Review: Such a Quiet Place by Megan Miranda

Synopsis from Goodreads:

We had no warning that she’d come back.

Hollow’s Edge used to be a quiet place. A private and idyllic neighborhood where neighbors dropped in on neighbors, celebrated graduation and holiday parties together, and looked out for one another. But then came the murder of Brandon and Fiona Truett. A year and a half later, Hollow’s Edge is simmering. The residents are trapped, unable to sell their homes, confronted daily by the empty Truett house, and suffocated by their trial testimonies that implicated one of their own. Ruby Fletcher. And now, Ruby’s back.

With her conviction overturned, Ruby waltzes right back to Hollow’s Edge, and into the home she once shared with Harper Nash. Harper, five years older, has always treated Ruby like a wayward younger sister. But now she’s terrified. What possible good could come of Ruby returning to the scene of the crime? And how can she possibly turn her away, when she knows Ruby has nowhere to go?

Within days, suspicion spreads like a virus across Hollow’s Edge. It’s increasingly clear that not everyone told the truth about the night of the Truett’s murders. And when Harper begins receiving threatening notes, she realizes she has to uncover the truth before someone else becomes the killer’s next victim.

I received a copy of this title via NetGalley and Edelweiss. It does not impact my review. 

Such a Quiet Place publishes July 13, 2021.

I’ve been looking forward to Such a Quiet Place for awhile now. It sounded kind of mysterious and creepy and just look at that gorgeous cover! Unfortunately, I found the story rather disappointing.

I know to expect a lot of character development and a slower pace when I pick up a Megan Miranda book, but I thought this one was too slow. It was past the halfway point before anything even happened to actually advance the plot. I thought things might pick up after that, but it remained pretty slow and boring. I also wasn’t a fan of how the mystery slowly unraveled. Harper would just stumble into information and then make big assumptions on what must have happened. I found it pretty anti-climactic when it was all said and done.

Speaking of Harper, she was my greatest struggle while reading this. I spent over half the book being incredibly annoyed and frustrated with her for what a pushover she was. Now, I am a people-pleaser that avoids confrontation, so when I think someone is a pushover, it’s pretty bad. I could not, for the life of me, understand how she could just let Ruby move back into her house, take her car, etc. I didn’t care if Ruby was innocent or a murderer. Harper found her manipulative and untrustworthy and Ruby obviously had zero respect for her. And Harper just acted helpless to ever say no. There’s some things said about how she’s too trusting and that she felt a little guilty, but neither were enough to justify how she allowed Ruby to walk all over her. I’m getting mad all over again just thinking about it.

Overall, Such a Quiet Place was a disappointing read for me. While Miranda does character development and setting very well, those are the only positive things I can really say about this one. I absolutely could not stand how Harper acted and I found the mystery really lacking. However, I’ve seen some much more positive reviews for this book, so if you can handle how frustrating Harper can be, you might enjoy this more than me.

Overall Rating (out of 5): 2 Stars

Review: How to Kill You Best Friend by Lexie Elliott

Synopsis from Goodreads:

If you suspected your best friend, the person you were closest to in the whole world, was a murderer, what would you do? Would you confront her? Would you help keep her secret? Or would you begin to feel afraid? Most importantly, why don’t you feel safe now that she’s dead? From the author of The French Girl comes a novel full of secrets, suspense, and deadly twists.

Georgie, Lissa, and Bronwyn have been inseparable since dominating their college swim team; swimming has always been an escape from their own problems, but now their shared passion has turned deadly. How can it be true that Lissa, the strongest swimmer they know, drowned? Granted, there is something strange about Kanu Cove, where Lissa was last seen, swimming off the coast of the fabulous island resort she owned with her husband.

Lissa’s closest friends gather at the resort to honor her life, but Georgie and Bron can’t seem to stop looking over their shoulders. Danger lurks beneath the surface of the crystal-clear water, and even their luxurious private villas can’t help them feel safe. As the weather turns ominous, trapping the funeral guests together on the island, nobody knows who they can trust. Lissa’s death was only the beginning….

I received a copy of this title via NetGalley. It does not impact my review.

How to Kill Your Best Friend publishes August 17, 2021. 

This is a good example on why you shouldn’t decide to read a book based on the title alone. I thought this would be fun and mysterious, but it was incredibly slow paced and a bit of a chore to get through.

