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3.67 AVERAGE
3.67 AVERAGE
slow-paced
tense
medium-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Alright, I did enjoy this book. The dual narrators works well and the shifting perspectives are at their most interesting when Gabby and Andrea are interacting with each other more regularly and you get to see things from each perspective. The back half of the book flies by and keeps the set up twists and turns coming, even more than they need to honestly. They both have unique voices which is much appreciated.
The characters are interesting and interestingly flawed and I personally appreciatethat there's a happy ending for Andrea and her children.
Terry is just so utterly unlikeable that I was rooting for Andrea to dump him for most of the book. But I suppose that kept me engaged.
Now the bad, so the book is quite slow in the first half and the blurb is fairly misleading as you expect more mystery and more of a tie in to that moment and the grand mystery but much of the book is set up and slice of life of having a small child and a bad relationship with your gambling addict husband. It was not badly written slice of life but not the most exciting or why I bothered to pick the book up.
Other issues I had are that certain of the twists, and especially the last twist strain credulity and seemed just there because its a twist rather than making sense.
Perhaps its different in Australia but I found it hard to believe that you can just bring a 3 year old through airport security without a passport or ID or anything in 2023, that feels like something doomed to fail when done on spur of the moment. Furthermore, Richard and Gabby actually both being con artists because no one "ever checked his impressive business card" seemed really dumb. The police just found out that she's been faking having children using other real childrens photos for years and she's just kidnapped a 3 year old and no one decides to do a detailed check of Richard's credentials given the amount of lies surrounding them? She's apparently also being sued by other people whose images she's used but the authorities deporting her decide to release her into the custody of just her brother who had been letting her get away with this for years? AND the authorities decide against running a background check on the brother. That shattered my suspension of disbelief.
The characters are interesting and interestingly flawed and I personally appreciate
Terry is just so utterly unlikeable that I was rooting for Andrea to dump him for most of the book. But I suppose that kept me engaged.
Now the bad, so the book is quite slow in the first half and the blurb is fairly misleading as you expect more mystery and more of a tie in to that moment and the grand mystery but much of the book is set up and slice of life of having a small child and a bad relationship with your gambling addict husband. It was not badly written slice of life but not the most exciting or why I bothered to pick the book up.
Other issues I had are that certain of the twists, and especially the last twist strain credulity and seemed just there because its a twist rather than making sense.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Kidnapping
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
When Andrea moves into her rented home she strikes a friendship with Gabby another stay at home mum who lives across the street. Gabby is mum to sixteen year old Flynn, her husband Richard is working away in the US. Andrea is married to Terry and mum to three year old Jack and is expecting another child.
The pair quickly become firm friends. Gabby has lots of time on her hands, Flynn is rarely home and her days are spent posting on social media. She centres her posts on Flynn and the difficulties of raising a sixteen year old. She has thousands of followers, just as she likes, Gabby craves the attention. To Andrea Gabby's life is just perfect. When Gabby suggests looking after Jack so Andrea can catch up on much needed rest Andrea jumps at the chance. But Andrea has no idea what Gabby really has planned for her son!
This is a fast paced psychological thriller told in alternating chapters from the POV of Gabby and Andrea. It's full of twists and turns; leading to one of those totally satisfying conclusions. Highly recommended.
The pair quickly become firm friends. Gabby has lots of time on her hands, Flynn is rarely home and her days are spent posting on social media. She centres her posts on Flynn and the difficulties of raising a sixteen year old. She has thousands of followers, just as she likes, Gabby craves the attention. To Andrea Gabby's life is just perfect. When Gabby suggests looking after Jack so Andrea can catch up on much needed rest Andrea jumps at the chance. But Andrea has no idea what Gabby really has planned for her son!
This is a fast paced psychological thriller told in alternating chapters from the POV of Gabby and Andrea. It's full of twists and turns; leading to one of those totally satisfying conclusions. Highly recommended.
