56 Days

At this point, I can definitely say that I'm a fan of Catherine Ryan Howard. I think this is the third book I've read by her (yes, I'm too lazy to check...) and I've enjoyed them all.

I had mixed feelings about reading a book set during a lock-down period due to COVID-19 because, well, at this point it seems as though we're never going to be rid of this virus and I'm fairly tired of hearing about it. But the fact that I've read the author before and been happy with the results, I bit the bullet and requested the ARC for the ebook.

I went along pretty well for the first 20-30% of the book but started to lose the desire to keep going so I put it down for a bit. Picked it up a few times, read some lines, and put it back down. Then I saw the audiobook was available for request on NetGalley and thought that would be just the thing to get me back into the groove. And it did. I listened to the last 70% in about 24 hours and can happily report that I ended up liking the book quite a bit.

The thing with 56 Days is that absolutely nothing is quite what it seems. I can't give a lot of detail - read the blurb for basic stuff - because anything I would say is a potential spoiler and it's really best if you experience it for yourself. If you're an audiobook person, definitely go with that. The narrator does a good job.

There were a few points where my BS meter really started to ping but, overall, those bits didn't take too much away from the book as a whole. If you've enjoyed any of the author's other works, I think you'll like this one. Or if you haven't but enjoy imaginative mysteries, give it a shot!

Thanks to the publisher for letting me try both versions of the book. It made a big different! And NetGalley - thank you too.