“They don’t know what I did. And I intend to keep it that way.

How far would you go to win? Hyper-competitive people, mind games and a dangerous natural environment combine to make the must-read thriller of the year. Fans of Lucy Foley and Lisa Jewell will be gripped by spectacular debut novel Shiver.

When Milla is invited to a reunion in the French Alps resort that saw the peak of her snowboarding career, she drops everything to go. While she would rather forget the events of that winter, the invitation comes from Curtis, the one person she can’t seem to let go.

The five friends haven’t seen each other for ten years, since the disappearance of the beautiful and enigmatic Saskia. But when an icebreaker game turns menacing, they realise they don’t know who has really gathered them there and how far they will go to find the truth.

In a deserted lodge high up a mountain, the secrets of the past are about to come to light.”

Hello and welcome to damppebbles. Today I am delighted to share my review of Shiver by Allie Reynolds. Shiver was published last week on Thursday 21st January by Headline and is available in hardcover, audio and digital formats. I chose to read and review an eARC of Shiver but that has in no way influenced my review.

I tried very hard to resist this book but I failed, and I’m so incredibly glad I did. I saw it mentioned a few times on blogs and the socials and it immediately caught my attention. But I am trying to be stronger this year. Yeah, who am I kidding?! So Shiver became my first NetGalley request of the year….and it blew my socks off! I’m still suffering from a bit of a book hangover several days after finishing it.

Milla and four other snowboarders (well, one hanger-on) are attending a reunion at a resort in the French Alps. Milla isn’t sure she wants to attend after what happened last time they were all together. But her crush, Curtis, will be there and the desire to see him is just too much. In fact, he’s the one who invited her so it would be interesting to see if she still feels the same. When they arrive at the resort they find it’s deserted. It’s off-season though so it’s no great surprise. Perhaps the staff will arrive soon. When an ice-breaker game asks some distressing, unsettling questions, the five attendees start to wonder what’s going on. There is no escaping the past. Last time they were together the abrasive, hyper-competitive Saskia went missing and has never been found. Now someone wants answers and they’ll stop at nothing to get them…

I loved Shiver. It reminded me of a Lucy Foley novel in some ways (and I love Lucy Foley). Add to that the dangerous and atmospheric setting of the Alps and I was hooked from the very start. I wanted to return again and again to my copy of the book. When I wasn’t reading, I was thinking about the story. Trying to work out how things were going to turn out, picturing the snow covered mountains and the pure terror of being trapped in such a hostile, unforgiving environment. Absolutely flipping marvellous. I lived and breathed Shiver.

There were a couple of tiny things which I didn’t love so much but the overall story and the setting were so strong, I still fell madly in love with the book. For example, this is a book about snowboarding and each chapter is told in either the past or the present. I adored the ‘present’ chapters. The ‘past’ chapters paint the picture perfectly of what happened during that fateful season all those years ago. But there are a heck of a lot of technical snowboarding references and as someone who hasn’t paid a lot of attention to the sport (let’s be fair here, I’ve never really paid any attention to sport full stop! 😂), it all went over my head a little. I found myself googling a couple of things but by doing that, it took me out of the story. But, on the plus side, it’s clear the author knows her stuff and has put her love of snowboarding into the pages of Shiver. It shines through and you can’t knock that really.

I didn’t warm to any of the characters but I loved how dark Saskia’s personality was. She was, by far, my favourite character in the book. I’m not a reader who needs to fall in love with the characters to enjoy a story. All I want are strong personalities (good or bad….doesn’t matter to me) who stand tall from the page and that’s exactly what the author has achieved.

There are lots of lovely twists and surprises in store for the reader in Shiver. I was able to guess one aspect of the story and I had an inkling about another, but the author managed to keep me from committing to my idea by throwing sufficient doubt into situations so I was never 100% sure of anything! This is a suspense thriller so it should come as no surprise that nearly all of the characters carry a secret they would rather not have revealed. Reynolds keeps her reader on the very precipice of a snowy mountain by drip feeding information piece by tantalising piece, and I loved it. I wanted more. I had to know what was going to happen!

Would I recommend this book? I would, yes. I heartily encourage you pick up a copy of Shiver if you enjoy contemporary mysteries with great big dollop of suspense (don’t we all?!). I loved the setting, I loved the story and I loved the way Shiver wormed its way under my skin. It became a bit of an obsession for the five days I was reading it. Oh, and this is the author’s debut novel. HER DEBUT!! I think the future is very bright for Allie Reynolds and I’m certainly going to be keeping an eye out for future releases. Highly recommended.

I chose to read and review an eARC of Shiver. The above review is my own unbiased opinion.

Shiver by Allie Reynolds was published in the UK by Headline on 21st January 2021 and is available in hardcover, audio and digital formats (please note, the following links are affiliate links which means I receive a small percentage of the purchase price at no extra cost to you): | amazon.co.uk | Waterstones | Foyles | Book Depository | Bookshop.org | My Bookshop.org Shop | Goodreads |

Allie Reynolds is the author of the thriller SHIVER, which will be published in January 2021.

Born and raised in Lincoln, England, she moved to Australia in 2004. She lives on the Gold Coast with her two young boys and a cat who thinks he’s a dog.

Many years ago she competed at snowboard halfpipe. She spent five winters in the mountains of France, Switzerland, Austria and Canada. These days she sticks to surfing – water doesn’t hurt as much as ice when you fall on it.

Her first ever job was a Saturday job in a bookstore, at age 14. She taught English for many years and became a full-time writer in 2018.