The arrival of a visitor from her distant past shocks Cordelia. She reacts violently to the intrusion and flees her flat to spend a drunken night at a glittering party. Surrounded by the young, beautiful and privileged she feels her age and her poverty. As dawn breaks she stumbles home through the back streets. Even before she opens her door she can hear the flies buzzing. It hasn’t taken long for the corpse in her bedroom to commence decomposing …

Skin Deep starts with a death (no spoilers here, it’s literally the first page), and the reader soon becomes aware that there is something slightly off about Cordelia, the female character narrating the story. Liz Nugent’s novel is a dark, twisted and shocking story of what takes Cordelia from an island childhood in Ireland to ruin in Nice.

I can’t think of a single book where the main character is so unbelievably self centred, Malevolent, selfish, cruel, beautiful and deeply flawed. Nugent has created an excellent central character, she has absolutely no sense of morality, whatsoever. Liz Nugent certainly knows how to create a sociopathic character, having said that, the whole novel is completely and utterly brilliant but the final resolution is stunning, not just to the ending but the whole of the story. It is dark yes, but is entirely believable and utterly authentic.

Skin Deep is a sinister and disturbing character study of a narcissistic, sociopath.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Penguin UK for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review.

“Cordelia Russell has been living on the French Riviera for twenty-five years, passing herself off as an English socialite. But her luck, and the kindness of strangers, have run out.”
Liz Nugent really knows how to draw you in to a book. From the first few pages I was hooked and desparate to know what happened next.
It’s hard to write this review though as I don’t want to spoil it for you. Even if I comment on Cordelia, I’m afraid I’d give something away!
What I can say is this is a gripping thriller and I highly recommend it.
Thanks to Penguin Random House UK and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

Thanks to Net Galley and Penguin Books UK for an ARC of this book in exchange for a review.
The story starts with a murder in the first few pages and does not return to that event until almost the end of the book, it goes back to the start with Delia as a young girl who told her father an untruth which led to the destruction of her whole family.
As a young girl she is dating Harry Russel and becomes pregnant, Harry however is not the father, his brother Peter is.
She rejects her son James from his birth. Delia continues to be self absorbed, cold,manipulative individual, I did not like her character at all
She moves from one disastrous situation to another. The book does move at a fast pace and returns to where it started with a very clever twist.

I struggled with reading this book as the pace was slow and I didn't really like Cordelia, the main character that much. She was self-centered in some ways and maybe suffered postnatal depression after the birth of her son but she was flawed from a young age.

The book started with a body in Cordelia's little place, she went to a glitzy party trying to find someone to scrounge from and then the book takes us back to her childhood so we learn all about her life and come full circle to the body.

I appreciated the chance to read this book and unfortunately it wasn't for me.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5 amazing stars!

Wow what a book. This is one of he best books I have read in the last few years. Why? Well let me tell you...

The writing style is excellent, rarely do I read a book where the main character is so unlikeable and yet the writer somehow manages to keep you engaged with the character and also rooting for them despite the fact they are truly disturbed.

The book starts and you think you know where it’s going and yet it twists and turns and there are a few moments where you have to read the line/paragraph again to check what you think happened really did happen.

The story spans four decades and yet the book doesn’t drag or feel over long, helped by the cleverly interspersed old cautionary tales that Delia’s father has told her and the occasional short chapter told by different characters.

The ending is fantastic and truly fitting.

Highly recommended and I shall now be reading all the author’s previous books.

Born evil or just selfish? The main character Cordelia comes across as a horrible person in this psychological novel. Opening up with a dead body in her apartment the story then takes us on journey of her earlier life, her childhood, her marriage and her child which she seems to have abandoned. However is it possible that actually Cordelia suffered post natal depression or psychosis ?
A good read even though I really didn’t like Cordelia!

