This book is really not what I expected - but that's no bad thing! The synopsis definitely makes it sound like a thriller centered around a particular incident in Cordelia Russel's life, as an adult, when in fact the plot starts with her at a young age and spends a good portion of the story recounting her life growing up and as a young woman, before covering the years after. 

What I really enjoyed about this novel is that you're with main character Cordelia as she develops into the person she is - and, let's be honest, that isn't the nicest person at times! Despite her distinct lack of likability, I loved reading this novel - from start to finish. I really do enjoy reading a book about a less than perfect character who has that hint of the twisted and/or sinister about them. There are slower parts and more eventful sections, but all of it kept me turning page after page, and I would definitely recommend this.

The detail is excellent and the sense of time / place is so powerful (I could really imagine myself there on the slightly eerie island of Iniscran). Skin Deep was a surprise for me, but a brilliant one at that: a well-written, deep, character-driven novel with wonderful descriptions and a real sense of unease...

Brilliant. This is a really good thriller. Delia is really unlikeable. She is out for herself from the start. She believes what her father tells her. Her story gripped me from the start. I sat reading page after page totally pulled in by her story. I read this book in one go. I kept hoping Delia would get what she deserved. She seemed to leech off so many different people. This is a really good book which I definitely recommend and I now want to sit and read it again.

Liz Nugent is becoming one of my favourite writers - all her books are very different but all absolutely brilliant. Skin Deep is no exception- complex, original and clever storyline; masterfully drawn out and realistic characters (not just the protagonist but every character); beautiful atmospheric writing - everything about this book is first class. It's not quite a psychological thriller promised by the blurb, although it is thrilling and twisty, and gripping enough. It's more of an epic saga or a psychological drama. I really enjoyed the little inserts of Irish folklore tales, which complemented the atmosphere of the narrative.
I can't wait for Liz Nugent's next book.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.

Cordelia (Delia) Russell is an adult observing a corpse in her home when we first meet her at the beginning of this novel. There is something about Cordelia that is difficult to put your finger on. You get the feeling almost immediately that you shouldn’t trust her, but you don’t quite know why.

We are then taken back to Delia’s (as she was known then) childhood on the remote island off the cost of Ireland. The opinion of the mainlanders is that everyone on the Island is strange, it has a reputation for inbreeding. But Delia is a beautiful young girl, the apple of her Father’s eye.

Martin O’Flaherty is obsessed with his daughter, and largely ignores his wife and sons. It is this obsession that I think is ultimately where Delia’s issues start. Put on a pedestal by her devoted father, she can do no wrong.

So when she finds herself alone on the mainland, taken in by the family that find her wandering the streets whilst she awaits her fathers arrival, Delia is unsure for the first time in her life how to behave. When tragedy strikes, her behaviour only becomes worse until she is finally adopted a couple from Westport.

Delia’s childhood is unremarkable, but when she becomes a teenager, she realises how she can use her beauty to her advantage. What follows next as we follow Delia’s journey is at times shocking, unfortunate and mostly of her own making.

Skin Deep is at times a dark and disturbing novel, that may make at times for uncomfortable reading, but it is 100% worth it.

The blurb of Skin Deep completely threw me off once I began reading the book. I wasn't expecting to go through the whole of Delia's life but I am so glad it did as it was completely fascinating! I'll be honest that Liz's last book didn't really leave me thinking much but Skin Deep most definitely did. I adored how it was written and loved the little Island stories woven throughout. The island generally was something that interested me, as was Delia's chaotic upbringing and the host of characters she meets. I'm still unsure how I felt about Delia as a person herself (there were moments where she left me furious!) and whether I actually liked her but she definitely kept me on my toes which I loved. The underlying subject of beauty was one that I wasn't really sure about. It was clearly integral to the plot but the reactions (bordering on obsession) from certain characters seemed a tad unrealistic at times. That said, I absolutely tore through the book on a recent holiday and was gutted when I finished. I really enjoyed the twists and turns at the end. Will most definitely be recommending Skin Deep to friends and family!

I am afraid I really did not enjoy this at all. Just could not get into the story, did not get Delia at all. Was jumping around a bit as well, leaving me thinking what an earth is going on...

This was an interesting concept. I found it quite slow going at the start and some of it was not an easy read but that said it gathered pace and a good twist at the end.
I would recommend it if you like a little something different from the norm. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to review this novel

A twisted, disturbing book. I can't understand how people could behave in this way however, it happens worldwide. An insight into various communities and familial relationships that exist.

Liz Nugent had my heart scalded by the time I reached the devastating climax of Skin Deep.

The (anti) heroine, Delia, is a beautiful fascinating creature incapable of either feeling or accepting love and as a consequence she wreaks ruin and heartbreak on anyone fool-hardy enough to try and expect commitment from her. A sensible reader would naturally hate Delia, but I fell under her spell and even started to feel that none of the events were entirely her fault and why shouldn't she just be left to lead her life under her own terms.

