So, I clearly got approved for a lot of thrillers/mysteries on Netgalley lately, judging from my reviews this week. This one was very decent and engaging to read, and I finished it within 2 days of starting it. It’s written by the same author who wrote the Pretty Little Liars series (which I’ve never read nor seen the adaptation of), but this one is not young adult. The story follows Eliza, a debut author who is rescued from a pool at a hotel late one night, drunk and suicidal (according to her family). Eliza, however, swears that she was pushed. No one believes her, especially given her suicidal history, so she sets out to prove them wrong and encounters a lot of twists and turns, and makes a lot of bad decisions along the way.
Reminiscent of The Girl on the Train’s protagonist, Eliza is not exactly likable and she’s not entirely reliable. She has a lot of gaps in her memories, and also drinks a lot of alcohol. It’s easy to believe her family that maybe she is just troubled, but you still really want to give her the benefit of the doubt. The story is told from her perspective, which also kind of puts you in her corner, and it also alternates with the story of her novel, which has some interesting potential to intersect with her life, and it really kept me motivated to keep reading and see what happened.
The feel of the book is very Hitchcockian. You can never really tell who you should trust. It seems like everyone means well, but seeing things from Eliza’s perspective also makes everyone suspect. She goes back and forth with theories, as did I. I didn’t quite crack the whole case, but some of my suspicions ended up being true, and that’s the fun of a thriller. Pretty much, this was a great diversionary read that kept me guessing and I had a lot of fun reading it. If you like fun thrillers that will keep you second guessing everything, you should definitely give this one a whirl.
Note: I received this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
More Information: Goodreads, Amazon, Sara Shepard
Any more thriller recommendations out there? Especially twisty-turny ones? Let me know in the comments!
I’m glad that you found a fun thriller in NetGalley! I find that so many books can be hit or miss for me– I have no figured out the right way to predict which books I’ll like.
Are you interested in reading Pretty Little Liars after this book? I haven’t read the book or seen the adaption either, I’m just curious.
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Honestly, probably not. I have so many other things to read and it just never quite appealed to me, but I knew it was a decent twisty turny series, which made me interested in picking up this standalone.
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Sometimes, that’s all you need! I find I often will pick up stand-alone novels when I’m in the mood for something different.
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