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3.37 AVERAGE
3.37 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
1 star
Whew...this one was rough. I was about to give the author leeway because I figured this was a debut novel considering the writing but imagine my shock when I found out this was apparently written by a best selling author. This is shockingly bad. There are so many plot points and they are so sloppily written that I didn't know what I was supposed to be shocked by or even understood what happened. The main villain was cartoonishly evil, I'm surprised there wasn't a scene where he was maniacally laughing and the women are written so daftly. The only reason I pushed through to the end was because it was so short as an audiobook but I really hate that I wasted time on this book. Which, by the way, the narrator for Olivia's voice was so whiney and breathy. Like I get it, she's supposed to be a pathetic character but I had to wait three days to go back to it because I was dreading it so much.
Also spoiler alert, I guess? There is a character that goes missing at the party where all the main events happen and there is so little time spent on him I forgot he existed every time he was brought up. It would've been better if this book were to focus on one or two major plot points instead of like ten mundane little ones. I shouldn't have to be wondering what I'm supposed to care for the entire length. This was exhausting.
Whew...this one was rough. I was about to give the author leeway because I figured this was a debut novel considering the writing but imagine my shock when I found out this was apparently written by a best selling author. This is shockingly bad. There are so many plot points and they are so sloppily written that I didn't know what I was supposed to be shocked by or even understood what happened. The main villain was cartoonishly evil, I'm surprised there wasn't a scene where he was maniacally laughing and the women are written so daftly. The only reason I pushed through to the end was because it was so short as an audiobook but I really hate that I wasted time on this book. Which, by the way, the narrator for Olivia's voice was so whiney and breathy. Like I get it, she's supposed to be a pathetic character but I had to wait three days to go back to it because I was dreading it so much.
Also spoiler alert, I guess? There is a character that goes missing at the party where all the main events happen and there is so little time spent on him I forgot he existed every time he was brought up. It would've been better if this book were to focus on one or two major plot points instead of like ten mundane little ones. I shouldn't have to be wondering what I'm supposed to care for the entire length. This was exhausting.
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
My first thought while reading this book was “Oh, Eden, you sweet summer child…” Eden seems to be on a crash course that she can’t get off of. But let’s back up a bit—how did she get here?
Spoilers for this twist and the ending are in the dropdowns at the end of this post.
About the Book
Eden Miller is devastated after her husband asked for a divorce they day they dropped their daughter Ava at college. Eden is feeling sad and after a few too many solo glasses of wine, she sends a facebook friend request to Justin Ward. Justin is a musician she dated in college and was the first person to break her heart. Not only does Justin quickly accept her friend request, but the two begin messaging. The messages quickly turn steamy, and Eden begins to spiral out of control. Is it grief, lust, helplessness, or anger that cause her to act so out of her character with Justin? Perhaps all of them. After Eden's crush is taken a bit too far, she sees her life start to unravel. Eden searches for answers to what is going on, but she may not like what she finds…
Review
This book definitely caught me by surprise. It starts out with the online romance between Eden and Justin and all signs point towards this being a story about Justin becoming obsessed with and stalking Eden. But the story swerves and it becomes about something more bizarre and twisted.
The beginning is a slow burn. I felt for what Eden went through with her husband Dave—he gave basically no explanation for the sudden divorce. This lack of answers and closure is frustrating. Eden quickly becomes obsessed with Justin. She can’t stop thinking about him. She shows up to an open house for work and sneaks into the bathroom to send a naughty picture to him. She has phone sex with him outside of the open house in her car.
Justin seems as interested in the connection as she does. But when she identifies and drives to multiple job sites of his construction company to track him down, things truly begin to get strange. She finds Justin at the last site she drives to, but Justin turns away to go back in the house. He later tells her it's because he has a wife (they are separated). Then she hears from her boss that a neighbor saw what she was doing in the car outside of the showing. Eden is embarrassed (but not as embarrassed as I think she should be. I would have faked my own death and moved to Canada!).
It's around this point where the first of several swerves comes into play. I have to say that I was grateful for the twists because the first part was fine but forgettable. There is also a second narrator that will enter the book and that really livened things up.
This is a tense and quick read. We eventually get more detail on Dave and why he seemingly divorced Eden out of nowhere. When it was revealed I thought… really?!?!?
Thank you to Thomas & Mercer for my copy. Opinions are my own.
Spoilers for this twist and the ending are in the dropdowns at the end of this post.
About the Book
Eden Miller is devastated after her husband asked for a divorce they day they dropped their daughter Ava at college. Eden is feeling sad and after a few too many solo glasses of wine, she sends a facebook friend request to Justin Ward. Justin is a musician she dated in college and was the first person to break her heart. Not only does Justin quickly accept her friend request, but the two begin messaging. The messages quickly turn steamy, and Eden begins to spiral out of control. Is it grief, lust, helplessness, or anger that cause her to act so out of her character with Justin? Perhaps all of them. After Eden's crush is taken a bit too far, she sees her life start to unravel. Eden searches for answers to what is going on, but she may not like what she finds…
Review
This book definitely caught me by surprise. It starts out with the online romance between Eden and Justin and all signs point towards this being a story about Justin becoming obsessed with and stalking Eden. But the story swerves and it becomes about something more bizarre and twisted.
The beginning is a slow burn. I felt for what Eden went through with her husband Dave—he gave basically no explanation for the sudden divorce. This lack of answers and closure is frustrating. Eden quickly becomes obsessed with Justin. She can’t stop thinking about him. She shows up to an open house for work and sneaks into the bathroom to send a naughty picture to him. She has phone sex with him outside of the open house in her car.
