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melhara's review against another edition
1.0
I debated whether or not to DNF this but powered through… what a waste of 9.5hrs of my life.
I normally love a thriller with an unreliable narrator and imperfect characters. But I'm not even sure I can classify this book as a thriller because there was no suspense. No excitement. No mystery.
In [b:Something She's Not Telling Us|46178726|Something She's Not Telling Us|Darcey Bell|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1560159753l/46178726._SY75_.jpg|69226763], Charlotte goes to pick her daughter up from school only to find out she's not there. Turns out, her brother's girlfriend, Ruth, had already picked her up. Charlotte, who absolutely hates Ruth, believes that Ruth is attempting to kidnap her daughter. Charlotte thinks there's something off about Ruth - that she can't be trusted because there's something she's not telling them (hence the title).
What I didn't like about this book:
- The pacing. It was so slow.
- The alternating POVs. This book alternates POVs between Ruth, Charlotte, occasionally Rocco (Charlotte's brother), and a POV from a random character called Vanessa. I felt like these POVs were unnecessary and didn't add much to the story. If anything, alternating between Ruth and Charlotte would probably have sufficed (to establish the fact that they were unreliable narrators).
- The unlikeable characters. Each alternating POV made me like the characters less and less. They were all annoying, petty, and selfish.
- Zero character development. The story would briefly mention Charlotte's jealousy towards Ruth and Daisy's relationship, or Ruth's constant need to lie, or Rocco's drinking problem, but never go any deeper than that. There's no clear reason as to why they're this way, nor do their behaviours change or improve as the story progresses. We're just supposed to accept the fact that these people are flawed for no reason at all and cannot be changed.
- Alternating between past and present. The story also alternates between present-day (when Ruth took Daisy) and a few months earlier (when Charlotte meets Ruth for the first time). I felt like the constant back and forth took away from the suspense and made the novel rather boring.
- The anticlimactic ending. I can't believe a sat through a 9.5hr audiobook for an open-ended ending that didn't even attempt to resolve any of the character's deeper and more personal issues.
- The improbable ending. Ok, most of this book was implausible (but I find that's usually the case with thrillers, so I'll let that slide) but the ending just didn't make any sense to me.
tl;dr - Honestly, I don't even know what this book is about because it was all over the place, which was made evident by the constant change in perspectives and timelines. I also didn't like the characters and I absolutely hated the ending. I would not recommend this book.
I normally love a thriller with an unreliable narrator and imperfect characters. But I'm not even sure I can classify this book as a thriller because there was no suspense. No excitement. No mystery.
In [b:Something She's Not Telling Us|46178726|Something She's Not Telling Us|Darcey Bell|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1560159753l/46178726._SY75_.jpg|69226763], Charlotte goes to pick her daughter up from school only to find out she's not there. Turns out, her brother's girlfriend, Ruth, had already picked her up. Charlotte, who absolutely hates Ruth, believes that Ruth is attempting to kidnap her daughter. Charlotte thinks there's something off about Ruth - that she can't be trusted because there's something she's not telling them (hence the title).
What I didn't like about this book:
- The pacing. It was so slow.
- The alternating POVs. This book alternates POVs between Ruth, Charlotte, occasionally Rocco (Charlotte's brother), and a POV from a random character called Vanessa. I felt like these POVs were unnecessary and didn't add much to the story. If anything, alternating between Ruth and Charlotte would probably have sufficed (to establish the fact that they were unreliable narrators).
- The unlikeable characters. Each alternating POV made me like the characters less and less. They were all annoying, petty, and selfish.
- Zero character development. The story would briefly mention Charlotte's jealousy towards Ruth and Daisy's relationship, or Ruth's constant need to lie, or Rocco's drinking problem, but never go any deeper than that. There's no clear reason as to why they're this way, nor do their behaviours change or improve as the story progresses. We're just supposed to accept the fact that these people are flawed for no reason at all and cannot be changed.
- Alternating between past and present. The story also alternates between present-day (when Ruth took Daisy) and a few months earlier (when Charlotte meets Ruth for the first time). I felt like the constant back and forth took away from the suspense and made the novel rather boring.
- The anticlimactic ending. I can't believe a sat through a 9.5hr audiobook for an open-ended ending that didn't even attempt to resolve any of the character's deeper and more personal issues.
- The improbable ending. Ok, most of this book was implausible (but I find that's usually the case with thrillers, so I'll let that slide) but the ending just didn't make any sense to me.
Spoiler
When Charlotte found Ruth, she ran over and gave the woman a hug. She hugged the woman she despises. The woman who had kidnapped and possibly traumatized her daughter. Who would do that? Also, Ruth just suddenly goes from talking to her dead grandparents to realizing that she's crazy? How did she come to that realization? What made her snap out of her delusion?tl;dr - Honestly, I don't even know what this book is about because it was all over the place, which was made evident by the constant change in perspectives and timelines. I also didn't like the characters and I absolutely hated the ending. I would not recommend this book.
mayarelmahdy's review against another edition
2.0
2.5/5
This book is... okay. It's perfectly palatable. The story's a little dull and Charlotte is the most lacklustre narrator ever. I felt like I was reading a novel told from the POV of plain toast. She only served to show the holes in the other narrator's story.
