The Reunion by Polly Phillips

Synopsis

A chance to reconnect.
A chance to get revenge . . .

Emily Toller has tried to forget her time at university and the events that led to her suddenly leaving under a cloud. She has done everything she can to forget the shame and the trauma – and the people involved. She has tried to focus on the life she has built with her children and husband, Nick.

But events like that can’t just be forgotten. Not without someone answering for what they’ve done.

When an invitation arrives to a University reunion, everything clicks into place. Emily has a plan.

Because if you can’t forget – why not get revenge?

Review
The Reunion appealed to me as it is a thriller with revenge at the centre. There is a split timeline in this book as we see Emily Toller now, happily married, with twins and on her way to a college reunion at Cambridge with her husband. She normally avoids this type of event, but tonight she is going to exact revenge on those who betrayed her and ruined her life. The second timeline sees Emily at Cambridge, studying law and enjoying university life with her there friends, until one night sees her flee before her final exam. Both timelines are packed with suspense and drama as the plot rushes towards the shocking conclusion.

They say revenge is a dish best served cold, and for Emily that is true as she has waited nearly twenty years to exact revenge on her friends. Emily is an intriguing character, she seems to have it all, a loving and wealthy husband and two beautiful children, but underpinning her happiness is a feeling of shame she has had since university. The two different timelines show two very different versions of Emily, at Cambridge she was full of life, carefree, in love and also studied hard, and in the present, she is happy with her husband but also harbouring a plan of revenge encouraged by her sister Helen. Her past has left her with self doubt, and even in her plan of revenge she questions herself, if she is doing the right thing. I thought her relationship with her sister was endearing, Helen was there for her throughout and encouraged her to get her life back on track. As a woman I couldn’t help but feel empathy for Emily and really wanted her humilate those who hurt her.

Polly Phillips cleverly has tension and suspense in both timelines that kept me on the edge of my seat. In the past there is the events that lead up to Emily fleeing Cambridge, and in the present the fallout from her actions of revenge. The plot is fast moving with a lot happening in it’s three hundred and forty pages, with several heart in the mouth moments, and surprises along the way. Polly Phillips also includes some emotive scenes, mainly between Emily and her sister that give light in the darkness of Emily’s vengeance. The setting of Cambridge was beautiful, the history around it, the beautiful architecture and the insight into student life. What I especially liked was that Polly Philips set both Emily’s humiliation and her revege in the same place, the idea of Karma and what goes around comes around.

The Reunion is a fascinating look at how events from the past still cast ripples in the present. You can’t help but root for Emily, to stop hiding from her past and step into the future she deserves. With poisonous friendships, love, betrayal, and plenty of menace this is an engaging and utterly compelling read; delicious and dark.

I’d like to thank Simon & Schuster and Tracy Fenton for invting me to be part if the blog tour for this book.