Another dark and twisted tale from the always excellent Liz Nugent, Skin Deep may have one of the most appalling and unlikable characters I have come across in quite some time, but there is a sharpness to it that made it a book I could not tear myself away from, so much so that I read it in a single sitting. With the dramatic opening I have come to expect from this author, and then a leap in both time and geography to Delia's early years on a remote island off the west coast of Ireland , I was hooked, and desperately needed to know what would make this young girl a cynical, avaricious killer , and as the story unfolded I was certainly not disappointed.
While many of the psychological thrillers I have read recently have veered into ludicrousness , this book kept its feet firmly on the ground and is all the better for it. It is a testament to the authors skill that she can take such an unsympathetic and unlikable character and still make her story compelling and of course, highly entertaining,

I really loved this book. I found it gripping, dark and totally involving. A totally unlikeable and unreliable narrator, yet I became utterly captivated by her story. Highly recommended for a rather sinister and chilling story.

A riveting, twisted tale of narcissism, Skin Deep is a truly disturbing story of Cordelia Russel, the most despicable woman I've came across for a very long time.

Skin Deep is as slow a burn as it gets, without ever turning into a boring recollection of a stunning, but reprehensible woman's life. There aren't many twists, turns or great revelation, but following Cordelia from the age of seven until present is chilling enough without the author having to throw in some sensationalist crap just for the sake of it. If she were a child now, growing up in a well educated family, Cordelia would most likely have been diagnosed with oppositional defiant disorder and possible narcissistic personality disorder before one could say "what a little shit she is".

But as it happens, she grows up on a tiny island, near Westport, Ireland. The islanders are strange, everyone agrees, and Cordelia is possibly Queen of All Strange. When she ends up on the mainland, she puzzles everyone around her. She's quiet, doesn't have many friends, and unbeknownst to most, seems to have a knack for playing people against each other.

Manipulative, cunning and enthralling, once you get under Cordelia's spell, it's nearly impossible to get away.

Is there anything in her past to serve perhaps not an excuse, but an explanation? Grab the book and find out!

With stunning descriptions and evocative prose, Liz Nugent transports you to small Irish towns, bustling London, the beautiful French coast, and inside the mind of a peculiar woman.

I previously read Lying in Wait and really enjoyed it so had high hopes for her next novel. Unfortunately I can’t say the same for this book. I found the beginning so slow it was putting me off reading it. I couldn’t gel with the main character so sadly this is a DNF for me.

Really enjoyed this book, it was a compelling story and I couldn’t put it down. Delia was a troubled character, moulded by her Father and the mysteries of the remote island she grew up on. Completely different to anything I’ve read before and I’d thoroughly recommend it.

Wow, what a book! Utterly mesmerising, completely propulsive and with a voice as stark and bleak as anything I have read.
Cordelia Russell is an astonishing character. She was born beautiful and in her daddy’s eyes she could do no wrong. She was the Queen of Inishcrann, or so he told her most days, though being Queen of a small island with a tiny population was perhaps not the most she could aspire to; but for now it was enough.
She knows she is special and that’s what drives her forward. From an early age she has learnt how to use what she has to get her own way and she does that with barely a thought for her impact on others. In short, Delia is cunning, manipulative, entirely without empathy and both shallow and narcissistic.
All the time I was reading the book I had the nature v nurture argument rolling around in my head, but in the end I have had to conclude that perhaps some people are just born that way. Regardless, Delia is almost certainly a sociopath, if not a psychopath.
As she grows up, she is looked after by a range of people, most for reasons of human kindness, yet for Delia, these people are just a succession of opportunities to get what she wants.
Throughout the book there is an impending sense of disaster, it’s like watching an implosion in slow motion, and that’s where the real suspense lies. Deeply affecting, horrifying and absolutely remorseless, Delia is a character who both compels and horrifies in equal measure.
This is really strong writing with more than one repellent character, but which nevertheless mesmerises the reader. A real triumph of prose writing that completely transfixes the reader and keeps you needing to read to get to the end.

When the rhythm in your heart beats with the sound of the sea you can expect good and evil to come and go with the ebb and flow of the tide. Starting off in poverty on one of Ireland's islands our main character Delia's life takes many turns involving many men and situations and concludes in a dramatic and unpredicted way. A family where history repeats itself in many ways, where beauty turns to its opposite and love has consequences.

Skin Deep - what an apt title!

