Book Review: The Skylight by Louise Candlish

Publication date: May 27th 2021
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
Pages: 91

Summary:

They can’t see her, but she can see them…

Simone has a secret. She likes to stand at her bathroom window and spy on the couple downstairs through their kitchen skylight. She knows what they eat for breakfast and who they’ve got over for dinner. She knows what mood they’re in before they even step out the door. There’s nothing wrong with looking, is there?

Until one day Simone sees something through the skylight she is not expecting. Something that upsets her so much she begins to plot a terrible crime…

From the author of Our House, the British Book Awards Crime & Thriller of the Year

Source: Goodreads

Thoughts:

This book is part of The Reading Agency‘s Quick Reads, of which I have a few. The agency is promoting reading in the UK, where 1 in 6 adults struggles with reading. For every book in this series sold, the agency will donate a copy to someone who finds reading difficult.

Written by Louise Candlish, this is a short story that follows a lady called Simone, just 91 pages. Proud to own her first home, Simone’s flat overlooks her downstairs neighbours and she has a birdseye view of their kitchen via their skylight. One day Simone sees something she probably shouldn’t have.

To say much more would be a spoiler, especially as this story is so short.

This was an easy read, but in complete honesty, this wasn’t the story for me. I found the plot line to be predictable and the ending didn’t really come as a surprise. I also struggled to feel anything for the characters, which, although difficult to achieve in such a short space of time, meant I didn’t really care about what happened to them.

I enjoyed this book as something quick between longer reads. I think I’d have enjoyed a little more mystery, something to keep you guessing and then a shock ending in the final pages. Perhaps I need to pick up the author’s award winning novel ‘Our House’ for that.

Overall rating: “The Skylight” is a quick read that you can read in one go. It was a little too predictable for my tastes and I probably won’t be recommending it. A 2 star read for me.