The story is told in alternating points of view between Georgie and Bronwyn, with a few anonymous pages thrown in. The anonymous POV pages describe the various ways in which you might kill your best friend, which I wanted to like, but ultimately found kind of pointless. The chapters from Georgie and Bron weren’t much better. There were tedious amounts of detail and nothing happened for long stretches of time. I predicted pretty much every single twist, except for one surprise right at the end.

Overall, I found How to Kill Your Best Friend disappointing. The very slow pace and unlikable characters kept me from ever getting that invested in the story. I wish there had been more time spent exploring Lissa’s past and her relationships instead of just one or two stories and vague references to her unstable behavior. The only reason I’m giving this two stars instead of one is because it did manage to surprise me once at the end.

Overall Rating (out of 5): 2 Stars

Review: A Dark and Secret Place by Jen Williams

Synopsis from Goodreads: 

For readers of Jane Harper and Rachel Caine comes a chilling thriller from award-winning author Jen Williams about a woman who discovers her late mother had been secretly corresponding with a serial killer for decades.

When prodigal daughter Heather Evans returns to her family home after her mother’s baffling suicide, she makes an alarming discovery–stacks and stacks of carefully preserved letters from notorious serial killer Michael Reave. The “Red Wolf,” as he was dubbed by the press, has been in prison for over twenty years, serving a life sentence for the gruesome and ritualistic murders of several women across the country, although he has always protested his innocence. The police have had no reason to listen, yet Heather isn’t the only one to have cause to re-examine the murders. The body of a young woman has just been found, dismembered and placed inside a tree, the corpse planted with flowers. Just as the Red Wolf once did.

What did Heather’s mother know? Why did she kill herself? And with the monstrous Red Wolf safely locked inside a maximum security prison, who is stalking young women now? Teaming up with DI Ben Parker, Heather hopes to get some answers for herself and for the newest victims of this depraved murderer. Yet to do that, she must speak to Michael Reave herself, and expose herself to truths she may not be ready to face. Something dark is walking in the woods, and it knows her all too well.

A Dark and Secret Place publishes June 8, 2021

I received a copy of this title via NetGalley. It does not impact my review. 

I’m always on the lookout for a good serial killer book and I thought A Dark and Secret Place looked pretty intriguing. Unfortunately, I ultimately found it disappointing.

I thought the “Before” chapters about Michael’s early life were well done and compelling. I found Michael a sympathetic, if unsettling, character. Once Michael started to grow up, though, I didn’t find the Before chapters as well done. I wanted a lot more background information about the mysterious man that takes him in and the commune he starts. There is very little said about it’s purpose and motivations and it left me with a lot of questions. 

I struggled a lot with Heather’s character. She was so unlikable and barely anything she did made sense to me. I really felt like I had to suffer through the chapters from her point of view to get to the Before parts I enjoyed more. I also thought that as she investigated, everything fell into place just a little too easily for her. 

Overall, I found A Dark and Secret Place pretty disappointing. I really wanted to like it and was intrigued in the beginning, but the over the top turns the story took, how unlikable the main character was, and the unsatisfactory explanations in the end really let me down.

Overall Rating (out of 5): 2 Stars

Review: Where Secrets Lie by Eva V. Gibson

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Told in two interwoven timelines—the summer when everything changed, and the summer that changes everything—Where Secrets Lie is a seductive thriller as dark as it is enthralling.

Amy Larsen has spent every summer with her cousin Ben and their best friend Teddy in River Run, Kentucky, loving country life and welcoming the break from her intensive ambitions and overbearing mother—until the summer she and Teddy confront the changing feelings and simmering sexual tension growing between them, destroying the threesome’s friendship in a dramatic face-off.

One year later, Amy returns to River Run dreading what she might find. But when Teddy’s sister disappears, Amy, Ben and Teddy agree to put aside their differences to search for her. As they dig deeper into the dark history of their small town, all three friends must unearth the truths that tie their families to tragedy, cope with their own toxic upbringings and beliefs, and atone for the damage done to each other and themselves.

I received a copy of this title via NetGalley. It does not impact my review.

Where Secrets Lie publishes April 20, 2021.

While I had some issues with it, I remember enjoying Eva V. Gibson’s angsty debut, Together we Caught Fire and I was really looking forward to her follow up. Unfortunately, this one did not work for me.

My biggest issue was that I was pretty incompatible with the writing style. I don’t like a lot of description or imagery and this book is over the top with the imagery and metaphors. It didn’t work for me at all and honestly just really annoyed me. I’m sure there will be readers that will love this aspect of the writing, but I have very little patience for it.

