What would you do if someone you knew came back from the dead?
“A deceptively cloying and dark roiling undercurrent weaves its way through the core of this taut, original novel, with layered and nuanced characters, complex, slow-burn plotting, and a tense climax. Anna Woods, I’m a fan.” – Nicola Moriarty
Gin is an architect on the brink. LIT, the Auckland-based practice she shares with her girlfriend, Clary, has been precarious since their third partner – Clary’s ex, Billy -disappeared, presumed dead.
Now, several years later, LIT’s financial problems and Gin’s personal debts are snowballing. Clary – emotionally fragile since the disappearance – is growing increasingly remote and elusive. When Gin begins to be haunted by glimpses of Billy, she blames stress and guilt. But could he be back, threatening to expose the past?
Trapped in a web of secrecy and betrayal, Gin’s downward spiral gathers force as she begins to suspect her paranoia hides an even more shocking truth – one that will send her whole life up in flames.
This stunning debut literary-suspense novel from award-winning writer Anna Woods explores the insidious charm of those who gaslight us, and examines the blurry line between love and control.
‘LIT is a highly sophisticated thriller, pulsing with paranoia and suspense, its claustrophobic tension tightening with every page. Anna Woods’ debut is the ultimate slow burn, elegant, compulsive and haunting.’ – Rose Carlyle, author of The Girl in the Mirror
‘Sharp, twisty and atmospheric. Woods is an exciting new voice in psychological suspense.’ – Rachel Paris, author of See How They Fall
(3/5)
Such a drawn out, boring read amidst a scattering of “dictionary-hunted” words and a dull storyline.
I found the characters vague and very frustrating indeed.
The ending was so easy to guess, as it made sure that society got its everyday ho-hum drivel to make everyone happy.
Maybe I missed the mark or my imagination unravels a tale different from others, but not being one to tell people not to read, I’d recommend giving it a go, and unlike me, you may enjoy the experience
(4/5)
Anna Woods’ debut book, LIT, is a psychological thriller focused on relationships, control, and perception.
It follows Gin, an architect whose life unravels after her business partner disappears. But it seems he may not be gone after all.
This isn’t a fast-paced thriller. It’s a slow burn that builds tension over time. The story feels claustrophobic and very character-driven.
There is a constant sense of unease, and you’re often left questioning what’s real.
The characters are messy and morally ambiguous, which makes the relationships feel unpredictable and a little dark.
If you enjoy books like Gone Girl and The Girl in the Mirror, then you will really enjoy LIT.
(4/5)
LIT by Anna Woods is a gripping thriller set in Auckland that keeps you hooked from start to finish. The pacing is sharp, the tension builds beautifully, and the setting adds a vivid, atmospheric edge to the story. It’s an exciting, immersive read with just the right amount of intrigue and twists. Definitely one to pick up if you enjoy fast-paced thrillers.
(4/5)
Be careful what you wish for.
I always read the front /back covers and study their graphics before I read a book. Unusual, however, I find this adds to the story and often contains an additional character. LIT certainly intrigued me.
LIT draws you into a dark human conflict that certainly reflects everyday society. Love, hate, possession, lies, fraud, and bonding all make for a very engaging and readable story. Even though there are three main characters, Billy, Gin, and Clary, it is the other characters who orbit the story that are the most engaging. I loved the financial dealings for their balance of simplicity and complexity that knitted all the characters and story together from beginning to end.
Weirdly, I kept remembering the line “It tastes of slugs” from Gin. To me, this might be a metaphor for the book context: trust your gut feelings and always follow your instincts.
I enjoyed the whole experience of reading and reviewing a new book and would highly recommend it to others.
(3/5)
I found this book discomforting to read, which I imagine was the author’s intent. Our point of view character, Gin, is in a constant state of stress and worry as soon as the book starts, and it only escalates as the story continues. I won’t be reading it again, as just thinking about it makes me start to stress for her again.
A lot of the stress comes from the unknown event that Gin is constantly thinking about, which made her business partner (and her current girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend) disappear mysteriously. As there aren’t many details about the disappearance revealed initially, there’s this gnawing unease present throughout the first half of the book. Alas, once the reasons are revealed, it’s not as satisfying or dramatic as it could have been.
The characters all frustrated me (again, I believe this was intentional), and they continually dig themselves into deeper holes and fail to make obvious choices. This made me want to yell at them several times. I think I could have sympathised with Gin better had she not been mostly the architect of her own downfall (just realised that was a pun!)
A tense, disturbing read that it took me a while to recover from.
(3/5)
LIT is a psychological thriller set in a failing architectural practice in Auckland. Clary, Billy, and the main protagonist, Virginia (Gin), were business partners until Billy disappeared three years ago, and everything has been falling apart ever since.
Gin is deep in crisis and trying to hide it. Now she owes money everywhere, her relationship with Clary is failing, and she thinks Billy is stalking her – even though he was supposed to be dead. The tension increases as events close in around Gin. Clary is increasingly distant, debt collectors are circling, Billy won’t go away, and now an investigative journalist is digging.
