[REVIEW] Tangerine by Christine Mangan @LittleBrownUK

What first attracted me to this book is the absolutely stunning cover. I love everything black and white especially these kinds of photos so this was an immediate add to my to-be-read list. I didn’t base my decision of reading this book on it being optioned for a movie because that doesn’t attract me as much as the book itself does. I have to admit that I can see this book as a movie but I would be very careful who to cast for these roles.

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Tangerine is set in Tangier, Morocco and it follows two women, Alice and Lucy. Their friendship is a strange one because of the horrific past that follows both of them. The book begins with the reappareance of Lucy  and a rather peculiar reaction from Alice. Is Lucy supposed to be there? It goes back and forth from the past and slowly reveals the happenings that took place when they were in college to the present where they are re-connecting their friendship. From the beginning we can see the strangeness that surrounds Lucy but also the spell she has cast on Alice. I don’t want to describe the story any futher because I  feel like the synopsis of Tangerine reveals a bit much about the plot. This is all you should know before going in.

Tangerine has a symbolic name because it’s doesn’t represent the fruit but something else you’ll have to find out when you pick it up. The characters were well crafted and the setting made the story ten times more interesting because I don’t usually see these kinds of stories set in the 1950’s. Mangan has a great way with words and can really paint a picture with her sentences which I particularly enjoyed. As I mentioned when it comes to the synopsis of the book I feel like it could ruin someone’s experience and I wish it was more mysterious because I didn’t feel shock when it came to certain scenes. From the synopsis you can tell that Lucy is someone who plays a major role in the book and I have to say that she was a great character. The ending was interesting because I didn’t expect it to end like that and I had a different scenario in mind which sort of fell short for me. Even though I had some issues with it I feel like the book will attract many readers who’ll fall under its spell like I did.

This book cover is one of my favourite ones this year.

Christine Mangan’s Tangerine is a great debut novel set in the 1950’s Morocco which is centered around two women whose friendship is  a very dangerous one but also a very intriguing one at the same time.

I would like to thank the publisher Little Brown UK for sending a copy of this book my way in exchange for an honest review. Opinions written in this review are my own and have not been affected by anything.

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Christine Mangan has her PhD in English from University College Dublin, where her thesis focused on 18th-century Gothic literature, and an MFA in fiction writing from the University of Southern Maine. Tangerine is her first novel.

Find her on: Instagram and GoodReads.