I thought all the relationships in this book were toxic. Amy and her whole extended family are obviously dysfunctional, but I thought the friendship between her, her cousin Ben, and her friend Teddy was pretty awful, as well. Honestly, I thought they were abusive towards each other and the way they kept coming back together over and over again was like a beaten spouse that can’t leave a marriage. Even if there were a couple of sweet or funny moments thrown in, I never stopped wanting these kids to get therapy and less-toxic friends.

The whole mystery aspect of the story didn’t really work for me, either. I felt like it made the story just drag on and on, as nothing they investigated brought about the resolution. Also, my very first suspect early on in the story ended up being the villain. There were a couple of other big “secrets” that I thought were super obvious long before they were revealed. I also thought that with the heavy and serious subject matter, throwing in pages upon pages of Amy being mad at Teddy for not returning her romantic feelings in the way she wanted him to was ridiculously petty and childish.

Overall, Where Secrets Lie was not for me. I didn’t connect with the writing style and could never really get on board with either the mystery or the romance. The one bright spot in the book was Ben, who I actually really disliked about half the time, but still found pretty compelling.

Overall Rating (out of 5): 2 Stars

Review: You Love Me (You #3) by Caroline Kepnes

Synopsis from Goodreads:

The highly anticipated new thriller in Caroline Kepnes’s hit You series, now a blockbuster Netflix show…

Joe Goldberg is back. And he’s going to start a family – even if it kills him.

Joe Goldberg is done with cities, done with the muck and the posers, done with Love. Now, he’s saying hello to nature, to simple pleasures on a cozy island in the Pacific Northwest. For the first time in a long time, he can just breathe.

He gets a job at the local library – he does know a thing or two about books – and that’s where he meets her: Mary Kaye DiMarco. Librarian. Joe won’t meddle, he will not obsess. He’ll win her the old fashioned way… by providing a shoulder to cry on, a helping hand. Over time, they’ll both heal their wounds and begin their happily ever after in this sleepy town.

The trouble is… Mary Kaye already has a life. She’s a mother. She’s a friend. She’s… busy.

True love can only triumph if both people are willing to make room for the real thing. Joe cleared his decks. He’s ready. And hopefully, with his encouragement and undying support, Mary Kaye will do the right thing and make room for him.

I received a copy of this title via NetGalley. It does not impact my review.

You Love Me publishes April 6, 2021. 

I remember reading You, the first book in this series, years ago. It still stands out in my mind as being perhaps the most the most messed up book I’ve ever read. The writing was so different and Joe was so crazy that I was completely enthralled by it. I was excited to pick up the newest book in the series. It ended up feeling very reminiscent of the first book to me. But while You felt fresh and fascinating, You Love Me…didn’t.

This book just really felt like more of the same to me, but not as well done. It didn’t have that new, unique feel of the first book and it didn’t have the body count and actual plot development of the second book. It was a slow (and I mean slooooooooow) burn with a lack of payoff. Joe is still the same obsessives, but lovable, pyschopath, but slightly reformed. He doesn’t want to be quite so stalkerish with hew new love interest. He doesn’t want to “have to” kill anyone for her. He comes off as a knockoff version of himself from the previous books and the result was a pretty boring story.

I do want to make sure I point out that I’m still a Joe fan. The thing that this author does so well is putting us in Joe’s head and making his crazy behavior almost make sense. I make myself a little uncomfortable with how much I understand his thought process sometimes. So while the plot felt recycled and almost a little lazy, I did enjoy getting more Joe.

Overall, I found You Love Me pretty disappointing. While I always enjoy Joe, I never cared about any of the other characters and the story really dragged. While I do like that Kepnes tried to evolve his character by making him want to be a better man, I found myself wishing he would act a little crazier so something interesting would finally happen. While I definitely plan on continuing to watch the tv series whenever a new season comes out, I’m not sure if I’ll pick up the next book in the series.