The Rocco/Charlotte dynamic was odd. Why would anyone hate their sibling for being rich? and Charlotte and her husband have the weirdest marriage ever.
This book is... okay. It's perfectly palatable. The story's a little dull and Charlotte is the most lacklustre narrator ever. I felt like I was reading a novel told from the POV of plain toast. She only served to show the holes in the other narrator's story.
The Rocco/Charlotte dynamic was odd. Why would anyone hate their sibling for being rich? and Charlotte and her husband have the weirdest marriage ever.
twiinklex's review against another edition
3.0
Breezed through this but I didn't like how abruptly it ended. It's a page-turner for sure because both women have something to hide and you want to find out what secrets they have exactly, plus you are dying to know what is happening to Daisy.
I can't stand weak, whiny characters that don't do anything to improve their own lives and instead, covet the lives of those who are more successful/capable/beautiful/happy. So I really despised Ruth.
Like with A Simple Favour, the storyline is very engaging but everything else is mediocre and falls flat. The ending makes a forgettable book even more forgettable.
I can't stand weak, whiny characters that don't do anything to improve their own lives and instead, covet the lives of those who are more successful/capable/beautiful/happy. So I really despised Ruth.
Like with A Simple Favour, the storyline is very engaging but everything else is mediocre and falls flat. The ending makes a forgettable book even more forgettable.
openmypages's review against another edition
3.0
This twisty thriller will have you guessing what's going on pretty much right up until the last chapter. It switches from POV to POV and time point to time point leaving you gripping for more information.
When little Daisy is taken from school, Charlotte knows just who's done it but not why. Her brother is consistently dating quirky, strange or outright crazy women but Ruth just may take the cake. She has all the appearances of the best thing that ever happened to him, even the skeptical Daisy warms up to her easily. But the more encounters Ruth has with the family, the more they begin to wonder who she truly is and the more Charlotte begins to panic, you wonder just exactly how reliable your narrator is.
This one was well written and fast paced. It was a fun thriller that kept me guessing but it had too loose of an ending for my taste.
Thank you to Harper for the gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.
When little Daisy is taken from school, Charlotte knows just who's done it but not why. Her brother is consistently dating quirky, strange or outright crazy women but Ruth just may take the cake. She has all the appearances of the best thing that ever happened to him, even the skeptical Daisy warms up to her easily. But the more encounters Ruth has with the family, the more they begin to wonder who she truly is and the more Charlotte begins to panic, you wonder just exactly how reliable your narrator is.
This one was well written and fast paced. It was a fun thriller that kept me guessing but it had too loose of an ending for my taste.
Thank you to Harper for the gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.
savanaschubert's review against another edition
3.0
This family drama/domestic thriller had a compelling plot of Charlotte and her brothers new girlfriend, Ruth, who seems to be obsessed with her and wanting her life. One day when Charlottes daughter goes missing, she knows it has to be Ruth that has taken her.
This story had great suspense and I enjoyed the multiple points of view. It started out slower at the beginning, but at 100 or so pages in I had to keep reading. Unfortunately, the ending kinda fell flat for me :/ I was stuck on rating this 2 or 3 stars but I was definitely hooked and it was a great writing style so I was generous. Would be interested in reading Darcy Bell’s previous novel!
This story had great suspense and I enjoyed the multiple points of view. It started out slower at the beginning, but at 100 or so pages in I had to keep reading. Unfortunately, the ending kinda fell flat for me :/ I was stuck on rating this 2 or 3 stars but I was definitely hooked and it was a great writing style so I was generous. Would be interested in reading Darcy Bell’s previous novel!
darncutebookreviewgirl's review against another edition
3.0
“Is anyone ever really who they say they are…?”
The cover of this book is what drew me to it, at first glance. I loved how the pink sunglasses catch your attention, and makes you wonder which character the person is supposed to be in the book. “Something She’s Not Telling Us" is a psychological thriller with two very unreliable narrators that makes you wonder rethink which of them is the worst one.
Charlotte has everything in life that she ever could have hoped for: a doting, artistic husband, a small-but-thriving flower shop, and her sweet, smart five-year-old daughter, Daisy. Her relationship with her mother might be strained, but the distance between them helps. And her younger brother Rocco may have horrible taste in women, but when he introduces his new girlfriend to Charlotte and her family, they are cautiously optimistic that she could be The One. Daisy seems to love Ruth, and she can’t be any worse than the klepto Rocco brought home the last time. At least, that’s what Charlotte keeps telling herself. But as Rocco and Ruth’s relationship becomes more serious, Ruth’s apparent obsession with Daisy grows more obvious.
Then Daisy is kidnapped, and Charlotte is convinced there’s only one person who could have taken her.
