorne, main character and man with a sketchy past, returning to the small, cliquey town of Arnhill after receiving a mysterious message from someone claiming that they know what happened to his late sister. Apparently, whatever it was, it’s happening again and Joe is intrigued enough to return.

There are so many things that I enjoyed about this book. It had everything I love in a thriller – creepy children, unexplained deaths, strange notes turning up and a main character mixed up in things he shouldn’t be. Tudor has a real talent with creating such an eerie atmosphere that really sends a chill up your spine. The descriptions of the Pit and Annie’s strange behaviour really haunted me and had me vividly imagining myself in those situations. Another thing I love about Tudor’s storytelling is that we start off with a vague hint of what mysterious events happened to Annie and are left with so many questions – what are the links to the other boys at school? Where did Joe’s limp come from? What’s the connection to Julia and Ben? We then get told bits and pieces to fill in the gaps, spinning the tale expertly and drawing the reader in so that the last thing you want to do is put the book down.

As for what I disliked, there honestly wasn’t much. The only thing that I would have liked was more information on the Pit – trying not to give away any spoilers but you’ll know when you’ve read it 😂 I feel like there was more to it than we were told, especially with the way that it was described but maybe it will be a feature of a future book!

Overall, I really loved reading this book as it had so many of the things that I love to see in a thriller, as well as a hidden easter egg as a nod to The Chalk Man which I really appreciated! This book is definitely one to watch, especially for thriller fans, and I’ll be on the lookout for any of Tudor’s new releases!

Rating: 4/5

Author Bio:

C. J. Tudor was born in Salisbury and grew up in Nottingham, and has recently moved to Kent with her partner and young daughter. Her love of writing, especially the dark and macabre, started young. When her peers were reading Judy Blume, she was devouring Stephen King and James Herbert.

Over the years she has had a variety of jobs, including trainee reporter, radio scriptwriter, dog walker, voiceover artist, television presenter, copywriter and, now, author.

Her first novel, The Chalk Man, was a Sunday Times bestseller in both hardback and paperback and sold in thirty-nine territories.

You can check out the thoughts of some other wonderful book bloggers on this book throughout the rest of The Taking of Annie Thorne blog tour!

Are you looking forward to reading this book? I’d love to know your thoughts on it! You can always find me over on Instagram and Twitter if you’d like to discuss this book (or any others that I’ve featured) in more detail 😌