I listened to Fellside on Audible

Genre: Thriller

Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group

Published: April 7th, 2016

Pages: 496 (hardback)

Audiobook length: 15 hrs and 35 mins

Synopsis by the publisher:

Jess Moulson is convicted of murder. But it’s a murder she can’t remember committing. Nothing is quite clear from the drug-fuelled night when a blaze set in Jess’ apartment killed the little boy upstairs. But when the media brands her a child killer, she starts to believe it herself.

Now she’s on her way to Fellside, the biggest, most formidable women’s prison in Europe, standing in the bleak Yorkshire moors.

But Jess won’t be alone in her prison cell. Lurking in the shadows is an unexpected visitor…the ghost of the 10-year-old boy she killed. He says he needs her help – and he won’t take no for an answer.

The Review

"This ghost story is one that stands out from a lot of other ghost stories I've 
read, just like The Girl with All the Gifts stands out from a lot of other 
zombie stories. It's a thrilling ride that had me curious and wondering."

Back in 2015 I read The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey and I fell in love with the story and the writing style. So when I heard about Fellside coming out, I knew I had to pick that up as well. And even though I had it on my radar way before it was actually published, it took me way longer to get to it than planned. Better late than never, right?

Going into this novel I wasn’t really sure what to expect. It’s listed as a thriller, but the synopsis mentioned the ghost of a boy, so the appearance of something paranormal was very likely. Just the way I like it!

The writing style of Fellside was every bit as good as The Girl with All the Gifts. It’s a completely different kind of story, but the way that M.R. Carey gives insight into the minds of his characters really makes them come alive. And even though there were quite a lot of characters throughout the story, I never found myself confused as it shifted between them.

One of the things that I thought was brilliant about this story, was the fact that there were no saints here. This is a story set in a prison, and even though you have characters you like and ones that you’ll find outright horrendous, none of them are completely innocent. All the drama and corruption inside the Fellside prison adds another layer of depth to the story.

Jess was a character it took me a while to really feel connected to, but once the reader gets under her skin, she’s quite an interesting character indeed.

I thought the paranormal elements in Fellside were executed very well and made it easy to visualise what was going on. It’s not just a paranormal thriller, there’s a bit of mystery in there as well!

Fellside held quite a steady pace for most of the story, and after a while it really did escalate. The ending as well was very satisfying and not what I expected.

This ghost story is one that stands out from a lot of other ghost stories I’ve read, just like The Girl with All the Gifts stands out from a lot of other zombie stories. It’s a thrilling ride that had me curious and wondering.

A really enjoyable read, and I can’t wait to see what M.R. Carey comes up with next!