If you’ve been reading my blog or following me on Twitter, you’ll know I love a good simile. For most people, a simile will blend into the writing and they may not even notice they’ve read one.  Or they may be more apparent in a song, for example Elton John’s famous lyric: “And it seems to me you lived your life like a candle in the wind.” Or ‘Like a Rock’ by Bob Seger, who is not technically a rock.

However, for some people, probably lots of writers, and particularly ‘simile-obsessed’ me – once you start noticing them, you’ll keep noticing them. This is a good thing, because there are so many beautifully written similes making the story come alive on the page, revealing information about characters and even foreshadowing what’s to come!

Here are seven similes I’ve read and enjoyed recently.

1. “One lion had pink balloons tied to his paw, bobbing in the breeze like a cluster of airborne haemorrhoids.” – Those Pleasant Girls by Lia Weston

Lia Weston’s hilarious novel about a mother and daughter trying to fit into a town of quirky characters is filled with delicious similes, making it hard to choose only one for this blog post. This simile hints at how thrilled they are to be attending a bridal shower for a pink-obsessed, Buble-loving real estate agent.

2. “The gun slid out of Whitt’s hands as he hit the floor of the boat shed, the weight of the kayak that had been slung across the ceiling knocking him into the ground like a nail bent beneath an enormous hammer.”  – Fifty Fifty by James Patterson and Candice Fox

The next instalment in the Harriet Blue series is all fast-paced action and suspense, with visual writing that drives the story forward. In this scene, Harry’s former partner confronts a serial killer.

3. “Behind us Rodney is playing basketball again. The sound of the ball hitting the wet concrete is like a hand smacking against bare skin.” – The Dark Lake by Sarah Bailey

Simple but active descriptions such as these set the scene as protagonist Gemma questions potential suspect Rodney over the death of his beautiful schoolteacher, creating a feeling of unease about what’s to come.

4. “She ran straight into Leo’s open arms, unable to stop the tears from falling, feeling at last defended, like a single musical note that had finally found the symphony to which it belonged.” – Her Mother’s Secret by Natasha Lester

I won’t say too much in case I spoil the surprises in this beautiful story, but this simile perfectly encapsulates an emotional scene between two of the main characters.

5. “I didn’t cry or feel anger or anything, but I shook and shook so much that it made me giggle, which made Matt look at me like I’d screamed. Honestly, it was like I was on one of those vibrating chairs in the shopping centre. Like I was a vibrating chair.” – An Isolated Incident by Emily Maguire

Main character Chris narrates the story and her voice is captivating from the first few words. Her grief at identifying her dead sister is almost palpable in this scene.

6. “He advances like a floating Dracula. The menace is ruined by the sporting-goods-store bag loudly crinkling against his leg.” – The Hating Game by Sally Thorne

Sally Thorne’s tale about co-workers who love to hate each other is a laugh-a-minute ride. Language like this shows how Lucinda really feels about Josh when he catches her lurking near his desk.

7. “She pulls her pad from her bag and starts to sketch the scene: the long bridge, a small figure straddling the railings, clinging on, her dress whipping around her as though desperate to pull her back from fate, her hair lifted like kite tails in the breeze.” – The Hidden Hours by Sara Foster

It’s similes such as these that make me wonder – did this just pop into the author’s head? If so, I’m very envious. You can really see the woman and feel the wind when you read this vivid description of main character Eleanor’s troubled mind.

What are you reading at the moment? Have you noticed any similes? Or have you included a few in your own work in progress? If so, please share them in the comments below.

Warning. Do not accept Facebook friend requests that come from beyond the grave. Especially not when the request is from someone you’ve wronged. But of course, if single mother Louise Williams had taken this advice, we wouldn’t have the page-turner that is Friend Request.

Curiosity gets the better of Louise one night and she accepts a Facebook request from Maria Weston – a girl from high school she hasn’t seen in 25 years. Seems fair enough – loads of people reconnect with old schoolmates on social media, right? Including people they thought they’d never see again. But Maria disappeared forever on the night of the leaver’s party, presumed drowned. Louise thinks Maria’s death was all her fault, due to the part she played in a vicious bullying scheme.

But what really happened that night?

Is Maria still alive? If she has been alive all this time, why has she waited until now to make contact with Louise? And if she’s not alive, then who else knows what really happened, and how far are they prepared to go to avenge Maria?

I first became aware of Laura Marshall’s gripping domestic thriller when it was shortlisted for the Bath Novel Award 2016. After reading the excerpt, I had to know the real reasons behind Maria’s mysterious request, and was pleased to see the novel was being published this year.

The narrative alternates between the present day and Louise’s last year of high school in 1989. Louise is so desperate to be liked by cool girl Sophie Hannigan, and her crush, Sam Parker that she is willing to do whatever it takes to be popular, including rebuking Maria’s friendship and taking illicit drugs. Laura Marshall adeptly conveys the desire to fit-in and the loneliness of being on the outside, describing the unpopular girls sitting alone at lunch with their untouched food, staring unseeing at the book in front of them.

The suspense increases when Maria’s messages turn ominous and Louise becomes paranoid that someone is following her, playing on her guilt about her involvement in Maria’s demise. She’s prepared to go to great lengths to stop the truth from coming out, focused on protecting her much-loved young son, Henry. But this becomes increasingly difficult when someone is murdered at the high school reunion and the police start asking questions.

As a fan of traditional whodunit mysteries, I sometimes mourn how modern technology has made mystery writing more challenging. Secret, lost letters are now easy-to-find emails. Mobile phones make it less difficult for characters to get themselves out of danger and trickier for writers to think of ways to put their protagonist into suspenseful, inescapable situations. However, Laura Marshall has used this to her advantage by crafting a mystery that explores how these advancements, particularly social media, have presented predators with new and inventive ways to target victims – terrifying possibilities that could never have been explored in an Agatha Christie novel.

Friend Request is also a reminder that people’s lives on social media are not necessarily an accurate representation of reality. At one point in the story, Louise reflects on a school mother using Facebook to share too much personal information about her relationship break up.

I’m amazed by the extent to which some people live out their lives on here. This woman doesn’t even say hello to me on the rare occasions I see her at the school gate, yet I know all the gory intimacies of her love life.

And even more dangerously, sometimes people are not at all who they say they are.

Friend Request by Laura Marshall is published in Australia by Hachette. I won an advanced reader copy from Hachette Australia, which forms the basis of this review.