Author: Mary Kubica
Narrator: Jeremy Arthur and Piper Doodeve
Playback: 11 hrs 52 min
Publisher: Harper Collins
First Published: February 18, 2020
Book Description: Sadie and Will Foust have only just moved their family from bustling Chicago to small-town Maine when their neighbor, Morgan Baines, is found dead in her home. The murder rocks their tiny coastal island, but no one is more shaken than Sadie, who is terrified by the thought of a killer in her very own backyard.
But it’s not just Morgan’s death that has Sadie on edge. It’s their eerie old home, with its decrepit decor and creepy attic, which they inherited from Will’s sister after she died unexpectedly. It’s Will’s disturbed teenage niece Imogen, with her dark and threatening presence. And it’s the troubling past that continues to wear at the seams of their family.
As the eyes of suspicion turn toward the new family in town, Sadie is drawn deeper into the mystery of Morgan’s death. But Sadie must be careful, for the more she discovers about Mrs. Baines, the more she begins to realize just how much she has to lose if the truth ever comes to light.
Book Review:
I have mixed feelings about this read. While reading it I got the feeling this was not the best way to start off my month.
Warnings: Adultery, cheating in previous relationships, mental illness presented in a negative way. It mentions bullying, depression, suicidal thoughts, manipulation and narcissist characters. Mentions of child abuse.
First off, the characters are unlikable- all of them.
The MC Sadie, is a middle aged woman, she is a doctor and is married. She is a very annoying woman, she is insecure and totally in her husband's control. She is not friendly, too judgemental over the rest of the world, and as a mother she seems to be more distant than anything else. She is a very bad guardian, Her niece is a teenager and she is distrusting and cold towards her. Sadie does not really make an attempt to communicate, she is the adult and yet she insists on blaming the bad relationship on the attitude her niece has. The girl just lost her mother, she is mourning and yet instead of looking for ways to get close to her; Sadie dislikes her and does not communicate. I don't know I just do not like her.
The husband Will, a professor. He is clearly a manipulative husband. He is a psychopath, he does not seem to be remorseful nor actually care for anyone other than himself. The marriage is actually in very bad shape. I don't understand why Camille or Sadie would want to save it.In their defense, Will is very charming when he wants to be, he definitely knows how to manipulate people and situations.
The writing style: I liked it, we follow several POVs and you have no idea why, at least initially. You will be able to put things together as the story progresses. We follow Sadie, Camille, a little girl who goes by the name Mouse and a little bit of Will ( he only come sin towards the end).
We see what each person is going through, they are set in different timelines, some shows us the present, others the past but it's a few days ago, a few years ago and a long long time ago. You do not know it initially, you're not sure what timeline they represent. So to start off, it feels a bit jumpy as you're not sure why those perspectives are showing up.
It was a very intriguing read, I could hardly put it down, I was very interested in figuring out the mystery, as you go you will probably guess the ending. But the intrigue is enough to get you immersed in the story. So this can be counted as positive, it was written in such a way that you can't put it down. If the warnings above do not bother you, then I'm sure you will be enjoying this read!
So I'm going to discuss a few things that bothered me, and I can't do that without spoiling very important plot points.
Sadie has a split personality. She is not aware of it. So she misses time, she has conversation with her children that she's sure she never had. some of her personalities, dislike her existence, but it seems they are not aware that they are in the same body as Sadie. But this reveal is used as a huge plot point and used for the reason of her becoming a murder. She is a murder because of this split personality- that itself is a huge issue for me. The fact that we continue to show that mental illness people are violent and can commit such crimes because of their condition- well that gives such a negative representation, I just wish authors stop using this specific troupe.
The other point I have issues with. Cheating is something that angers me a lot. The fact that Sadie "forgives" Will and then he continues to deny the cheating and act with absolutely no remorse? That angers me a lot. He was caught cheating with another of Sadie's personality, but he also cheated or attempted to- with at least one of his students. So another No-No relationship here. I just dislike Will, he is a selfish, arrogant man. He is very manipulative to his family, especially his wife. And makes everyone see his wife as a crazy, possible alcoholic woman, I'm just very annoyed that in every murder mystery, the woman is depicted in this way.
**** End of spoilery section
This was picked simply on a whim it wasn't really on my TBR. So not sure if this was a good idea or not. I will probably try a different book by this author; she is very well known in the genre, I hope to have better luck in another of her works.
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