A review by cj_mo_2222
More Than You'll Ever Know by Katie Gutierrez

3.0

More Than You'll Ever Know alternates between two points of view: Cassie Bowman, a true crime writer, and Lore Rivera, the subject of her research. The premise is eye-catching since Lore had two husbands, one of whom is serving time in prison for murdering the other. Cassie thinks there could be more to the story and is all in on doing the research and trying to set up an interview with Lore. It's interesting that Cassie saw parts of herself in Lore, even though the two women had different backgrounds, and how that influences some of the decisions she makes. However, I didn't connect with either woman so it was hard to be fully invested in the story.

In addition, the book wasn't as suspenseful as I had hoped it would be. I was expecting a juicy thriller, but it was more of a slow-moving domestic drama. Lore's chapters at the beginning of the book were especially hard for me to get through. Also, something to be aware of is when Lore is speaking, she often uses a lot of English and Spanish words together in one sentence and translations of the Spanish words and phrases aren't included. I'm not fluent in Spanish, but luckily I know enough basic words that I was usually able to get the gist of what was being said without having to look anything up.

The pace of this overly long book picks up in the last part of the book and I became interested in how the story would turn out. The ending was unexpected and for the most part, satisfying. The book has a slow start and a relatively strong finish, so I settled on a rating of 3.5 stars, rounded down to 3.

Thank you to NetGalley, William Morrow, and Scene of the Crime Early Reads for this ebook. An advance copy was provided to me at no cost, but my review is voluntary and unbiased.