Overall Rating (out of 5): 2 Stars

Review: The Minders by John Marrs

Synopsis from Goodreads:

“The new high concept thriller from the author of The Passengers and the word-of-mouth sensation The One, soon to be a Netflix original series. In the 21st century, information is king. But computers can be hacked and files can be broken into – so a unique government initiative has been born. Five ordinary people have been selected to become “minders” – the latest weapon in thwarting cyberterrorism. Transformed by a revolutionary medical procedure, the country’s most classified information has been taken offline and turned into genetic code implanted inside their heads. Together, the five know every secret – the truth behind every government lie, conspiracy theory and cover up. In return, they’re given the chance to leave their problems behind and a blank slate to start their lives anew. But not everyone should be trusted, especially when they each have secrets of their own they’ll do anything to protect…”

I received a copy of this title via NetGalley. It does not impact my review.

The Minders publishes February 16, 2021. 

This is why I can’t have nice things. I’ve heard so many great things about The Minders and I was excited to finally read it, my first John Marrs novel. Unfortunately, I did not find it to live up to any of the hype for me.

Let’s start with what I enjoyed. Going into the book, I was a little wary of the sci-fi elements and expected that to bring the story down for me, but it was actually my favorite part. Everything felt futuristic, but not that futuristic that it seemed unbelievable. A lot of it seemed like things that could still happen in my lifetime and that was kind of cool – and a little scary.

I thought the concept of the story was interesting and unique, but I ended up feeling really bored for most of it. The story is incredibly slow paced until the final third or so. It’s heavily character-driven, but I felt pretty ambivalent about all of them, which made it feel like a chore to get through. None of the characters were likeable and where there were a few sympathetic elements to all of them, I just never felt a connection to them. I almost DNF-ed the book several times, but the promises of crazy twists and suspense I kept reading in other reviews kept me going.

Sadly, I felt left down by the twists, as well. There were a few surprises that I didn’t guess beforehand, but most of the larger plot twists I predicted far in advance. I thought there were enough clues that anyone paying attention would guess them. Or even if you just read a lot of thrillers, you will probably be able figure it out. While the sci-fi backdrop felt unique, the actual execution of the plot seemed redundant.

Overall, The Minders was not for me. I liked the concept and the action did pick up in the last third or so of the book, but everything leading up to it was really boring to me. I didn’t care for the characters and I guessed a couple of the major plot twists long before there were revealed. While I didn’t really enjoy the story, I am obviously in the minority opinion, so it still may be worth checking it out.

Overall Rating (out of 5): 2 Stars

Review: The Newlyweds by Arianne Richmonde

Synopsis from Goodreads:

One marriage. One lie. Two sides to the story.

The moment Vivien meets Ashton, she knows she will be his wife and absolutely nothing will stop her.

Powerful, rich and from a good family, Ashton is everything Vivien is not. So, she molds herself into Ashton’s perfect soulmate.

Pouring his favorite vintage wine, whispering ‘I love you’ over dinner in front of friends and biting her tongue when she disagrees with him are simple sacrifices for the perfect marriage she has always craved.

When people begin to notice the bruises on her cheek, she holds their stares. There is no cry for help from Vivien. She simply keeps her mouth shut and lets the gossip continue.

If you saw Vivien nursing a black eye, you might be forgiven for thinking what everyone else does – that she is the victim in her marriage, but you’d be wrong. Vivien and Ashton’s life together is much more complicated than that. You will never guess the true story behind Vivien’s undying devotion to her husband. Nor could you possibly predict what she does next…

Perfect for fans of Gone Girl, Behind Closed Doors and The Perfect Couple. If you enjoy reading twisted psychological thrillers with bags of suspense, then you’ll love The Newlyweds from USA TODAY bestselling author Arianne Richmonde.

I received a copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley. It does not impact my review.

The Newlyweds publishes January 19, 2021. 

This is one of those books that sounded so intriguing in the synopsis, but the actual story failed to deliver. What should have been suspenseful and twisty came across as cliched and boring.

The first line of the synopsis mentions two sides to the story, so I was expecting Ashton’s POV at some point, but the story stayed in Vivien’s 1st person POV the whole time (though we do get a couple monologues from him in the final chapters). I think that even without the synopsis basically giving the whole plot away, I would’ve known very early on that Vivien is not what she appears to be. It made the first half of the book seem unbearably long. And the “big reveal” employed one of my least favorite narrative clichés – Vivien relays her whole backstory and scheme in a third person story that even begins with “once upon a time.” My eyes rolled so hard. Everything that happened after that was predictable and I’ll admit that I skimmed large parts of it just to make it to the end.

Overall, The Newlyweds was not for me. I was hoping for some fun cat-and-mouse type of suspense, but it all played out like a predictable Lifetime movie. I did like the setting, though. That and the fact that I actually felt compelled to finish the book and not DNF it, is why I’m giving this book 2 stars.

Overall Rating (out of 5): 2 Stars

Review: Little Cruelties by Liz Nugent

Synopsis from Goodreads:

This story begins with a funeral. One of three brothers is dead, mourned by his siblings. But which one? And how? And, most importantly: why?

William, Brian, and Luke are each born a year apart in a lower middle class Catholic family in 1960s Dublin. William, the eldest, rises to the top of the heap in the film industry as a successful movie producer. Luke, the baby of the family, surprises everyone by morphing into a worldwide pop star. Brian, the compliant middle son, is the eternal adult in the room: the helpful, steady one, the manager of finances and careers.

But none of them is actually quite what he seems. Wounded by childhood, they have betrayed one another in myriad ways, hiding behind little lies that have developed into full blown treachery. With an unnerving eye for the complexities of families, Nugent delves into the secret life of a deeply troubled household and provides stunning insights into the many forces that shape us from childhood.

Hailed by #1 New York Times bestselling author A.J. Finn as “a dark jewel of a novel,” Liz Nugent’s new work of fiction follows three working class Irish brothers, and delves into the many ways families can wreak emotional havoc across generations.

I received a copy of this title via NetGalley. It does not impact my review.

Little Cruelties publishes November 10, 2020. 

I went into Little Cruelties expecting a psychological thriller and some suspense. Instead, I think this book is another case where Men’s Fiction should be a genre because if this same story was told with three sisters instead of three brothers, it would definitely fall under the Women’s Fiction category.

The story is told through the first person POVs of three brothers, Williams, Brian, and Luke. The book covers decades and swings around from one year to another in no organized fashion that I could discern. Before each brother’s section of chapters are short excerpts from an unknown brother’s view, discussing the funeral and aftermath of one of the other brother’s death. This is really the only bit of suspense in the whole book, though. The rest of the chapters don’t really even allude to someone being murdered, though they all certainly have the motives for it. We don’t find out which brother is dead until the final chapter and by then I was so fed up with these characters that I hardly even cared.

I always struggle with really character-driven books that feature such awful characters. There’s a small amount of sympathy for them because they had such a dysfunctional childhood, which carried into adulthood, but that excuse really only goes so far. Luke also gets a bit of a pass because of his mental health issues, but William and Brian were just straight up despicable. I didn’t enjoy reading about them and often wondered why I kept going. I think I kept hoping that there would either be redemption arcs or some real suspense would start to build. Neither happened.

Overall, Little Cruelties was not for me. I didn’t really ever care about the characters and I while I’m normally a fan of alternate timelines, the haphazard manner it jumped around here didn’t work for me. I also expected a lot more of a psychological thriller/suspense than family drama. However, I did think the first person POVS were well done and that’s why it’s getting two stars instead of one from me.

Overall Rating (out of 5): 2 Stars

Review: Little Threats by Emily Schultz

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Both a taut whodunit and a haunting snapshot of the effects of a violent crime, Little Threats tells the story of a woman who served fifteen years in prison for murder…and now it’s time to find out if she’s guilty.

In the summer of 1993, twin sisters Kennedy and Carter Wynn are embracing the grunge era and testing every limit in their privileged Richmond suburb. But Kennedy’s teenage rebellion goes too far when, after a night of partying in the woods, her best friend, Haley, is murdered, and suspicion quickly falls upon Kennedy. She can’t remember anything about the night in question, and this, along with the damning testimony from a college boy who both Kennedy and Haley loved, is enough to force Kennedy to enter a guilty plea.

In 2008, Kennedy is released into a world that has moved on without her. Carter has grown distant as she questions Kennedy’s innocence, and begins a relationship with someone who could drive the sisters apart forever. The twins’ father, Gerry, is eager to protect the family’s secrets and fragile bonds. But Kennedy’s return brings the tragedy back to the surface, along with a whole new wave of media. When a crime show host comes to town asking questions, believing the murder wasn’t wasn’t as simple as it seemed, murky memories of Haley’s death come to light. As new suspects emerge and the suburban woods finally give up their secrets, two families may be destroyed again.

I received a copy of this title via NetGalley. It does not impact my review. 

Little Threats publishes November 10, 2020. 

Based on that intriguing synopsis, I expected Little Threats to have a little more mystery and a little more thrills than it actually produced. Unfortunately, I just found it a little – maybe a lot – disappointing.

