The first half of this book was brilliant. I had a nagging suspicion of what the first “Big Reveal” was going to be, though I was still blindsided. The second half was more subtle yet more fast-paced: the plot was working toward another reveal, but it wasn’t as obvious (at least to me). These are my favorite kinds of books – the ones where I have absolutely no idea where the story is heading. They’re fun because every page is a surprise, every twist and reveal is a shock.
I also enjoy books where the narrator is notoriously unreliable – Vanessa was still in emotional turmoil after her divorce from Richard and reeling from the revelation that he was now engaged to the “other woman.” Her revelations about the past read like a pile of jumbled-up snapshots that were scattered and never returned to chronological order. Even when she relays something about her and Richard’s past, you can’t fully trust her version of the truth.
"In my marriage, there were three truths, three alternate and sometimes competing realities. There was Richard’s truth. There was my truth. And there was the actual truth, which is always the most elusive to recognize. This could be the case in every relationship, that we think we’ve entered into a union with another person when, in fact, we’ve formed a triangle with one point anchored by a silent but all-seeing judge, the arbiter of reality."
Overall, this was a fantastic female-centered story. It was an important story about female relationships: how marriage can change them, how jealousy can fuel them, and how women can either be each other’s best friends or worst enemies. It was also an important story about how love can change a person, for better or for worse.
The writing was phenomenal and kept me guessing up until the last page. Even though there are tropes that feel familiar – the unreliable and jealous ex-wife narrator, the possibly-lying and possibly-manipulative husband, the “other woman” who destroys their seemingly-happy marriage – they feel fresh and new in the hands of co-authors Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen. If you haven’t read this yet, read it. This book isn’t what it seems on the surface. Instead, it’s so much more.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced copy of this eBook in exchange for an honest review.
I also enjoy books where the narrator is notoriously unreliable – Vanessa was still in emotional turmoil after her divorce from Richard and reeling from the revelation that he was now engaged to the “other woman.” Her revelations about the past read like a pile of jumbled-up snapshots that were scattered and never returned to chronological order. Even when she relays something about her and Richard’s past, you can’t fully trust her version of the truth.
"In my marriage, there were three truths, three alternate and sometimes competing realities. There was Richard’s truth. There was my truth. And there was the actual truth, which is always the most elusive to recognize. This could be the case in every relationship, that we think we’ve entered into a union with another person when, in fact, we’ve formed a triangle with one point anchored by a silent but all-seeing judge, the arbiter of reality."
Overall, this was a fantastic female-centered story. It was an important story about female relationships: how marriage can change them, how jealousy can fuel them, and how women can either be each other’s best friends or worst enemies. It was also an important story about how love can change a person, for better or for worse.
The writing was phenomenal and kept me guessing up until the last page. Even though there are tropes that feel familiar – the unreliable and jealous ex-wife narrator, the possibly-lying and possibly-manipulative husband, the “other woman” who destroys their seemingly-happy marriage – they feel fresh and new in the hands of co-authors Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen. If you haven’t read this yet, read it. This book isn’t what it seems on the surface. Instead, it’s so much more.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced copy of this eBook in exchange for an honest review.