Ruth has never had much, but now she’s finally on the verge of having everything she’s ever dreamed of. A stable job at a start-up company, a rakish, handsome boyfriend with whom she falls more in love with every day—and a chance at the happy family she’s always wanted, adorable niece included. The only obstacle standing in her way is her boyfriend’s sister Charlotte, whose attitude swerves between politely cold and outright hostile. Rebuffing Ruth’s every attempt to build a friendship with her and Daisy, Charlotte watches over her daughter with a desperate protectiveness that sends chills down Ruth’s spine. Ruth knows that Charlotte has a deeply-buried secret, the only question is: what? A surprise outing with Daisy could be the key to finding out, and Ruth knows she must take the chance while she has it—for everyone’s sake.
As the two women follow each other down a chilling rabbit hole, unearthing winding paths of deceit, lies, and trauma, a family and a future will be completely—and irrevocably—shattered.
I really struggled to get through this book. At the beginning, it felt fast-paced and intriguing to me, but as the story drew on, I became to like the story less and less.
The story is told in shifting, disorienting tenses and points of view between the two main characters, Charlotte and Ruth, and a few times from Charlotte’s brother, Rocco. It took some time getting used to, but in the end, still turned me off from this book.
As for the characters, I never felt a connection to and never came invested in any of them. Which caused a domino effect since it meant I didn’t really care what happened to any of them or want to see their story to the end.
I really wish I could say I liked this book a little, but it just wasn’t my cup of tea. Even though I didn’t like the book, that doesn’t mean that someone else wouldn’t like it. I will say that I love seeing Darcey Bell’s novels more as movies than I do reading them, and would recommend this book to someone that loved her debut novel , “A Simple Favor”.
(I received this book free from the publisher via Netgalley, in exchange for a fair and honest review.)
The cover of this book is what drew me to it, at first glance. I loved how the pink sunglasses catch your attention, and makes you wonder which character the person is supposed to be in the book. “Something She’s Not Telling Us" is a psychological thriller with two very unreliable narrators that makes you wonder rethink which of them is the worst one.
Charlotte has everything in life that she ever could have hoped for: a doting, artistic husband, a small-but-thriving flower shop, and her sweet, smart five-year-old daughter, Daisy. Her relationship with her mother might be strained, but the distance between them helps. And her younger brother Rocco may have horrible taste in women, but when he introduces his new girlfriend to Charlotte and her family, they are cautiously optimistic that she could be The One. Daisy seems to love Ruth, and she can’t be any worse than the klepto Rocco brought home the last time. At least, that’s what Charlotte keeps telling herself. But as Rocco and Ruth’s relationship becomes more serious, Ruth’s apparent obsession with Daisy grows more obvious.
Then Daisy is kidnapped, and Charlotte is convinced there’s only one person who could have taken her.
Ruth has never had much, but now she’s finally on the verge of having everything she’s ever dreamed of. A stable job at a start-up company, a rakish, handsome boyfriend with whom she falls more in love with every day—and a chance at the happy family she’s always wanted, adorable niece included. The only obstacle standing in her way is her boyfriend’s sister Charlotte, whose attitude swerves between politely cold and outright hostile. Rebuffing Ruth’s every attempt to build a friendship with her and Daisy, Charlotte watches over her daughter with a desperate protectiveness that sends chills down Ruth’s spine. Ruth knows that Charlotte has a deeply-buried secret, the only question is: what? A surprise outing with Daisy could be the key to finding out, and Ruth knows she must take the chance while she has it—for everyone’s sake.
As the two women follow each other down a chilling rabbit hole, unearthing winding paths of deceit, lies, and trauma, a family and a future will be completely—and irrevocably—shattered.
I really struggled to get through this book. At the beginning, it felt fast-paced and intriguing to me, but as the story drew on, I became to like the story less and less.
The story is told in shifting, disorienting tenses and points of view between the two main characters, Charlotte and Ruth, and a few times from Charlotte’s brother, Rocco. It took some time getting used to, but in the end, still turned me off from this book.
As for the characters, I never felt a connection to and never came invested in any of them. Which caused a domino effect since it meant I didn’t really care what happened to any of them or want to see their story to the end.
I really wish I could say I liked this book a little, but it just wasn’t my cup of tea. Even though I didn’t like the book, that doesn’t mean that someone else wouldn’t like it. I will say that I love seeing Darcey Bell’s novels more as movies than I do reading them, and would recommend this book to someone that loved her debut novel , “A Simple Favor”.
(I received this book free from the publisher via Netgalley, in exchange for a fair and honest review.)
kbucheit's review against another edition
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
maryterry14's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I finished the last 60% in 12 hours - I devoured this book. But the best way to describe reading this book is to imagine you're on a super fun rollercoaster that boasts the highest drop. And once you get to the top, an elevator gently lowers you down. That's exactly how this book ends. Would have been a 4.5, but gave it a 3 for the ending.
sndyye's review against another edition
1.25
this had such a horrible inconclusive ending. didn’t like it.
cgm42's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25