Publish Date : 6/19/18
Author: B.A Paris
Started: 5/23/18
Finished: 5/27/18
Rating : ⭐⭐⭐
Thanks to Netgalley, the author B.A Paris, and St. Martin’s Press for sending me a copy of the book to review. All opinions are my own.
Summary from Goodreads:
A young British couple are driving through France on holiday when they stop for gas. He runs in to pay, she stays in the car. When he returns her car door has been left open, but she’s not inside. No one ever sees her again.
Ten years later he’s engaged to be married; he’s happy, and his past is only a tiny part his life now. Until he comes home from work and finds his new wife-to-be is sitting on their sofa. She’s turning something over in her fingers, holding it up to the light. Something that would have no worth to anyone else, something only he and she would know about because his wife is the sister of his missing first love.
As more and more questions are raised, their marriage becomes strained. Has his first love somehow come back to him after all this time? Or is the person who took her playing games with his mind?
My Review:
In part one, the story is told in two parts, “Now” and “Before,”. Both of them are significant to understand the story but I was most interested in the “Now” plot as it was always filled with drama and twists. The plot is the star of this show as our characters are a little dry. Ellen and Finn have very little detail. Layla has the most but it’s because every section pretty much revolves around her life. Finn was unreliable right from the start as well other other characters. Some of the other characters were a bit vague and I think the author sometimes left out important details and then just wrote details of important events that happened into a dialogue. That can be a bit annoying sometimes but it can also lead to a longer unnecessary book that a short dialogue can fix. I get it; but, it did feel a little incomplete in this particular book. I didn’t quite like Ellen because she seemed too complacent. Finn’s friends also were unlikable for me. Ruby was the most redeeming to me. A subplot between her and another character that I won’t mention in order to steer clear of spoilers also felt unfinished and unnecessary to the story.
I had a hard time putting this down when I picked it up. Thrillers always intrigue me and I actually like being surprised so I don’t often like having the story be solvable. This story seemed to me like I had solved it very quickly but I was wrong which is always pleasant. There is nothing I like better than being shocked and surprised when reading.
As I started onto part two, I started picking up on character traits from others that seem naive and innocent but surprisingly occur too often and are creepy. That is where I started to look more into characters more and I’m glad that I did because my hunch was correct.
As with most thrillers, I cannot say much more about the plot or story without giving it away but it is well worth a read. The title is very fitting in hindsight and I enjoy when titles have such a significance that you don’t know of until you’re reading. It’s a mystery within the mystery in this case.
I am in love with thrillers so I’m also beginning to think that I have too high expectations of things going in hence the 3 stars. It’s been a bit of time since I found something I loved and raved about. However, I did enjoy this read as I said already. It was a read that I did have a hard time putting down when I got the chance to pick it up and was shocking.