Book Review : The Girl On The Stairs by Louise Welsh

I picked up this book whilst Bradley & I were book shopping in Waterstones. I'm usually a chick-lit kind of girl, but thought I'd try something a little darker, and this book caught my eye. It sounded gritty and I'd never really delved into a mystery or thriller before, so I thought I'd give it a go.

Jane, a heavily pregnant Brit, moves to Berlin, Germany to live with her lesbian partner Petra, a stylish wealthy banker. With Petra always at work, Jane is left feeling isolated and alone with her own thoughts, in a trendy apartment overlooking a graveyard and spooky looking derelict building that she soon is convinced holds a few secrets. Jane soon becomes aware of their neighbours, Dr Alban Mann and his teenage daughter Anna. She hears awful shouting through the walls and after spotting Anna with bruises on her face, puts 2 + 2 together, and comes up with abuse. She is convinced Mann is abusing his daughter and sets out to help her and find out what happened to her estranged mother Greta Mann. Anna feels frustrated when nobody believes her, putting her bad judgement down to her pregnancy hormones. But when Petra leaves on a business trip, Jane makes it her mission to become detective..

I can't put my finger on what frustrated me about this book. It wasn't the kind of book I couldn't put down, I did keep having breaks throughout reading this and it took me a while to finish it, but that said, I HAD to finish it, I HAD to find out what happened. 

It was written well, and was pretty easy to read. Louise Welsh describes the setting well that I could easily put myself there, picture the surroundings and feel the tension of the storyline. 

But, there were times that I didn't quite understand what was going on. I often measure how good a book is by whether my mind starts wondering off, and I have to go back and start the page again as I have no idea what I just 'read'. :)

Welsh writes in a way that you quickly decide whether you like or dislike characters, I even found Jane annoying at times. But I was desperate for the story to start twisting and turning. I was expecting more mystery and excitement as the story unfolded, but felt slightly disappointed. 

To be honest, I was a little underwhelmed with the ending, it was a little confusing and more of an anticlimax than the thrilling ending I was hoping for. The ending was almost 'rushed' I felt too. 

Don't let me put you off though. Go give the book a read and see what you think yourself. But personally, I was expecting a little more from it, the story has so much more potential. It wasn't a BAD story don't get me wrong, I just think it could've been so much better. 

Have you read this book, what did you think??

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