A review by books_by_the_bottle
The Drowning Woman by Robyn Harding

5.0

When her restaurant business falls on hard times, Lee Guilliver is left with a massive pile of debt. She leaves with just a few possessions, surviving by waitressing and living in her car. One morning, parked at the beach, she sees a woman walking into the ocean, screaming and apparently trying to drown herself. Lee dives in to save her, but the woman, Hazel, is not happy with her. She tells Lee about her abusive husband and impossible situation she is living in. With no one else to turn to, the women strike up an unlikely friendship and think maybe they can help each other.

What an amazing thriller! The pacing was perfect, and the characters well developed. Told in alternating points of view, you could feel Lee and Hazel’s desperation in their respective situations. I loved their unlikely friendship and how they came to look out for each other. And the twists in this book were SO well done! Without giving spoilers, one of them I thought I was able to predict but when it actually unfolded, I was blown away. This is easily one of those books you could binge-read and I found myself saying “just a few more pages” quite often. This was my first Robyn Harding book but it won’t be my last!

Thank you to Netgalley, Robyn Harding and Grand Central Publishing for the ARC! “The Drowning Woman” releases June 13th.

This review will be shared to my instagram blog (@books_by_the_bottle) shortly :)