This is a really dark story about everyone’s with kids biggest worry of their kid going missing with someone you trusted with your child. Did she accidentally keep the child out longer than planned or is something more sinister going on and why is she so obsessed with her teenage son. This is a dark read and I loved it.
3.5 ⭐️As always Nicole writes intriguing books. While I guessed what was going on, I still enjoyed it. I thought some of the things were a little far fetched still recommend it.
“Everyone is hiding something. It’s just that some people are better at it than others.”
Trope’s upcoming book is a five-star, mind-bending thrill ride!
It’s about how we react when we find ourselves in the midst of the unthinkable. It’s about the tendency to overlook our blessings at the first sign of a struggle. And most of all, it’s about the importance of living authentically, wary about the ‘fake news’ that bombards us daily.
I don’t think I’ve ever read a book with such an unreliable narrator…and I think I liked it! I was aware from the outset that the Gatelys and the Burrells were keeping secrets, but every time I thought I had it figured out, Trope surprised me. I liked how she used plausible topics from today’s newspaper headlines to explore her theme of deceit, mental illness and fraud. As I turned the last page, I thought how sad it is that it takes the experience of almost losing everything for human beings to place a greater value on change.
Trope’s characters are emotionally driven and she uses their unthinkable experience to explore relationships, forgiveness, appearances, and justice. She proves that a fresh start is within the grasp of each of us; we are only one decision away from a completely different life.
This thought-provoking psychological thriller must be on your reading list in the new year.
Be ware of Greeks bearing gifts! Chocolates aren't JUST chocolates.
I was gifted this copy by Bookouture and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.
Trope’s upcoming book is a five-star, mind-bending thrill ride!
It’s about how we react when we find ourselves in the midst of the unthinkable. It’s about the tendency to overlook our blessings at the first sign of a struggle. And most of all, it’s about the importance of living authentically, wary about the ‘fake news’ that bombards us daily.
I don’t think I’ve ever read a book with such an unreliable narrator…and I think I liked it! I was aware from the outset that the Gatelys and the Burrells were keeping secrets, but every time I thought I had it figured out, Trope surprised me. I liked how she used plausible topics from today’s newspaper headlines to explore her theme of deceit, mental illness and fraud. As I turned the last page, I thought how sad it is that it takes the experience of almost losing everything for human beings to place a greater value on change.
Trope’s characters are emotionally driven and she uses their unthinkable experience to explore relationships, forgiveness, appearances, and justice. She proves that a fresh start is within the grasp of each of us; we are only one decision away from a completely different life.
This thought-provoking psychological thriller must be on your reading list in the new year.
Be ware of Greeks bearing gifts! Chocolates aren't JUST chocolates.
I was gifted this copy by Bookouture and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.
"LA MAMÁ - AMA DE CASA"
¿Estás segura de que conoces bien a quiénes llamas "amigos"?
Por el gusto que me provocó la lectura anterior, decidí volver a leer a la escritora Nicole Trope, y, un poco al azar, elegí esta novela también ubicada en los suburbios, demostrando que ni las casas más hermosas, ni la ropa más cara, son capaces de ocultar a los monstruos...
Andrea se acaba de mudar al vecindario de Gabby, quien parece tenerlo todo con su perfecto hijo adolescente, su casa adinerada e impecable, y su guapo marido.
Mientras tanto, Andrea ha llegado con una vida caótica tras de sí, con su pequeño hijo Jack, de tres años, un embarazo casi llegado a término, y Terry, su esposo, quien parece estar involucrado en algo turbio.
Estas mujeres forjarán una amistad que desembocará en el más visceral de los miedos para una de ellas... ¿Qué hay detrás de las máscaras tras las que se ocultan tus amigos y vecinos?
Este libro me pareció lento a ratos. Lo sentí un poco repetitivo y me aburría a momentos, pero no al grado de dejar la lectura.
El giro principal lo adiviné casi desde el principio, pero me pareció bueno.
Sin embargo, el final de la novela en sí, tiene una característica que lo llevó hasta territorio inverosímil para mí.
