A great fast read with twist and turns until the end! The story moves quickly and got me invested fast. It certainly wasn't the direction I thought it was going for a sequel to the first book but I found this exciting and refreshing that it turned out unexpected.
This author is amazing at making you incorrectly guess conclusions and as expected twists the story away from what you thought was its natural path.
Great quick read!
I really enjoyed this story and the way in which it was told from three different perspectives all seemingly unrelated and as you read learning how they all strongly intertwined through flash backs and present times.
Although with those siloed perspectives and lots of holes in timelines it felt like it took a long time for the book to really take off once things started to connect. I also had a hard time keeping the many characters and storyline straight, and kept having to Google a character's name hoping I wouldn't read a spoiler to try to keep up with how they fell into the story.
Don't get me wrong, I'm certainly rushing into the next book because I did enjoy the story, it just wasn't a smooth read for me.
3.5 stars if that were possible.
Holy closure to the first book!
Honestly if I hadn't read the first book and felt some commitment to the characters I don't think I would have enjoyed this book. There were a lot of aspects that felt too unrealistic, such as the small town detective piecing things together from seemingly nothing or knowing every time someone is lying, movement of characters on fake documents they had been questioned about. It felt a bit far fetched.
I did enjoy learning about Racheal and in my own cluelessness/ forgetting people's names not realizing how she tied into everyone else until far later in the book. I also enjoyed Henry's twisted first perspective chapters, a broken person who puts you on edge because you never quite know what he's going to do. I found him quite gripping and engaging.
I do feel like the book dragged at the end trying to fit all the pieces of closure in, jumping from one aspect to another providing answers to wrap everything up.
I did really enjoy the story and appreciated the closure but, as I mentioned, I was already invested in the characters from book one and jumped right from finishing it into the second book. I recognize that if more time passed between reading or if I hadn't read the first book I don't think I would have enjoyed it.
One of my absolute favorite reads this year!! Each chapter told from another perspective, each with their own secrets kept me on my toes not knowing who to trust. My theories of what happened to the main character's missing brother must have changed with just about every chapter. There were so many twists and turns throughout this book it kept me gripped!
Stick with this book as it builds up because the ride down is so worth it! Having a man missing was also such a refreshing switch up from the overdone missing girl/ woman narrative. And the author did such an amazing job tying in all of the moving pieces so I left with complete closure, which a lot of books I've read in this genre have not accomplished.
Highly recommend this read!!
Enjoyable read, certainly not a game changer. Someone else called it “messy but enjoyable” and I think that sums it up really well.
A group of 6 head to a getaway at a secluded cabin where unsettling things start happening pretty much upon arrival. Intertwined with this storyline are two other characters who you learn about but can't connect until far later in the book.
My biggest criticism with this book were the number of characters and perspectives to keep track of. Not only are you reading about the crew of 6 at the cabin from swapping perspectives, you're getting two other unknown perspectives and their history as well. Hannah, Bruce, Mako/ Michael, Liza, Cricket, Cat, Henry, Bracken... it's so much to keep track of!
I also didn't love how deeply flawed each character was. In part, everyone having dark secrets helps lend to the feeling of not knowing what was going to happen or who to trust, but on the other hand it feels like a bunch of psychopaths are meeting up under the facade of normal people. It felt a bit stretched for me.
Aside from having to Google characters throughout this book to keep up and rolling my eyes at some of the secrets being unveiled, it was an enjoyable, thrilling book.
Again not a game changer but if you're looking for something enjoyable that grips you, this is a good option!
An enjoyable, quick read!
I am used to more psychological thrillers than horror/ thrillers but with the story jumping right into one of the two perspectives, the serial killer, as he tortures two victims there's really no time to adjust. As affronting as the first chapter was it speaks to how the story starts fast and doesn't let up as it continues to grip you through the storyline.
It's a pretty short book and encompassed some twists and turns that I wasn't anticipating which made for a fun read, although I feel the character development was missing a bit for me.
It reminded me a lot of a horror movie where they don't really have the time to fully develop characters and their pasts so they just kind of jump in and create a thrilling story that's a bit surface level. I also don't feel that I got as much closure on everything as I would have liked.
But for what it is, a short, fast read it was enjoyable. So I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is up for just that.
What a ride this story is! This author shows such a beautiful development of the characters from beginning to end, emphasizing this concept of growth through tough wartime, the maturing of naive girlhood to womanhood through necessity, the premature maturing of childhood to adulthood through trauma, the growth of maternal and paternal love and sacrifice through time and forced reflection.
While initially it may seem to be just another war love story, it definitely is not! It is such a stronger, far more important story of women and the many secretive ways they fought in the war from home. They weren't the ones getting the medals and accolades from returning from the war but they fought thanklessly from behind closed doors.
Although the book is quite large, the first half beautifully sets the scene and introduces to you the broken and naive characteristics of the characters that enable them to play the important roles they do throughout the war. Then comes the second half, which absolutely flies by! I was at the edge of my seat throughout the rest of this book constantly playing emotional catch up and coming to terms with the inevitable continuous loss for all of the characters throughout their horrific situations.