From the outset it was obvious that Delia's beauty was on the outside and that everything good came to her as a result. Until the day of the fire when it was all taken away from her and her ugly past came back to haunt her.

This book had me gripped from the beginning. I couldn't understand how a human being could be so heartless, self-obsessed and cruel and used people for what she could get out of them.. Throughout the book you are constantly asking "is she going to change now? or "when will she get her punishment for what she is doing?" The book is unsettling and uncomfortable in parts but it stays with you during the day until you stay up through the night to finish it to see what way it played out in the end.

The writing is excellent to the point whereI actually felt like I was in Inishcrann, London, Nice and Monaco with Delia..

A lot of the characters in this book are unlikable particularly Delia and its hard to fathom them or understand at times why they behave the way they do. This book is full of twists and turns you are not expecting.

Having read Liz Nugent's other two books (Oliver being my favourite) - I think this book will definitely be another one that will stay in my memory and has been my best read of 2018.. Highly recommend

Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin for letting me read this book in exchange for an honest review.

i was really excited to receive an arc of this book after reading the narrative and it did not disappoint.

the story starts with the main character, delia, waking after another heavy drinking session to find a dead body in her flat. her immediate thoughts are of her own self-preservation as has been her way of thinking from birth. born to a dysfunctional family on a remote and densely populated island near Ireland, delia was idealised by her father and learned to be manipulative and deceitful to get what she wanted from an early age. the story follows her life after a tragic incident renders her an orphan and banished from the island.

the plot is gripping and the author cleverly writes delia’s character in a way that you cannot have any sympathy for her, she causes misery and destruction wherever she goes.

this is definitely a book you must read. many thanks to netgalley and the publishers for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was not really what I was expecting - I must not have read the summary description properly. This was one book that the title really fits the story. This was one book that I found it hard to find any good feelings towards the lead female character. The book progresses like one of those many stories spanning several decades with ups and downs as life progresses I did enjoy reading the book as you do not know how the story will develop until the timeline reaches the event in the first chapter. I found myself thinking about the Peter Sarstedt 1969 single ' Where Do You Go To My Lovely' with the back streets of Naples replaced by Ireland. The twist near the end was very clever and I had not expected. Difficult to get a good conclusion but the author has achieved this. successfully with justice done.

I am sorry as much as I tried, I could not get to grips with the main character Cordelia. She come across as a horrible person in this psychological novel. Opening up with a dead body in her apartment the story then takes us on journey of her earlier life, her childhood, her marriage and her child which she seems to have abandoned.
Maybe it was the character that did it for me or the storyline, but a good tale is spun here.

Great storyline allowing Delia’s story to grow throughout. Interesting to have others viewpoints at various stages

Narcissism
Beauty is only Skin Deep!

What lies beneath?

Skin Deep is a breath-taking, expressive and ultimately heart-breaking novel.

Narrated through the eyes of Delia, the story is a lifelong revelation of a stunningly beautiful, manipulative, narcissistic woman. In Delia’s mind, instilled by her father, she was the Queen of Inishcrann and the world was her oyster. From Ireland to London, to Nice and Monaco, Skin Deep is a roller coaster of a ride from opulent highs to brutal destitute lows. You travel on this journey with Delia, not as a willing companion but as a captivated observer.
“I knew this wasn’t normal. I know that I wasn’t normal. I have never needed people, just the comforts they could offer me”

The characterisation, dialogue and landscape are superbly portrayed, and the manner you partake in this story is due to the wonderful writing of Liz Nugent. The pace never slows and keeps going to the final page.

This is a brilliant book and probably the best book I’ve read this year. Delia is a character you’ll not easily forget.

Many thanks to Penguin Books UK and NetGalley, for an ARC version of the book in return for an honest review.

I wasn't sure what to expect of this book , Id never read anything else by Liz Nugent. It was fantastic, stayed up late finishing it which I haven't done in a long time. The stortline was original and the author brings you right into the story through the voice of the main character. Descriptions of the scenery make it very easy to imagine the setting without deflecting from the main story. An addictive read I will be recommending to everyone.