- Started: May 28, 2021
- Finished: May 29, 2021
- Pages: 339
- Multiple POV, Timeline Jumps, New York
- Rating: 4.75/5
REVIEW
After reading so many “slower” thrillers lately, this one was a much more typically paced read. I was able to see where the general direction of the book and guess one of the major twists around a third of the way in – the author used repetitive language in order to drop hints – but I still liked the book. Sometimes I complain when the book has an unhappy ending or I think the bad guy (or gal) gets away with their crime and this one was a mix. It was a little too corny since everyone ended up happy but I suppose they all endured their own trauma along the way; I much prefer this to a punch-to-the stomach ending that some authors go for.
Even though parts of the book were extreme and it was an overall unlikely situation, I think the characters acted pretty reasonably within those parameters. Even if when they weren’t, they were given reasons to be driven to the great lengths they took in order to achieve their goals. Each character was unique and had quirks that really added to their depth and brought life to their backstories. None of the tropes were particularly over done (or at least in books I have read recently) and it all felt refreshing, even if not the most shocking.
A lot of thrillers are compared to Gone Girl and probably unfairly so. This one, however, I think is a more apt comparison. If you have not read Gone Girl, I would recommend it after this. (If you have and think that the corny ending I mentioned in this book would ruin it, I recommend The Girl in the Mirror – review here). I would definitely recommend this book and look forward to reading more by the author.
SUMMARY
Skye Starling is excited to marry the love of her life, Burke Michaels. Sure he is quite a bit older, and they’ve barely known each other a year, but it feels right. He truly sees her and accepts her, despite her OCD and regardless of her family’s money. Her loved ones are a bit apprehensive, but she’s all in. Burke, on the other hand, knows they have a right to be suspicious: he is married and has three kid and he loves his family above all else. He details his deceit in a journal, writing letters to the couples therapist he and his wife could no longer afford. In a third perspective and timeline, one thirty years ago, Heather Prince is a down-on-her luck teenager in a poor town whose life dramatically changes when she is taken under the wing of Libby Fontaine, the woman who hires her to babysit. She is swept into the world of money and charm and realizes she has a future outside of her hometown. All three perspectives and timelines are on a crash course towards one another as the past and present are more intertwined than one could ever suspect.
Books and Lewks 