I also couldn't pick a more beautiful, conclusive and tear-inducing end to this story. It is everything I wanted it to be yet I couldn't stop myself from bawling all the way through it.
Historical fiction is new to me, so for anyone on the fence about it, absolutely give it a read and stick with it!! It turns into an incredible read!
What a rollercoaster of a read!! For anyone who enjoys psychological thrillers (especially if you have the tendency to correctly guess endings), run to get this book!
It reminded me a lot of bingeable shows, hitting the end of each chapter to learn some integral, shocking piece of the puzzle so as never to be at a “good spot” to put down the book. It started fast and gripped me almost immediately.
The author does an amazing job pulling you in multiple directions. So many times I thought I had come to a hard conclusion on what was happening only to make me question myself on the next page (over and over and over again). The story is told switching from 2 known perspectives and a 3rd from the killer, giving you unease about both the main two characters and every character relating to each of their lives.
This was definitely one of my favorite reads. I will surely be looking at other books from this author! Highly recommend!!
This book felt a bit slow to start for me, but looking back it was definitely necessary to truly set the scene. It tells the all too familiar story of a woman (and in this case an incredibly brilliant one) putting her life goals and aspirations aside to take place behind her male partner who in the end loses site of all of her sacrifices.
I had to dig further after finishing this read to see how much truth there is behind Mileva Marić being the brains/ theorist behind or at least in conjunction with many of Einstein's biggest theories and work. Although we may never truly know to what extent this was the case, it has been an all too common occurrence in history for women to not be recognized for their genius work. It does seem irrefutable that Mileva was brilliant and paved the way for schooling and involvement in science and math for many other women to come.
This was a heart wrenching but also really important story. Highly recommend!
Preface on this review, I did listen to this book on audiobook and I don't think I get as into books that way vs reading. This book was a bit of a miss for me. It felt a bit overly cliche with damsel in distress meets handsome bad guy who's emotionally unavailable. It was a three star for me because there were a couple of twists and sweet characters and moments, but overall for a fairly hyped book it felt kind of banal to me. The way the characters spoke sounded overly scripted, set up to be blandly “profound” and I just found many of them to be unrealistic (giving me the “this would never happen in real life” feel throughout the book).
It was an enjoyable book but definitely not one I'm running to tell everyone about.
I loved how this book switched between timelines drawing parallels between the parents' lives and the children's' lives. I also love hearing about characters from other Taylor Jenkins Reid books within the parameters of this storyline. This was a sometimes sweet, sometimes heart wrenching story about inter-generational struggles and parenting/ relationship patterns repeating themselves.
It wasn't necessarily gripping, and definitely not my favorite book from this author, but enjoyable nonetheless.
I genuinely couldn't put this book down!! My head was buzzing throughout with where I thought it all might be going and over and over again my theories were proven wrong with new twists and turns. It started very quickly so I was gripped from the first chapter and it never lulled from there. Probably one of my favorite reads!
Everything about this read felt deeply uncomfortable. From the sexualization of certain characters and sex itself having very purposeful, toxic intention to the apathetic and cruel remarks made about these small town murders of two young girls to the main character's history, relationship with her mother and her coping mechanisms, I felt very on edge throughout this whole book. With that being said, I really enjoyed it and had a hard time putting it down towards the end!
The author did a great job of pointing at certain conclusions then steering you away from them, making you feel as unsure and unsteady as the wildly unhealthy characters in the book.
Great twists and turns until the very end with the perfect amount of follow up/ tied ends to feel conclusive. Highly recommend as long as you're not looking for a “feel good” book!!
This was a great read! It was horrifying and heart breaking but also hopeful. After reading that the author drew from her experiences and stories from volunteering for a UNICEF refugee center, it came together why these characters and their stories seemed so real. It certainly wasn't a “feel good” story but one that made you really think (and continue to think after finishing it). I loved how the author played with words as a transition from present to past, and how swapping back and forth helped piece together the inevitable storyline. Highly recommend!
Twists and turns until the very end. I absolutely loved this book!! The storyline is not at all the direction I anticipated and I'm so happy that was the case! Such a beautiful story exemplifying hard truths that many have had to face in the last 50 years in America but seen through the light of someone who seemingly has it all (a humbling relatability for a character so unrelatable). The story moved fast and kept me engaged, I had a hard time putting it down.
I really wanted to love this book, but unfortunately didn't quite hit the mark for me. On the positive side, it definitely brought some closure, and tied in some sweet components from the first book, I also like the way the story played with the title of the book. But on the negative side I felt like I was on page 250 and could sum up everything that happened in one sentence. It felt really drawn out without much happening, and I felt like (with one early-on exception, I won't give it away) there were no surprises or twists, I felt like I pretty much knew what was going to happen then had to read 300+ pages just to confirm it. No hate, just wasn't “it” for me.