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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
rachelrawn's review against another edition
3.0
I was enjoying it, but the ending is just not enough. There’s a lot of buildup and then nothing, like the author was just exhausted and wanted to get it over with.
nicole_the_human's review against another edition
2.0
There’s a lot to unpack here. *Minor Spoilers Ahead*
First, this can’t in any good conscience be called a “mystery” or a “thriller”. At no point is it a mystery who took Daisy, nor does it have any sort of thrill-factor. The buildup to the ending is non-existent and the ending is in no manner of the word “thrilling” nor interesting. The best possible way for me to describe this ending would be to call it a “best case scenario“. That’s nice and all but also incredibly boring.
The entire novel could easily be described as boring because nothing happens. More than half of the novel is spent looking at the past interactions with Ruth rather than in present day when Daisy is missing. Maybe I wouldn’t mind it so much if it weren’t exceedingly obvious from the start that Ruth is delusional. I figured that out from the second paragraph in the her first chapter.
Next come the characters. Daisy and Eli are literally the only tolerable ones. I understand that some characters aren’t meant to be liked, but reading from their prospective shouldn’t be nearly as infuriating as it was.
Charlotte is annoying and she always assumes the worst in everyone. She has a tendency of not trusting anyone, not even her husband. She’s resentful to everyone. Her anxiety was well developed but also a bit much. We don’t need her to be anxious over something different on each page to understand that she worries excessively. Charlotte’s character is all over the place. She can be the sweetest person or downright rude. She’s condescending to her husband and blames him for a lot while simultaneously forgiving Ruth at the end. She’s very inconsistent. I can almost guarantee that no mother will EVER forgive and hug the woman who stole her child.
As a matter of fact, the entire situation could have very easily been avoided. If Rocco was going to pick her up at school and then meet with Ruth, why was she put on the list? Even if they went together, Ruth wouldn’t have to be on the list. There was no way that Charlotte would have allowed Ruth to pick Daisy up by herself. Ruth had no reason to be put on the list. This seems like a big oversight.
Lastly, the way the police handled the situation is not at all accurate. Because most cases of child abductions are committed by someone close to the family or a family member themselves, Amber Alerts ARE sent out for all missing children. In a real life situation, the police would not be just sitting on the sidelines, twiddling their thumbs. A lot more research should have been put into this.
First, this can’t in any good conscience be called a “mystery” or a “thriller”. At no point is it a mystery who took Daisy, nor does it have any sort of thrill-factor. The buildup to the ending is non-existent and the ending is in no manner of the word “thrilling” nor interesting. The best possible way for me to describe this ending would be to call it a “best case scenario“. That’s nice and all but also incredibly boring.
The entire novel could easily be described as boring because nothing happens. More than half of the novel is spent looking at the past interactions with Ruth rather than in present day when Daisy is missing. Maybe I wouldn’t mind it so much if it weren’t exceedingly obvious from the start that Ruth is delusional. I figured that out from the second paragraph in the her first chapter.
Next come the characters. Daisy and Eli are literally the only tolerable ones. I understand that some characters aren’t meant to be liked, but reading from their prospective shouldn’t be nearly as infuriating as it was.
Charlotte is annoying and she always assumes the worst in everyone. She has a tendency of not trusting anyone, not even her husband. She’s resentful to everyone. Her anxiety was well developed but also a bit much. We don’t need her to be anxious over something different on each page to understand that she worries excessively. Charlotte’s character is all over the place. She can be the sweetest person or downright rude. She’s condescending to her husband and blames him for a lot while simultaneously forgiving Ruth at the end. She’s very inconsistent. I can almost guarantee that no mother will EVER forgive and hug the woman who stole her child.
As a matter of fact, the entire situation could have very easily been avoided. If Rocco was going to pick her up at school and then meet with Ruth, why was she put on the list? Even if they went together, Ruth wouldn’t have to be on the list. There was no way that Charlotte would have allowed Ruth to pick Daisy up by herself. Ruth had no reason to be put on the list. This seems like a big oversight.
Lastly, the way the police handled the situation is not at all accurate. Because most cases of child abductions are committed by someone close to the family or a family member themselves, Amber Alerts ARE sent out for all missing children. In a real life situation, the police would not be just sitting on the sidelines, twiddling their thumbs. A lot more research should have been put into this.
bean0331's review against another edition
3.0
I wasn’t too thrilled about reading it as my sister read another book by this author and hated it!
Unfortunately after reading this book I now agree with my sister and have a distaste for the author. The book starts off great ties you into the characters though you don’t really love them. But then falls completely flat at the end. Doesn’t tie up any loose ends just leaves it out there. You don’t even,we’ll I didn’t, get a specific jist for exactly what the author wanted to portray. I understand the mental illness but which one. And why make it seem villainous?? That isn’t helping anyone.
I will definitely strongly think about purchasing another book by Bell. I was let down big time.
Unfortunately after reading this book I now agree with my sister and have a distaste for the author. The book starts off great ties you into the characters though you don’t really love them. But then falls completely flat at the end. Doesn’t tie up any loose ends just leaves it out there. You don’t even,we’ll I didn’t, get a specific jist for exactly what the author wanted to portray. I understand the mental illness but which one. And why make it seem villainous?? That isn’t helping anyone.
I will definitely strongly think about purchasing another book by Bell. I was let down big time.