The Exclusives by Rebecca Thornton

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 378

Publisher: Twenty7 Books

Released: 10th of December 2016 

In 1996, Josephine Grey and Freya Seymour are best friends and on the brink of great success. Both are students at the elite private school Greenwood Hall and Josephine, the daughter of the advisor to the Prime Minister, is heading for everything she has ever worked for: Head Girl, Oxford, the demons of her mother finally abated once and for all.

But in 2014, Josephine is hiding in Jordan — and has been for eighteen years since those catastrophic events in her last year at school. And then one day she is found. Freya, whom she has not seen since those fateful four months, insists on meeting to revisit their difficult past once and for all and finally lay to rest the events that have haunted their adult lives ever since. But Josephine can’t bear to — it only took one night for their whole lives, friendship, and even selves to unravel beyond comprehension. They have done truly terrible things to one another in the name of survival. She most of all.

All she has ever wanted was to forget, but Freya is no longer willing to let her and now at last, Josephine is to meet her reckoning . . .

What I Have to Say 

I enjoyed reading this book. It was written in a way that was captivating, compelling the reader to read on, but I found that there just wasn't much emotion in the writing. 

At first I thought that it was the character, as she holds a lot of what she's feeling inside, pushing it down and refusing to think about it. That still may be the case, especially as throughout most of the book she is subconsciously blocking out some of her memories, But even at the end when she was more in touch with her feelings, I still felt that it was almost completely lacking in emotion. 

That said, I did really like the character and it was good to see that the book focused on the dangers of suppressing emotions, as it's something I feel is really important. 

I'd be interested to see other books by this author, so I could tell whether it was written this way deliberately or all her work is as emotionless as this was.