Reviews tagging 'Grief'

After Dark by Minka Kent

1 review

yvo_about_books's review

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4.0

 Finished reading: November 8th 2023


"If she loves you, she'll move Heaven and earth with her own two bare hands. And if she doesn't? I hope I never find out."

*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***

I've been meaning to try one of Minka Kent's books for quite some time now, and there was just something about the blurb of After Dark that made it impossible for me to resist adding it to my shelves. It probably has something to do with the main character being accused of murdering someone during a blackout fit of rage, and somehow living in the same town twenty years after... Even if she did it, why didn't she move somewhere else afterwards?! Anyhow, I was SO curious about this story, and I have to say that it turned out to be an extremely quick and surprisingly addictive read.

This is one of those stories where it's best to go in blind, because the plot and in particular the plot twists will have so much more impact this way. Nothing is as it seems in After Dark, and this will only make you want to turn those pages even faster. The only reason I didn't finish this story in one sitting was because I started reading it late at night... Although I confess that was seriously tempted to pull an all-nighter. I don't want to give away too much and spoil things, but what I can say is that this story is unreliable narrator at its best and there was more than one plot twist I didn't see coming at all.

After Dark uses a dual timeline as well as two different POVs. We switch back and forth between 2003 when the murder happened and the present, and the story is told alternating between Afton and Sydney. To say that their relationship is complicated is an understatement, and I enjoyed learning more about their dynamics. I preferred Afton over Sydney, but that was probably mostly because Afton's flawed character was so much more intriguing to spend time with. Again, I don't want to give away too much, but let's just say that your opinion about both characters will change drastically as you start to get the full picture.

There is a lot of focus on mental health issues as well as topics including (domestic) abuse, addiction, gaslighting and cheating. I'm never a fan of the whole cheating element in stories and Drew is particularly despicable, but I do get why it was introduced in the plot and how it contributed to the ending. The gaslighting and toxic relationship element is very well incorporated into the plot, and the same goes for Afton's condition. I was dying to find out both what happened in the past and what was happening in the present... And while certain aspects of the plot might not be completely credible, I personally didn't mind because it made for such a great twist.

If you like your psychological thrillers on the dark, engaging and fast side with a healthy dose of unreliable narrator and big twists, After Dark is your book. I can't wait to read more books by this author now! 
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