Brilliant imagery, magical symbolism, and use of objects throughout – from a favourite mug to a large sailing vessel – confirms how Tom pays incredible attention to detail of their life, within defined boundaries, but having to think outside the box. The flashbacks in Metronome are drip-feeding information you're really keen to learn - in this case why Aina and Whitney ended up on the prison island - and the reveal fell flat for me, personally, as did the reveal of Whitney's long-held secret. Shipwrecks start to appear off the coast and this is spooky and unusual, However it does provide them with food and a few pickings if they are lucky.

years, shipwrecks have washed up on the shore, empty with no sign of life and more recently, a sheep has appeared in their yard. When her fears become realised, they are faced with being stranded on the island for the rest of their lives. Just like the great Margaret Atwood in The Handmaid's Tale, this author doesn't inform the reader of how the world becomes what it is in this story. The specific episode discussing the book has not yet aired as of mid-May 2022, (NOTE: These are only available for listening in the United Kingdom) but you can watch for it in the list of Between the Covers episodes here.

The claustrophobic feel of two people spending all of their time together, with no other human company is chilling, and the little niggles of doubt and blame between them, that grow with an intensity throughout is impeccably handled. When a later event regarding the mainland is introduced, this is also skimmed over and I would have liked a little more speculation from the characters as to what had happened as well. As both characters have lots of secrets that they keep to themselves throughout the novel and we don't ever really get to understand what they all are. As a condition of their stay, they must take a pill that is dispensed every 8 hours or they die, however their date of parole is coming up and they will soon be free – or will they? Some choices might not be theirs to make, but the themes are very current, whether dystopian or not.

Aina’s observation of how the house feels at one point is expertly written; “time passes differently now, with more people in the room.How is this country so big and lacking in population that is has space to imprison people in such isolated situations. While I enjoyed it, I never managed to feel that drawn to the characters, their stilted nature kept them at arm’s length so I couldn’t feel too invested in their future. This book was just picked up by chance, because I had seen a review of it in the local press, but it has certainly made me think more deeply than the words on the page. The author clearly has a great imagination for creating worlds not quite like our own, but scarily close to what could happen in real life. As days pass, Aina begins to suspect that their prison is part of a peninsula, and that Whitney has been keeping secrets.

At times dystopian, at others speculative fiction with a dollop of suspense thriller, this is an exceptional read. However their supply drops have ceased and they are surviving off the land and the occasional shipwreck. There is no chance of escape, their survival relies on the dispensing of a tablet every twelve hours which keeps them alive.You can imagine the type of devastation on The Limits, after which everything is off kilter; is this dystopia meeting reality? I loved the premise of this book and had high hopes of learning more about a world which exiles people as punishment, making them dependant on pills for survival.

Metronome is an addictive and hugely compelling novel, I was totally enraptured by the characters and the plot.The relationship between Aina and Whitney is murky and imbalanced, with Aina not fully trusting Whitney. As it is, with omniscience at play, Watson uses the idea of funnelling his information from the broadest possible view, zooming down to the specific minutiae – and out again. A great concept, well written with a eerie and frightening premise, but overall I felt like there could have been more to this story.