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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
Grace and her husband Arthur adopted Penny when she was found, as a little girl, abandoned in a nearby park. Years later, Penny is diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder (sometimes referred to as "multiple personalities"). Grace is stunned one night when she there is a knock on her door and she is told 16-year-old Penny has been arrested for brutally murdering her birth mother. The evidence against her is staggering. Penny is sent to a psychiatry hospital, as she awaits trial, where she is treated by Dr. Mitchell McHugh. As Grace fights to prove her daughter's innocence, Mitch works relentlessly to unravel the truth.
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-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
Two stars because I finished it at least but this book is very eh. As someone who frequently reads mystery/thrillers, I saw the ending and "twists" incredibly early on and it was annoying how long it took the characters in the book to catch up. Also I got annoyed by Grace's character. She kept getting ahead of herself, intervening, and had so many half-assed plans. Like, "oh one of the toughest guys in town, let me just go blackmail him because I'm a mom". And the fact that when she attempted said blackmail, she straight up said "Morgan the bartender from the Lucky Dog told me" like DAMN Grace, Morgan risked her ass to secretly talk to you and you immediately drop her name, profession, and place of work. She sucks.
oooOOOooo ... this was super twisty. I thought for sure I bad it figured out, but NOPE! This was very well done, with the different personality traits, and all the characters were pretty well done. I actually liked some of them this time. Lol. I felt bad for Arthur. Twisty, suspenseful, surprising, chaotic... all the things going on in this book. And the narrator, January, is really good at her job. She rocked all the voices.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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
An interesting thriller. I find that mental illness in thrillers can be very hit or miss. While I can't comment on the accuracy of the DID representation, it seems like the author is well-researched in this regard. The effect of trauma on the child psyche was definitely believable. Definite trigger warnings for murder/torture/mental illness/child abuse. I felt that the multiple points of view detracted from the story, but it was an enjoyable read overall.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I was intrigued from the beginning. The plot twist near the end had me genuinely surprised. I wish there was one or two more chapters to close out the story.
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The brother Ryan’s narrative ended up being more confusing to me than it should have been??? But this is a good psychological mystery, the exploration of the messy human mind was very intriguing.
Booo. Started off strong but then fell flat for me. Ending was meh.
Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the e-ARC.
I could not put this book down! Wildly entertaining, I was hooked from the start. I stayed up well past my bedtime desperate to know every single detail about Penny, her past, and the night in question. I think fans of The Silent Patient will especially enjoy this thriller.
For more reviews and favorites, checkout @ActorsWhoBook on IG: https://www.instagram.com/actorswhobook/
I could not put this book down! Wildly entertaining, I was hooked from the start. I stayed up well past my bedtime desperate to know every single detail about Penny, her past, and the night in question. I think fans of The Silent Patient will especially enjoy this thriller.
For more reviews and favorites, checkout @ActorsWhoBook on IG: https://www.instagram.com/actorswhobook/
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced