gracefulbooks's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I just like so first things first we are following Aimee Sinclair. An up incoming actress who has just landed her first big role and is starting to make a name for herself. But things start to go south when her husband goes missing and her seemingly perfect marriage & life falls to pieces right before the public eye. With a stalker getting too close for comfort and all signs pointing to her as the main suspect for her husband's sudden disappearance, Aimee must tell the truth for once and quit the act.
I would hope that any person reading this book wouldn't come away with that mindset though-if you've read any of Alice Feeney's previous stories you would know she isn't scared to...go...very very dark. So I wasn't entirely shocked throughout the entirety of the book until it was revealed that her brother married her, and fucked her, and RAPED her. Like um....excuse me? What?
The AMOUNT of revulsion I felt when the rape scene happened was already paramount and I felt so violated but to THEN find out it was her BROTHER her BIOLOGICAL brother who FUCKING DID IT!!! I cannot. I feel so sick right now.
If Feeney's goal was to make me feel sick and awful-she succeeded BIG TIME. Oh my goodness, I was caught off guard by Maggie and Eamonn BEING Ben. Like the number of characters you have that are pretending to be someone else or multiple people is just...wow mindblowing?
But I will say that this was a fast-paced book and as a result, the ending felt rushed and so did the reveal but it also made the book so easy to get sucked into and I loved that but the ending was a no go but also shocked me to no end.
I ALWAYS figure out part of Feeney's twists and then she pulls another one on me out of nowhere and I think it's the main reason I keep coming back to her books honestly even though sometimes they aren't for me. I still find myself getting sucked in somehow and enjoying myself (as much as you can with dark and messed up books).
But with that being said because of how rushed the ending felt I'm unsure of how to rate this book and despite the one reveal really shocking me and making me feel disgusted I genuinely am unsure I really liked the reveal??? So right now I will not give this book a rating and just see how I'm feeling in the morning.
Spoiler
I honestly, like I don't really know what to say right now. I will say that this book a hundred percent gave me Psycho vibes. At some point in the story, I was able to figure out that the Maggie in current times was not a woman. I figured out pretty quickly to meeting her that she was a man but I wasn't sure if she was John, or Eamonn. So to put it simply I kind of figured that plot twist out early on and I can understand why this books ending and reveal is a bit controversial. I mean it could make it seem as though being trans is a choice and also that those who are trans are violent/murderous/dangerous/rapist. (I don't think Eamonn was actually trans given that he apparently just disguised himself as a woman to taunt and torment Aimee-but a lot of his actions early on made it seem like it aka the plastic surgery, the self-consciousness over his chest, his hands, and plucking of the chin hairs it all made me feel as though he was really a she but that ended up not being the case and I can see that being offensive. So I understand why people do not like this book tbh or find it offensive and it's their right to feel like that honestly.)I would hope that any person reading this book wouldn't come away with that mindset though-if you've read any of Alice Feeney's previous stories you would know she isn't scared to...go...very very dark. So I wasn't entirely shocked throughout the entirety of the book until it was revealed that her brother married her, and fucked her, and RAPED her. Like um....excuse me? What?
The AMOUNT of revulsion I felt when the rape scene happened was already paramount and I felt so violated but to THEN find out it was her BROTHER her BIOLOGICAL brother who FUCKING DID IT!!! I cannot. I feel so sick right now.
If Feeney's goal was to make me feel sick and awful-she succeeded BIG TIME. Oh my goodness, I was caught off guard by Maggie and Eamonn BEING Ben. Like the number of characters you have that are pretending to be someone else or multiple people is just...wow mindblowing?
But I will say that this was a fast-paced book and as a result, the ending felt rushed and so did the reveal but it also made the book so easy to get sucked into and I loved that but the ending was a no go but also shocked me to no end.
I ALWAYS figure out part of Feeney's twists and then she pulls another one on me out of nowhere and I think it's the main reason I keep coming back to her books honestly even though sometimes they aren't for me. I still find myself getting sucked in somehow and enjoying myself (as much as you can with dark and messed up books).
But with that being said because of how rushed the ending felt I'm unsure of how to rate this book and despite the one reveal really shocking me and making me feel disgusted I genuinely am unsure I really liked the reveal??? So right now I will not give this book a rating and just see how I'm feeling in the morning.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Incest, Kidnapping, Murder, and Rape
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Child death
Minor: Cancer, Pedophilia, and Transphobia
More...