From the Bookshelf of What's the Name of That Book???…

Strange Sally Diamond

Liz Nugent

Why we're reading this: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...…more
[close] https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

No group discussions for this book yet.

What Members Thought

Mar 29, 2024 Melinda Worfolk rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction, mystery-suspense-thriller, women-authors, 2020-2024

I went into this knowing next to nothing, just that it was recommended as a good thriller/mystery. It grabbed me from the first two paragraphs and I ended up reading it in less than 24 hours.

I really don’t want to spoil it for anyone else who wants to read it, so I’ll just say that I thought the first 90% was excellent but I did not like the ending. (view spoiler) I went into this knowing next to nothing, just that it was recommended as a good thriller/mystery. It grabbed me from the first two paragraphs and I ended up reading it in less than 24 hours.

I really don’t want to spoil it for anyone else who wants to read it, so I’ll just say that I thought the first 90% was excellent but I did not like the ending. (view spoiler) However, even though I didn’t like the ending, the first 90% was so good I definitely don’t regret having read it.

This book is funny and touching but also highly disturbing. So, be warned. Content warnings: (view spoiler).

First two paragraphs:

“Put me out with the trash,” he said regularly. “When I die, put me out with the trash. I’ll be dead, so I won’t know any different. You’ll be crying your eyes out,” and he would laugh and I’d laugh too because we both knew that I wouldn’t be crying my eyes out. I never cry.

When the time came, on Wednesday, 19th November 2017, I followed his instructions. He was small and frail and eighty-two years old by then, so it was easy to get him into one large garden garbage bag.

...more

1 like · Like · see review

Sep 08, 2024 ScottK rated it liked it

📚 ***Book Review*** 📚
3✨'s (possibly 3.5)
I was highly entertained by this book. But it did not "wow" me. What it did do however, is it started me thinking about how trauma affects others, long after the traumatizer is gone. About just how many people's lives this one person affected. I got really invested in the life of Sally, and others that she interacted with. This is my first read by this author, but I have a feeling I will be looking for more of her work. ...more

Like · see review

Apr 29, 2024 Nadine in NY Jones rated it liked it

Shelves: fiction, stayed-up-way-too-late, suspense-thriller, broken, crime

This was an entertaining and highly engaging page turner, I read it almost non-stop. But it was also disappointing. The subject matter was relentlessly depressing, in the sort of "how many lives can this one abuser fuck up" kind of way. And it did not have any closure, it just ... ended, with everyone mostly as fucked up as they started (in some cases worse, in some cases a bit better). ...more

Like · see review

Sep 07, 2025 Monica rated it liked it

Shelves: donated

What is the mystery of Sally's past? How does it come back to haunt her and is the mystery solved?

I really wanted to like this more than I did. It had all the elements indicating a good read but just didn't hit. Lots of heavy themes. ...more

Like · see review