While I appreciated the premise, unsettling language choices and frequent similes were jarring – ‘touching her knee, smooth and cool as a refrigerator egg’. Unfortunately, the characters were so awful that by the end, I did not care about Gin’s life choices, Clary’s fragility and narcissism, or Billy’s rich-boy issues.
The setting in Auckland is vivid, and I enjoyed the descriptions of Gin and Clary’s very bougie life and the inner workings of an architecture practice. LIT is a debut, and the plot pulled me along to find out what really happened at LIT three years ago.
(4/5)
The story starts off gripping you, holding you close, as Gin ponders murder, and quickly thereafter being told that Billy, who had been promised to be gone, was supposedly back.
Written with a “wall break: where first person and second person are blended seamlessly to provide the reader a part of the story, almost like a confidant for Gin, allows for a deeper hold on the reader.
The story is filled with suspense and paranoia, leading to feelings of apprehension as your thoughts tumble and turn through the sprinklings of the past alongside the current.
The only downside is the lack of quotation marks, meaning I could only really pick the book up and read when I had a clear mind, ready to dive in. If I were too tired, my mind wouldn’t let me see where the conversations were, and everything just ran.
I definitely recommend it if you are a fan of thrillers and mysteries.
(3/5)
There is no doubt that Anna Woods is a talented writer. Her Auckland-based scene building for the thriller LIT was evocative. Her development of a cast of troubled and morally grey characters was intriguing. The gradual buildup of suspense across the novel’s narrative was creatively written.
The main characters are purposely untrustworthy – Architect Gin, her Architect girlfriend and business partner Clarissa (Clary), their Architect business partner and Clary’s ex boyfriend Billy, Clary’s wealthy parents Therese and Antony, and investigative journalist April.
Gin’s narrative compels us to continuously question whether she is a naively loyal victim, a complicit opportunist and unreliable narrator, or something in between. Woods has done a good job in this regard, because even though the narrative is slow and frustrating at times, I still wanted to know the truth, not just Gin’s perception of it.
That said, it felt like a failure to launch effectively, a literary parallel of the fortunes of the young architecture firm, LIT, on which the novel is centred.
Despite the evolving intrigue in the story, the ending felt anticlimactic and unresolved. LIT tempts the reader to expect a “Gone Girl” type twist, but we are ultimately left wanting more.
(4/5)
At first, I struggled, and it took me a little bit to get into this book, but once I did, I really started to enjoy it. I really began to question who was the one who needed help and who was really in control.
Gin’s love for Clary is quite twisted and more about wanting control, which she struggles to have. Caring for Clary, who is mourning the passing of her boyfriend, is supposed to give Gin the upper hand. The stresses over the financial situation of the business and the sightings of Billy, who is supposed to be long dead, just add to the drama and the stress for Gin. Add in the journalist who begins asking many questions about a former client of the business and the fears about money laundering.
There are a lot of twists and turns and a lot to consider. I loved that the book is set in Auckland, New Zealand, as it’s a city I know well, and all the locations mentioned in the book were ones I knew, so it was easy for me to picture them in my mind.
(3/5)
LIT has plenty of suspense and the story keeps you guessing. The author does a great job building unease and distrust between the characters. While it dragged a little to begin with, the twists and overall tension made it an enjoyable read.
(4/5)
LIT is a great psychological read that will keep you guessing the whole way! The characters’ relationships are complex, and the writing makes you really feel intimately connected. It’s a good, quick read that will keep you turning the pages.
(5/5)
I have read some of Anna Woods’ short stories and was delighted when I received a copy of her first novel. LIT is a well-written literary thriller that challenges our friendships and who we can trust. Anna Woods gives such a good description of the place, and I could feel the paranoia created by not just the people around her, but their homes and offices.
LIT itself became a very interesting part of the novel, with details of the place architecture plays in our lives, and went so well with the Auckland and New Zealand setting.
LIT is a slow novel, which is what I prefer, and always knowing there was some big twist coming made it a great read.
(2.5/5)
An extremely slow and frustrating read that I really did struggle with. The premise had me intrigued, but the execution was lacking. Told in first person, we hear the story from Gin, an anxious and nervous woman with big secrets. It was a book that just couldn’t bring myself to get too excited about once I started it, as much as I wanted to really enjoy it.
Set in Auckland, Gin is an architect in business with her girlfriend, Clary. The 3rd partner, Billy, is missing, presumed dead. He is also Clary’s ex-partner. Is Billy dead? Is Gin going mad when she starts to see him everywhere she goes? What happened that night?
For me, there was a lot of buildup to a disappointing ending. The characters were all so hard to care about, especially Clary, who was truly awful, especially to Gin. The other thing that put me off was the amount of technical details about the architectural side of the story. It was too much and went over my head, taking me out of the story.
If you enjoy a slow burn, unlikeable character focus story told in first person, then this may be the book for you. Unfortunately, it didn’t work for me.