As I read this book, two words continually came to mind. Pretentious and Familiar. I can’t even count how many thrillers out there revolve around a character not being able to remember some violent and tragic event. It’s a cliché for a reason, though, right? Some books use it really effectively and some not so much. Also, the whole “poor little rich girl” thing. The girls who have every opportunity and advantage rebel against their privilege by doing inane things like shoplifting and drugs and dating bad boys. I’ve read it a hundred times before and I found myself just really bored for so much of the book. And the characters, with the exception of Everett, were truly awful. So much of the story is just them being in their own heads and the writing was so pretentious I couldn’t really take it seriously.

I found the mystery pretty underwhelming, as well. I read some reviews that talked about multiple twists throughout the story and a shocking ending and I didn’t get any of that. I thought it was predictable and completely lacked suspense.

Overall, Little Threats was not for me. I found the plot cliched, the writing pretentious and the pace extremely slow. The book was heavily character focused, which might have saved it if I had cared anything about them. Everett was the one character that came across as sympathetic, but again, this wasn’t enough to turn the book around for me. This isn’t one that I would recommend, but I have seen some good reviews on it, so it might just be me.

Overall Rating (out of 5): 2 Stars

Review: Invisible Girl by Lisa Jewell

Synopsis from Goodreads:

The author of the “rich, dark, and intricately twisted” (Ruth Ware, New York Times bestselling author) The Family Upstairs returns with another taut and white-knuckled thriller following a group of people whose lives shockingly intersect when a young woman disappears.

Owen Pick’s life is falling apart.

In his thirties, a virgin, and living in his aunt’s spare bedroom, he has just been suspended from his job as a geography teacher after accusations of sexual misconduct, which he strongly denies. Searching for professional advice online, he is inadvertently sucked into the dark world of incel—involuntary celibate—forums, where he meets the charismatic, mysterious, and sinister Bryn.

Across the street from Owen lives the Fours family, headed by mom Cate, a physiotherapist, and dad Roan, a child psychologist. But the Fours family have a bad feeling about their neighbor Owen. He’s a bit creepy and their teenaged daughter swears he followed her home from the train station one night.

Meanwhile, young Saffyre Maddox spent three years as a patient of Roan Fours. Feeling abandoned when their therapy ends, she searches for other ways to maintain her connection with him, following him in the shadows and learning more than she wanted to know about Roan and his family. Then, on Valentine’s night, Saffyre Maddox disappears—and the last person to see her alive is Owen Pick.

I received a copy of this title via NetGalley. It does not impact my review. 

Invisible Girl publishes October 13, 2020. 

I’m a big fan of Lisa Jewell and oftentimes her books rate among my favorites of the year. Unfortunately, though, I did not really care for Invisible Girl. 

Let’s start with what I did like about this book. Jewell always takes a lot of care with character development and she continued to do it really well here. I felt like I got to know all of the characters. I also thought the three different POVs were used really effectively to create suspense.

While I felt like I got to know the characters, I didn’t really care about most of them. I thought Cate was shallow and judgmental, while she she lived in deep denial about her own life and relationship. I felt sad for what Saffyre went through as a child, but really nothing she did in the present made a bit of sense to me. And honestly I found most of her actions incredibly selfish – and some a big overreaction – and I’m upset that she didn’t face any consequences at all for what she’d done. Owen is the only character that I really felt something for. He made me really sad most of the time – and a few times a little disgusted. For the most part, though, Owen was very misunderstood. While we get to see him come to understand how he has misperceived others and how to work on himself, none of the people who frequently labeled him as creepy got the same education and that kind of disappointed me.

I also wasn’t a big fan of the whole incel plotline. It wasn’t as big a part of the plot as I thought it would be based on the synopsis and I was glad for that. But I felt like I wanted them explained a little bit more. While the people described are obviously hateful, I wondered if there was another side of the coin. It’s like when all people on the political left are grouped together with the far-left and all people on the political right are grouped together with the far-right. Not everyone is an extremist. I didn’t like that celibacy was only looked upon as something weird and creepy and not a valid lifestyle. Though, I do suppose these people are “involuntarily” celibate.

Overall, Invisible Girl just wasn’t for me. It took me well over half the book to really feel interested in the story and even then, I felt like there was a big lack of payoff because I didn’t care about most of the characters. However, I’m still a big Lisa Jewell fan and I will look forward to her next book.

Overall Rating (out of 5): 2.5 Stars