Jennie Ensor

I’m sure the subject matter of sleeping with your best friend will be a familiar one to a lot of people! As to if it’s the best idea in the world? Well that is as individual as the individuals involved! Of course friendship and turn into love and im sure there are many happy couples out there that started this way, but i also imagine there to be a fair few ruined friendships or friendships that have changed out there down to that one impulsive decision!

The story centres around the love triangle between Georgie, Julian and Nikolai, a former Russian soldier who has issues of his own.

After sleeping with best friend Julian he decides to tell her that he has been in love with her for years, having never realising his feelings for her she takes a step back from their friendship having profound effects on them both.

Georgie then meets Nikolai and despite always being wary of love due to previous heartbreak falls for the russian soldier non the less, but as time goes on she begins to witness how deeply war-time incidents in Chechnya have affected Nikolai and begins to suspect that the Russian is hiding something terrible from her.

Then London gets attacked! Is she reading too much into the situation or is the situation a lot closer to home than she wants to even think about!

As for Julian, rejection hasn’t been easy for him to accept and it has turned him into her own personal stalker. Something no one needs or should have to endure. We get to see things Julian gets up to that Georgie doesn’t, emails, the middle of the night phone calls , the sitting in a tree to spy, following wherever she and Nicolai go, escalating to the point beyond unpredictability.

This book is full of twists and turns, misleading clues and the odd red herring that it makes sure it keeps you reading and guessing! And just to keep you on your mental toes even further there are more aspects to this book besides the relationships between characters. It deals in a very real sensitive way with the 7/7 London attacks as well as tackling themes such as terrorism, immigration, family, sexual relationships, trauma, secrets, guilt and regret!

I think that this will be on of those books that leaves a lasting impact on the reader by the end of the book.

Well worth a read, even if this isn’t in your normal genre of books. Very impressive debut novel and it will be very interesting with where the author takes us next!… (more)

For most of us, reports in the newspapers and on the television about the fatal stabbing of a young person and possible links with gangland culture feel far-removed from the realities of our day to day lives. However horrified we may feel when we first become aware of the latest senseless loss, how much ongoing thought do we then give to what might have motivated the violence, to the impact on victim’s family, friends and the local community, or to the ensuing police investigation? I cannot imagine that anyone who reads Jennie Ensor’s deeply disturbing, but utterly convincing, novel about the intimidating, terrifying nature of gang culture, the grooming of vulnerable young people and the difficulties the police face when trying to investigate these crimes, will ever again be able to read these headlines without giving thought to the human stories behind them.
The story is told through the first-person narratives perspectives of the three main characters: teenagers Luke and Jez and Callum, the police officer in charge of investigating the apparently motiveless killing of fifteen-year-old Solita. This was an attack which took place in broad daylight, and in view of plenty of witnesses, but the conspiracy of silence within the community, the fear of retribution from members of the Skull Crew, frustrates Callum’s efforts to bring the perpetrators to justice. Solita’s mother knows who’s responsible but, not even for her dead daughter, dare she expose them – the gang’s power is absolute. For anyone who has never had to face this level of intimidation, this conspiracy of silence is probably difficult to understand, let alone empathise with but, by giving her three narrators such distinctive, authentic voices, the author enables the reader to live inside their worlds, to follow the thought-processes which determine their behaviour, to gain insights into just how easily vulnerable youngsters can be exploited and to understand how difficult it can sometimes be for people to ‘do the right thing’.
Although Luke and Jez’s reasons for becoming members of the Skull Crew were very different, what they had in common was a sense of anomie, something which made them vulnerable to being ‘expertly’ groomed by unscrupulous adults. Through their eyes I was drawn into the apparent inevitability of the decisions they were making, able to understand how their desperate need to belong, to feel loved and accepted, drew them deeper and deeper into a violent world they could see no escape from. By giving them such powerful voices the author made me care about them to such an extent that, even though I knew I was absolutely powerless to change the outcomes she’d already mapped out for them, I found myself desperately wanting to protect them from their self-destructive behaviour.
Callum’s narrative was equally compelling, allowing me insights into the challenges he faced during the investigation as he attempted to gain the trust of witnesses, to begin to break the gang’s influence on the community (and even on some corrupt members of the police team) and to protect any ‘whistle-blowers’. With his gradual revelations about the extent to which traumatic events from his childhood continue to haunt him, to shape his behaviour as an adult and which have contributed to the fraught relationship he has with his son, I felt similarly drawn into his inner-world. Without going into any detail, it gradually becomes clear that one of the reasons he is able to empathise with Luke’s predicament is because there are certain parallels in their experiences which force him to face some uncomfortable truths. As I want to avoid spoilers, I can’t give the context of one of his observations towards the end of the story … that some people are punished for things they haven’t done, whilst others never are for things they did … but in many ways his reflection encapsulates a theme which runs through this story – that for some people the odds are stacked against them and that true justice is often elusive.
All the time I was reading it was obvious that in order to have written such a multi-dimensional and convincing story which, however horrifying at times, never felt over-exaggerated, the author must have done considerable research into all aspects of this subject. The brilliance of her ability to convey how individuals and a whole community can be so effectively terrorised and silenced meant that as I was reading I found little respite from an escalating sense of tension. It’s not often that a novel engenders such a visceral sense of fear in me, but her portrayals of vicious, sadistic gang members were so convincing that there were moments when I felt terrified of them and could understand why witnesses were reluctant to come forward … it certainly made me question whether I’d have found the courage to do so.
This hard-hitting, hauntingly sad, thought-provoking and totally unforgettable novel would be an ideal choice for book groups … and I think it should be essential reading for police officers and social workers!

