yumna 🌙
hmm i can't say i particularly liked this book. the main character, alexa, gets a job in NYC at a marketing agency. after years of being estranged with her twin sister, beth, she shows up at alexa's doorstep and re enters her life. all the while, alexa finally falls in love with her food vlogger client, curt. but ofc there is something suspicious about alexa's new boyfriend and unstable twin sister.
the most important part of a psychological thriller is the plot twist and the ending. the main plot twist was very predictable to me... i think it was quite cliche and i predicted it early on. the other plot points that accompanied the plot twist (sorry to be vague but i don't want to include spoilers) were honestly just absurd to me. the ending felt like there were many events added to liven up the story but they just left me rolling my eyes. it seems to me that the ‘evil twin' trope is pretty hard to get right, and unfortunately, this book didn't satisfy my thriller itch.
what i found unique in this book were the references to the covid-19 pandemic. i think this is the first book i've read that was sent in the current post-pandemic era. BUT i do think the pandemic was over referenced and overall, didn't really add anything to the story. the multiple POVs were a great addition to further the plot, but i noticed some unexplained plot holes/points mentioned towards the beginning of the book.
**also NOTE: in the audiobook the mention that the company ‘FLLW' is pronounced ‘follow', but they keep pronouncing it as an ‘F-L-L-W' throughout the book. this really bugged me.
this was a delightful read. the basic plot of the novel is that the protagonist, jenna, goes on a trip to her grandmother's, evelyn's, hometown of hereford, massachusetts.
she's up to no good is told in two perspectives: the first by jenna in the present day, whose husband has just left her for another woman & is in the process of getting her life together. she goes on the trip with evelyn for a change of scenery (she had just moved back into her parent's house after the separation) and to accompany her grandmother. here, jenna finds out a lot about her grandmother's past – especially the decisions made that determined the current course of events. the second perspective is evelyn's, starting in 1950's when she meets her forbidden love, tony.
the highlight of the book by far was evelyn's character. in both perspectives i enjoyed her smartass comments but also the intense love she had for her family. she has dealt with much grief & sacrifice, about which she can be annoyingly cryptic about. she is just overall a little heathen and it's very fun to read.
this being said, i definitely enjoyed evelyn's storyline more than jenna's. jenna came off very childlike to me, which could be due to the rut she was in. if this book was only told in jenna's POV, i don't i think i would've enjoyed the book as much as i did. it felt like her POV existed mostly to show the outcome of the decisions made in evelyn's POV. she and her love interest have a bit of insta-love going on, but i think they developed a lot of chemistry towards the end of the book.
whenever i pick up a colleen hoover book, i always expect it to be a 5 star read. while i think this was enjoyable, i didn't find it as great as her other books i've read. for me, this book was missing that fast-paced suspenseful plot & passion between the love interests. with 4 stars i think this was still a great read, but it just didn't meet my high expectations for a coho book. BUT there were some great themes such as the exploration of a mother's love, grief, and forgiveness. also i cried a fair bit reading this book. i still definitely recommend it!
before [b:Know My Name 50196744 Know My Name Chanel Miller https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1567612158l/50196744.SX50_SY75.jpg 73239835], there was lucky. the title ‘lucky' is an ironic one, referencing how a police officer mentioned that a girl was murdered in the tunnel where sebold was raped & that she was lucky in comparison. this also references how sexual assault victims compare their trauma to other victims and minimize their experiences because they are also ‘lucky in comparison.'this was a raw account of alice sebold's rape (tw: graphic sexual assault) and its aftermath. one way sebold actually was lucky was that she got justice & her rapist was convicted for his crimes. (edit: after some googling, her rapist's conviction was overturned. i'm not sure if he was falsely identified - sebold does mention misidentifying her rapist in a police lineup -or if he was falsely exonerated.)i think this is a pretty important read for those that want to learn more about what a sexual assault victim has to go through, especially at a time way before the #metoo movement (sebold was raped in 1981) and talking about being a rape victim was even more taboo than it is now.
first read - nov 2021; 5 stars
man, this book really surpassed my expectations. it really is worth the hype. please take the time to read the author's note at the end, because it really makes you appreciate the plot even more.
also, please check trigger warnings before reading this.
second read - oct 2022; 4.5 stars
still rly good, not as groundbreaking as the first time i read it. still cried tho
so frickin fun!! i love the suspense mixed with humor. the whole plot was pretty unexpected to me except the fact that she and nathan got back together and it gave me santa clarita diet vibes. ALSO the fact that an indonesian author is getting to much hype in the book community rn makes me feel pretty patriotic. excited for the next book :)))
