This story was really deep with what it was using as it's topic. It was well written and told from 3 viewpoints however there were points were it seemed to get a bit long winded before reining back into the story.

The Eye of the Beholder is a dark revenge thriller about trauma, female identity and the male gaze. Although it was a quick read the action is relatively slow-burn, flicking backwards and forwards in time and between narrators. The characters do feel a little superficial at times, but Orford's exploration of misogyny and the different ways it can manifest is unrelentingly evocative.

A dark and thought-provoking read.

I liked the synopsis of The Eye of the Beholder and it was enough to catch my attention. I read it quite quickly, but didn’t find myself engaging as much as I’d have liked.

There are dark themes providing the backbone of this story and some violent topics including rape, child abuse and emotional abuse, as well as touching on abortion and miscarriage. I wish I’d known that was what I was going into.

Due to these dark themes, I wanted to connect more with these characters. The mystery is wound through two different plots, although I guessed early on that they were connected. But while you get a lot of snippets from the characters backstories, I never felt I knew them. Their emotions were kept apart: I never felt their fear, anger, hate etc, only told that it was there.

This meant that the characters didn’t balance the dark themes – you weren’t invested in them enough to want their happy endings/the bad guys get their comeuppance and all of that. You needed that connected to be able to accept some of their choices rather than a mother who kept abandoning her child and a woman-turned-killer (although that’s an understandable development).

The flashbacks to the past slowed the plot down, further stalled by the switching narrations. I wanted to be emotionally invested, but couldn’t immerse myself entirely.

That said, I did want to see it through and know how it ends. It’s a solid read, just didn’t blow me away.

The Eye of the Beholder tells the story of Cora, Freya and Angel. Cora is keeping something from her daughter Freya and Angel is searching for a missing art curator. They are connected by a terrible secret.

Told from the perspective of the three women, you are instantly caught up in their lives and drawn into what drives them. I loved that it was completely unpredictable.

A really dark story but beautifully written, it will stay with you long after the last chapter.

An interesting thriller, but not one I found particularly thrilling. It is at times skin-crawlingly uncomfortable; I found the thread of abuse through the lead characters’ storylines difficult to read - as it should be, but the fact I found it difficult to read whilst easily reading the usual Murder narratives in thrillers was interesting.

Discomfort i can cope with, but what didn’t work so much for me was the description of the art and the recurrent theme of the make gaze. It struck me as technically proficient but alienating, which may have been the point but overall left me cold.

Cora carries secrets her daughter can't know.
Freya is frightened by what her mother leaves unsaid.
Angel will only bury the past if it means putting her abusers into the ground.
One act of violence sets three women on a collision course, each desperate to find the truth, when the people they love are not what they seem. Definitely some jaw dropping moments! I highly recommend reading this book! Its well worth the thrill!

A book that will stay with me for quite a while, I'm thinking. The male gaze, indeed...

Praise for those books that are the after-effect of #MeToo, like this one. Therefore it deserves a place on my books-that-matter shelf here on Goodreads

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book.

This was a riveting read that I still don't know what to write down, because I am still processing it. Evocative, immersive and emotive. I was gripped from the very first page. A triumph.