*****… (more)

Blind Side is a superb debut novel from the pen of Jennie Ensor. From the opening prologue to the very last page, I was completely immersed in Georgie's story as we are transported back to London, 2005 - set before, during and after the 7/7 bombings.

The book opens with a short prologue that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and I simply couldn't read fast enough to find out what had happened. Jennie Ensor cleverly keeps us in suspense as we have a whole lot of story to get through before my curiosity could be satisfied.

We meet Georgie and her friend, Julian, on the opening page. Julian has given Georgie a pair of earrings on Valentine's day, but apparently they're just friends. At least that's what Georgie thinks. As they listen to the dulcet tones of Norah Jones and drink a few bottles of wine, Julian tells Georgie that he wants more than friendship. My head was screaming 'Danger!!' but the wine performed its magic trick and all their clothes fell off. For Georgie it was just sex, for Julian it was a whole lot more.

Georgie realises that she has made a mistake by sleeping with Julian; one evening her troubled mind guides her into a bar where she is drawn like a moth to a flame to Nikolai, a dark and brooding, rugged Russian. From the moment they first meet, it is clear that Nikolai is troubled; he was a soldier who fought in Chechnya and we can only imagine the horrors that must replay over and over in the minds of all servicemen and women. Fate has brought Georgie and Nikolai together but Julian is determined to tear them apart. As Julian becomes so 'crazy in love' we have no idea how far he will go to remove Nikolai from Georgie's life. We've all heard of a woman scorned, but what happens when a man is scorned? Read Blind Side to find out.

Blind Side is a wonderful exploration of trust in a new relationship, especially during the difficult and volatile period following the 7/7 bombings. As we suddenly became suspicious of our friends and neighbours, we ask ourselves the question, 'How well do we really know people?' Georgie wants to trust Nikolai but he's clearly hiding something and her friends and family won't stop pecking away at her and watering the seeds of suspicion.

There are so many subjects and issues to discuss in Blind Side, that I think it would be excellent for book groups. For me, I think one of the major points for discussion is the plight of immigrants. They live in such poverty and are so keen to work that employers do take advantage of them with low pay and poor conditions. Blind Side really is a multi-faceted read; it's so much more than a love triangle.

Blind Side is an absolutely stunning debut from Jennie Ensor; so thought-provoking and profound that every reader will get something different out of reading it. I'm so excited to read the psychological thriller than Jennie is working on next. If it's half as good as Blind Side it will be a cracker!

I received this e-book from the publisher, Unbound, in exchange for an honest review.… (more)

I discovered Jennie Ensor in 2016 when I read her stunning debut, Blindside, but oh my word is her second book worth waiting for. The Girl In His Eyes is difficult to read because of the subject of child abuse, although it is not in any way graphic, but it is the emotion pouring out of every page that really got to me. Jennie Ensor has poured her heart and soul into this book and it shows as you can't fail to be moved by this story.

Right away I could tell that Laura was very disconnected from her family; she no sooner arrived at her parents' house than she was ready to leave. It must take an unbelievable amount of strength to be in the same room as her father knowing what he did to her as a child. Laura has never told anyone what happened and bottling that up inside has caused such damage to her self esteem that it made my heart break. When her father shows interest in another young girl, Laura must find the strength to speak out whatever it costs.

Superbly written, The Girl In His Eyes is such an intensely emotional book that I had to pause often to catch my breath and keep my emotions in check. I have never felt such a huge spectrum of emotions whilst reading a book, ranging from anger and disgust right though to sadness and hope. The Girl In His Eyes is so exceptional that I could give nothing less than 5 stars for this heartbreakingly emotional book.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.… (more)