Redondeando todo, le doy tres estrellas.
¿Estás segura de que conoces bien a quiénes llamas "amigos"?
Por el gusto que me provocó la lectura anterior, decidí volver a leer a la escritora Nicole Trope, y, un poco al azar, elegí esta novela también ubicada en los suburbios, demostrando que ni las casas más hermosas, ni la ropa más cara, son capaces de ocultar a los monstruos...
Andrea se acaba de mudar al vecindario de Gabby, quien parece tenerlo todo con su perfecto hijo adolescente, su casa adinerada e impecable, y su guapo marido.
Mientras tanto, Andrea ha llegado con una vida caótica tras de sí, con su pequeño hijo Jack, de tres años, un embarazo casi llegado a término, y Terry, su esposo, quien parece estar involucrado en algo turbio.
Estas mujeres forjarán una amistad que desembocará en el más visceral de los miedos para una de ellas... ¿Qué hay detrás de las máscaras tras las que se ocultan tus amigos y vecinos?
Este libro me pareció lento a ratos. Lo sentí un poco repetitivo y me aburría a momentos, pero no al grado de dejar la lectura.
El giro principal lo adiviné casi desde el principio, pero me pareció bueno.
Sin embargo, el final de la novela en sí, tiene una característica que lo llevó hasta territorio inverosímil para mí.
Redondeando todo, le doy tres estrellas.
Nicole Trope pulled out all of the stops when she presents her latest psychological thriller. We have two principal characters, Andy and Gabby. Andy is married to Tom and they have a three-year-old son and she is also pregnant with their second child. Gabby lives across the street from them and is the mom to a teenage boy. In fact, Gabby is a social media influencer and most of her time is spent keeping up her posts on social media. However, at some point Andy and Gabby meet and before long Gabby is the perfect stand-in for whenever Andy needs help with her son.
With this thrilling story being alternately narrated by Andy and Gabby, Andy is navigating a difficult situation with a change of circumstances after she and her husband moved into a house that could stand some major updates. Along with that, she finds herself utterly drained and feeling like her life is out of control. Meanwhile, Gabby‘s problems relate to her feeling like her life isn’t going in the direction that she wants. In fact, she starts to think that she can change her circumstances in what would be a drastic and actually a catastrophic way.
At least one of our principal characters proves to be unreliable to the nth degree. Considering that Andy and Gabby make a fast friendship, things just might soon turn disastrous. With secrets and lies being the backdrop of this story, there are some twists that happen in rather quick succession, leading to what will most certainly be a difficult and painful showdown. Despite while reading this book I thought I had things figured out, the twists were more than shocking. In fact, there was a jaw-dropping twist that truly caught me by surprise, thus making this latest book by Nicole Trope one of my absolute favorites!
Many thanks to Bookouture and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.
Please enjoy my YouTube video review - https://youtu.be/2IG418eYxRw
With this thrilling story being alternately narrated by Andy and Gabby, Andy is navigating a difficult situation with a change of circumstances after she and her husband moved into a house that could stand some major updates. Along with that, she finds herself utterly drained and feeling like her life is out of control. Meanwhile, Gabby‘s problems relate to her feeling like her life isn’t going in the direction that she wants. In fact, she starts to think that she can change her circumstances in what would be a drastic and actually a catastrophic way.
At least one of our principal characters proves to be unreliable to the nth degree. Considering that Andy and Gabby make a fast friendship, things just might soon turn disastrous. With secrets and lies being the backdrop of this story, there are some twists that happen in rather quick succession, leading to what will most certainly be a difficult and painful showdown. Despite while reading this book I thought I had things figured out, the twists were more than shocking. In fact, there was a jaw-dropping twist that truly caught me by surprise, thus making this latest book by Nicole Trope one of my absolute favorites!
Many thanks to Bookouture and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.
Please enjoy my YouTube video review - https://youtu.be/2IG418eYxRw