Justin seems as interested in the connection as she does. But when she identifies and drives to multiple job sites of his construction company to track him down, things truly begin to get strange. She finds Justin at the last site she drives to, but Justin turns away to go back in the house. He later tells her it's because he has a wife (they are separated). Then she hears from her boss that a neighbor saw what she was doing in the car outside of the showing. Eden is embarrassed (but not as embarrassed as I think she should be. I would have faked my own death and moved to Canada!).
It's around this point where the first of several swerves comes into play. I have to say that I was grateful for the twists because the first part was fine but forgettable. There is also a second narrator that will enter the book and that really livened things up.
This is a tense and quick read. We eventually get more detail on Dave and why he seemingly divorced Eden out of nowhere. When it was revealed I thought… really?!?!?
Thank you to Thomas & Mercer for my copy. Opinions are my own.
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
1 star
Whew...this one was rough. I was about to give the author leeway because I figured this was a debut novel considering the writing but imagine my shock when I found out this was apparently written by a best selling author. This is shockingly bad. There are so many plot points and they are so sloppily written that I didn't know what I was supposed to be shocked by or even understood what happened. The main villain was cartoonishly evil, I'm surprised there wasn't a scene where he was maniacally laughing and the women are written so daftly. The only reason I pushed through to the end was because it was so short as an audiobook but I really hate that I wasted time on this book. Which, by the way, the narrator for Olivia's voice was so whiney and breathy. Like I get it, she's supposed to be a pathetic character but I had to wait three days to go back to it because I was dreading it so much.
Also spoiler alert, I guess? There is a character that goes missing at the party where all the main events happen and there is so little time spent on him I forgot he existed every time he was brought up. It would've been better if this book were to focus on one or two major plot points instead of like ten mundane little ones. I shouldn't have to be wondering what I'm supposed to care for the entire length. This was exhausting.
Whew...this one was rough. I was about to give the author leeway because I figured this was a debut novel considering the writing but imagine my shock when I found out this was apparently written by a best selling author. This is shockingly bad. There are so many plot points and they are so sloppily written that I didn't know what I was supposed to be shocked by or even understood what happened. The main villain was cartoonishly evil, I'm surprised there wasn't a scene where he was maniacally laughing and the women are written so daftly. The only reason I pushed through to the end was because it was so short as an audiobook but I really hate that I wasted time on this book. Which, by the way, the narrator for Olivia's voice was so whiney and breathy. Like I get it, she's supposed to be a pathetic character but I had to wait three days to go back to it because I was dreading it so much.
Also spoiler alert, I guess? There is a character that goes missing at the party where all the main events happen and there is so little time spent on him I forgot he existed every time he was brought up. It would've been better if this book were to focus on one or two major plot points instead of like ten mundane little ones. I shouldn't have to be wondering what I'm supposed to care for the entire length. This was exhausting.
3.75 stars*
What a crazy ride! So many twists and turns, I didn't see some of them coming. I never read any book from Samantha M. Bailey but now she’s on my radar for sure!
This fast-paced and domestic thriller novel had me hooked from the start. It’s told from two perspectives, Eden’s and Olivia’s. I enjoyed the POV changes and the time jumps as well with drama, suspense and steamy moments too: the perfect mix. Eden was so frustrating and naive especially in the beginning, it was understandable considering what she’s was going through and just wanted to feel better about herself and her situation but I still wanted to yell at her to wake up.
Juicy and drama filled, this book is binge worthy and hard to put down once you get into it.
Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for a digital ARC copy.
#AFriendInTheDark #NetGalley
What a crazy ride! So many twists and turns, I didn't see some of them coming. I never read any book from Samantha M. Bailey but now she’s on my radar for sure!
This fast-paced and domestic thriller novel had me hooked from the start. It’s told from two perspectives, Eden’s and Olivia’s. I enjoyed the POV changes and the time jumps as well with drama, suspense and steamy moments too: the perfect mix. Eden was so frustrating and naive especially in the beginning, it was understandable considering what she’s was going through and just wanted to feel better about herself and her situation but I still wanted to yell at her to wake up.
Juicy and drama filled, this book is binge worthy and hard to put down once you get into it.
Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for a digital ARC copy.
#AFriendInTheDark #NetGalley
3.75 stars*
What a crazy ride! So many twists and turns, I didn't see some of them coming. I never read any book from Samantha M. Bailey but now she’s on my radar for sure!
This fast-paced and domestic thriller novel had me hooked from the start. It’s told from two perspectives, Eden’s and Olivia’s. I enjoyed the POV changes and the time jumps as well with drama, suspense and steamy moments too: the perfect mix. Eden was so frustrating and naive especially in the beginning, it was understandable considering what she’s was going through and just wanted to feel better about herself and her situation but I still wanted to yell at her to wake up.
Juicy and drama filled, this book is binge worthy and hard to put down once you get into it.
Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for a digital ARC copy.
#AFriendInTheDark #NetGalley
What a crazy ride! So many twists and turns, I didn't see some of them coming. I never read any book from Samantha M. Bailey but now she’s on my radar for sure!
This fast-paced and domestic thriller novel had me hooked from the start. It’s told from two perspectives, Eden’s and Olivia’s. I enjoyed the POV changes and the time jumps as well with drama, suspense and steamy moments too: the perfect mix. Eden was so frustrating and naive especially in the beginning, it was understandable considering what she’s was going through and just wanted to feel better about herself and her situation but I still wanted to yell at her to wake up.
Juicy and drama filled, this book is binge worthy and hard to put down once you get into it.
Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for a digital ARC copy.
#AFriendInTheDark #NetGalley