Skin Deep is a satisfying, somewhat old fashioned, read (I had to keep on remind myself that it was set in 'modern times' and not in some other, less prosaic era). It is all delicious escapism and I lapped it up in 24 hours. The book is rich with a cast of well rounded and brilliantly unforgettable characters who appear from time to time to fill in the gaps and narrate the story from their personal points of view. I was particularly harrowed by the tragic story of Delia's incurably damaged but good-hearted son, James.

I could have quite happily have read much more and was quite bereft when I realised that it was finished.

Five well earned stars.

Many thanks to Ms Nugent, to Penguin and to NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this marvellous book.

I've loved Liz Nugent's previous book but Skin Deep blows them both out of the water. From the thrilling and pacy opening scene to the very end of the novel I was utterly hooked into Delia's sociopathic world. Spanning continents and decades, we see how Delia Russell transforms herself and her life after a series of unfortunate events. Using all her strengths and the people around her, she is determined to rise to the top, regardless of the cost to others.

This book is my book of the year so far - Patricia Highsmith eat your heart out!

I really enjoyed reading the story of Delia. Although she comes across as someone who is quiet strong and independent, she is actually really fragile and in need of support. I like the wat the author has crafted her, there were times I wanted to shout at her for making those choices. Overall a good read, however at times it tended to drag on.

Whilst sypathising with the heroine's strange upbringing she was so unlikeable I found myself unable to finish the book. Her only motivation in life seemed to be greed. This was a shame because the book had an interesting start and was quite tightly written.

A dark tale of Delia Walsh - a child who knew how to manipulate all the men in her life from her father to future lovers causing pain and havoc to those around her everywhere she turned.

I loved Liz Nugent's Unravelling Oliver so really looked forward to reading this however, it turned out however to be very different to what I expected however, not any less compelling.

A great read. A troubled beautiful girl. A manipulator and narcissist, who doesn't care about anyone except herself, and doesn't care who she hurts as long as she is okay. This book kept me interested from beginning to end-sad and heartbreaking in many respects, but riveting. Recommended.

Skin Deep was a well written, attention grabbing novel. I really enjoyed reading it.

From the now trademark Liz Nugents starts to the ending which is what I just call a mmm ending we are again treated to a just a few pages more story. As readers we like to feel smug by assuming we know where the story is going but NO! , we are treated to a nice little twist near the end.
A little gem of a book which I thoroughly recommend

The story starts with a bang, a decomposed body in Cordelia's flat, but then begins to falter.
The back story of Cordelia's life to that point becomes rather drawn out. It also becomes clear that she is not a very nice person, being manipulative and cruel to most people she meets, seeing them as stepping stones for her ambitions. Because of this it is difficult to care about what happens to her, except to hope she gets her just deserts.
The pace picks up again towards the end of the book, and interest in her is rekindled, but overall I didn't enjoy this as much as I had hoped.

I am a massive fan of Liz Nugent, and have been since the day I read the opening line of her first book Unravelling Oliver. What makes her books so enjoyable for me are the opening lines which always make me gasp, and this one was no different. I was enthralled from the moment I read “I wondered when Rigor Mortis would set in…”

The story starts in the south of France, with Cordelia Russell standing over a dead body in her apartment and wondering what to do. If she ran, where could she go, as she had previously isolated herself from her husband and son, and her family had tragically died in a fire many years before. The story takes you right back to how Delia became narcissistic Cordelia who seemed to ruin the lives of everyone she came into contact with.

Usually I have a favourite character, but not so in this book, and not because they were unbelievable, but because the main focus of this story is Delia, and it is actually impossible to like her, she has no redeemable features.

Although you are waiting to find out what happens to her, the story kept me guessing, and I knew there was a twist coming because Ms Nugent always puts a little treat in for us readers to keep us guessing, and when it came it wasn’t what I was expecting it to be!

I wanted to feel sorry for Delia, but I couldn’t find it in my heart, in fact, I hated her! (I hope that doesn’t make me a bad person!) This book isn’t one of those shmaltzy, happy ever after stories which is really refreshing to read, and made it more true to life.

I was gripped from start to finish, and was in one of those predicaments that us Liz Nugent fans have…I wanted to race ahead and constantly read the book, but I knew that by doing that, the story would come to an end far too quickly, and now I have a Skin Deep hangover!

I loved it, it was an enthralling, captivating thriller which has gone into my Top Three books of 2018.

I received an advance review copy of this book in return for an honest review.

It’s hard to decide how to rate this book. On the one hand, the structure of the plot was really effective for me, I found Delia’s journey from rags to riches, from riches to rags over and over to be compulsive reading and didn’t see the twist coming at the end. On the other hand, I was repelled by the events and the character of Delia (and one or two others, Freddie for example) to the extent that I just wanted it all to end. Delia’s beauty serves her sociopathic personality well and I was left pondering that eternal question of nature v. nurture - how differently could her life have turned out? Not my usual type of book and not an experience I would rush to repeat, but I much admired the author’s skill in creating an absorbing psychological drama that kept me hooked and left me thinking.

A really dark twisty read, wasn't sure if I was suppose to love Delia or hate her, she came across as very selfish and not very nice, but was that due to her personality or the circumstances of her upbringing,, a really great story told well