3.5 stars
I love the book cover design for this one as it practically begs you to read the book during the summer or while on vacation. The story hooked me from the beginning because it had a creepy factor to it in which I wasn't entirely sure which direction the author was going to go because it felt like there were endless possibilities. I do have some mixed feelings about the big reveal and the last quarter of the story so that's why I landed on a 3.5 star rating.
Emily's life is a bit of a mess at the moment. Scott Denny is a CEO and he offers Emily a job as a housekeeper at his family's French estate. Desperate for money, Emily accepts the job. The estate is beautiful although very secluded. While Scott works in London, Emily spends her days with his wife Nina, and their daughter, Aurelia. Emily works hard sprucing up the place but she also gets to relax by the pool and eat good food. Sounds like a plum gig for Emily, right? Well, this story has thriller and suspense elements, so of course something ain't right.
The story is told from multiple perspectives which I think was a wise choice by the author as it clued in the reader that something was off with Scott pretty much from the get go. (That's not a spoiler) You know this isn't an ideal situation for Emily, but you're not sure what is wrong, or at least I didn't have a clue. And that brings me to the reveal. Somehow it managed to be both surprising and lackluster at the same time. Perhaps other readers saw it coming a mile away but I was caught off guard which is a positive in my opinion. The problem is it feels like an ordinary, uninspiring revelation. I thought the author had a good setup to something awesome and it just didn't meet my expectations. Once you find out the "big thing" it's kinda downhill from there.
Even though I didn't think this book quite met its potential, I thought it was a pretty decent read. If you are looking for something fairly easy and quick to read, this isn't a bad choice.
Thank you to Netgalley and Minotaur Books for providing me with an advance digital copy in exchange for an honest review!
I love the book cover design for this one as it practically begs you to read the book during the summer or while on vacation. The story hooked me from the beginning because it had a creepy factor to it in which I wasn't entirely sure which direction the author was going to go because it felt like there were endless possibilities. I do have some mixed feelings about the big reveal and the last quarter of the story so that's why I landed on a 3.5 star rating.
Emily's life is a bit of a mess at the moment. Scott Denny is a CEO and he offers Emily a job as a housekeeper at his family's French estate. Desperate for money, Emily accepts the job. The estate is beautiful although very secluded. While Scott works in London, Emily spends her days with his wife Nina, and their daughter, Aurelia. Emily works hard sprucing up the place but she also gets to relax by the pool and eat good food. Sounds like a plum gig for Emily, right? Well, this story has thriller and suspense elements, so of course something ain't right.
The story is told from multiple perspectives which I think was a wise choice by the author as it clued in the reader that something was off with Scott pretty much from the get go. (That's not a spoiler) You know this isn't an ideal situation for Emily, but you're not sure what is wrong, or at least I didn't have a clue. And that brings me to the reveal. Somehow it managed to be both surprising and lackluster at the same time. Perhaps other readers saw it coming a mile away but I was caught off guard which is a positive in my opinion. The problem is it feels like an ordinary, uninspiring revelation. I thought the author had a good setup to something awesome and it just didn't meet my expectations. Once you find out the "big thing" it's kinda downhill from there.
Even though I didn't think this book quite met its potential, I thought it was a pretty decent read. If you are looking for something fairly easy and quick to read, this isn't a bad choice.
Thank you to Netgalley and Minotaur Books for providing me with an advance digital copy in exchange for an honest review!