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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
5️⃣ WHEW! I’m not even sure where to start. I couldn’t put this book down y’all! It kept me on my toes the ENTIRE. TIME. I. WAS. READING. IT!!!
5️⃣ On a normal Monday morning, Ariel Cafferty receives a text…from her assumed dead ex-boyfriend/baby daddy. “Something’s happened. I need to see you. Meet me under the candelabra tree ASAP.” Although she knows deep down that he’s gone, she still goes there anyway to just at least see..I mean, who knows, right? Well, Drew doesn’t show up…this text upends everything she thought she knew.
5️⃣ Everything she was told 5 years ago is a lie…but the truth is out there somewhere & she’s bound to find out what happened. To protect herself & her son, Buzz, she has to find it before it finds her…
5️⃣ This is told via dual main POVs plus a mysterious third (& I legit didn’t know until very end who😂🤔😳)
It was the last half of the book though that kept me going & kept me on my toes until legit the very end. A thrilling game of cat-and-mouse…Ariel & Drew race against the clock…so to speak..
5️⃣ I loved all the characters, the details into every single chapter, fast-paced storyline, the absolute suspense the entire book, & the ENDING 😩😩😱😱 I’m obsessed. Definitely a top/fav read so far this year!
5️⃣ On a normal Monday morning, Ariel Cafferty receives a text…from her assumed dead ex-boyfriend/baby daddy. “Something’s happened. I need to see you. Meet me under the candelabra tree ASAP.” Although she knows deep down that he’s gone, she still goes there anyway to just at least see..I mean, who knows, right? Well, Drew doesn’t show up…this text upends everything she thought she knew.
5️⃣ Everything she was told 5 years ago is a lie…but the truth is out there somewhere & she’s bound to find out what happened. To protect herself & her son, Buzz, she has to find it before it finds her…
5️⃣ This is told via dual main POVs plus a mysterious third (& I legit didn’t know until very end who😂🤔😳)
It was the last half of the book though that kept me going & kept me on my toes until legit the very end. A thrilling game of cat-and-mouse…Ariel & Drew race against the clock…so to speak..
5️⃣ I loved all the characters, the details into every single chapter, fast-paced storyline, the absolute suspense the entire book, & the ENDING 😩😩😱😱 I’m obsessed. Definitely a top/fav read so far this year!
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
fast-paced
I really enjoyed this book. The story was compelling and feels relevant. I enjoyed the characters and the plot. The writing was strong. I've read a lot of Sarina Bowen's backlist and I can clearly see the building blocks for this book in a few of her others, it was fun to see it all come together in such a strong "first" suspense book.
However, there were two things that really brought me out of the story, both having to do with timing.
1. Storyline timing - the "five years ago" timeline is set in 2017. I personally would have appreciated a brief author's note saying "This story takes place in an alternate universe where COVID-19 never happened". Having a story that was anchored by specific dates, and spanned the COVID lockdown but made no reference to it was briefly disorienting.
2. In universe timingIf I understand the timeline of the story correctly, Jay was injured shortly after Ernie's death, and was out of the army within a few months. We know he was in Portland, using Ernie's identity prior to reporting Ernie's death to social security for at least three months. On an optimistic timeline, that's 6 months between his injury and when he leaves Ariel, meaning he would have had the prosthesis only three months when they met. It's difficult to believe that Jay is able to rehab sufficiently to get a prosthesis, and then be adept enough at using that prosthesis, to be able to conceal his prosthesis/ amputation from numerous people./spoiler>
However, there were two things that really brought me out of the story, both having to do with timing.
1. Storyline timing - the "five years ago" timeline is set in 2017. I personally would have appreciated a brief author's note saying "This story takes place in an alternate universe where COVID-19 never happened". Having a story that was anchored by specific dates, and spanned the COVID lockdown but made no reference to it was briefly disorienting.
2. In universe timing
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
I enjoyed a good romantic suspense and this one hit for me.
Ariel has made a life with her son. She met his father and they had a relationship, and then he disappeared and she learned he passed away. So when she gets an urgent text from him asking her to meet him, she's a bit freaked out. She goes to meet him and he doesn't show up. Things seem off and she decides to investigate what happened to him several years ago.
I loved the dual timeline and following along on the investigation. I suspected who the bad guy was but it did not stop me from enjoying the story playing out.
Thanks to Harper Perennial for a #gifted copy.
Ariel has made a life with her son. She met his father and they had a relationship, and then he disappeared and she learned he passed away. So when she gets an urgent text from him asking her to meet him, she's a bit freaked out. She goes to meet him and he doesn't show up. Things seem off and she decides to investigate what happened to him several years ago.
I loved the dual timeline and following along on the investigation. I suspected who the bad guy was but it did not stop me from enjoying the story playing out.
Thanks to Harper Perennial for a #gifted copy.
1/5🌶️, MF, thriller/mystery, romance subplot, secret child, second chance, dual narration, Libby audiobook
This book is first and foremost a thriller/mystery with a romantic subplot. It’s a tech forward, police-surveillance state, vengeance story with a little bit of a secret baby and second chance romance mixed in. I think it’s fair to say I’m a fan of Sarina Bowen’s writing, so I was interested in her switch of genres. I enjoyed a lot about this story - pacing and characters especially. But the mystery plot was a bit clunky and didn’t leave me totally satisfied in the end. This may be because I missed a bit about the villain, but I never fully understood the motivations behind the wrong doings. While you can still enjoy the story without the full picture, it would have made the stakes a little higher if there was a better underlying motivation. I’ll chalk this up to the fact that this is Bowen’s first attempt at a traditional thriller/mystery vs a romance with a suspense plot line. I loved the audiobook of this story. Having different narrators read each part helped when the narration changed from first person and present timeline, to third person and 5 years in the past. Plus, Jason Clarke is an excellent narrator. There was virtually zero spice and the romance was secondary in this book, which is a huge change from Bowen’s other works. I didn’t mind it though as I was on my way to romance burnout, so this was a good transitional book to stave off a bit of a reading slump.
This book is first and foremost a thriller/mystery with a romantic subplot. It’s a tech forward, police-surveillance state, vengeance story with a little bit of a secret baby and second chance romance mixed in. I think it’s fair to say I’m a fan of Sarina Bowen’s writing, so I was interested in her switch of genres. I enjoyed a lot about this story - pacing and characters especially. But the mystery plot was a bit clunky and didn’t leave me totally satisfied in the end. This may be because I missed a bit about the villain, but I never fully understood the motivations behind the wrong doings. While you can still enjoy the story without the full picture, it would have made the stakes a little higher if there was a better underlying motivation. I’ll chalk this up to the fact that this is Bowen’s first attempt at a traditional thriller/mystery vs a romance with a suspense plot line. I loved the audiobook of this story. Having different narrators read each part helped when the narration changed from first person and present timeline, to third person and 5 years in the past. Plus, Jason Clarke is an excellent narrator. There was virtually zero spice and the romance was secondary in this book, which is a huge change from Bowen’s other works. I didn’t mind it though as I was on my way to romance burnout, so this was a good transitional book to stave off a bit of a reading slump.
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No