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nemtynakht's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.5
mhill7723's review against another edition
4.0
Elaine and Clare are sisters, who over the years have grown apart. Elaine is busy with her husband Eric and their three kids. While Clare is a world famous author who is loved all over. Elaine’s day to day life is hectic with minimal help from her husband. Elaine’s only excitement is taking portraits for families, which is a far cry from the photography career she thought she would have. When Elaine receives a call from Clare’s husband Simon telling her that Clare has killed herself, Elaine is not only shocked, but also confused as to why one of the richest, most famous women on earth would kill herself. To top it all Elaine has received some photographs on Eric’s car that show he is clearly cheating on her with his co-worker. Elaine rushes to San Francisco to not only help Simon, but to also see if she can find clues to Clare’s suicide.
Clare seems to have it all, but has never recovered from the death of her high school sweetheart Adam right before graduation. Simon is a good husband and Literary Agent to Clare, but she can never love him the way she loved Adam. Clare struggles to confront her true feelings and answer the questions about what really happened the night Adam died.
I really enjoyed this book. The storytelling was interesting and even though the book skips back and forth through time periods, each era captivated me. I wanted to know what happened in all stages of Clare’s life and try to figure out for myself where the story was going. The story held me to the end on Clare’s story, but also on what Elaine was going to do with her life now that she is armed with proof of Eric’s cheating. I was really happy with the ending for Elaine, was rooting for her as a character. I would definitely recommend this book. Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks for this ARC.
Clare seems to have it all, but has never recovered from the death of her high school sweetheart Adam right before graduation. Simon is a good husband and Literary Agent to Clare, but she can never love him the way she loved Adam. Clare struggles to confront her true feelings and answer the questions about what really happened the night Adam died.
I really enjoyed this book. The storytelling was interesting and even though the book skips back and forth through time periods, each era captivated me. I wanted to know what happened in all stages of Clare’s life and try to figure out for myself where the story was going. The story held me to the end on Clare’s story, but also on what Elaine was going to do with her life now that she is armed with proof of Eric’s cheating. I was really happy with the ending for Elaine, was rooting for her as a character. I would definitely recommend this book. Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks for this ARC.
randina's review
4.0
3.5 stars rounded up. While this book was fairly predictable, I enjoyed it. I especially liked the connection between the sister's life as an author and snippets from her journals/short stories; I thought this could have been better utilized. I was surprised there wasn't even one chapter from the titular "book," - I think that would've been a nice addition.
Major issue I had: I feel like the relationship between Clare and Donna was not developed/wrapped enough. It was unclear to me at times what was happening. The book begins with a scene where Donna writes a bad review of Clare's book, but later it's revealed Clare sent Donna an ARC and she has a blurb on the cover. It's unclear why she would write a poor review then? We see a scene where Clare meets Simon and Donna is angry, but that "jealousy" is never resolved until Donna later tells Eileen and Simon she followed Clare's career. I don't feel we got enough information on this relationship, one that is seemingly so vital to the story.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Major issue I had: I feel like the relationship between Clare and Donna was not developed/wrapped enough. It was unclear to me at times what was happening. The book begins with a scene where Donna writes a bad review of Clare's book, but later it's revealed Clare sent Donna an ARC and she has a blurb on the cover. It's unclear why she would write a poor review then? We see a scene where Clare meets Simon and Donna is angry, but that "jealousy" is never resolved until Donna later tells Eileen and Simon she followed Clare's career. I don't feel we got enough information on this relationship, one that is seemingly so vital to the story.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
bibliojojo's review against another edition
5.0
I absolutely loved this book. It was hard to put down as it drew me in immediately and I wanted to know more and more.
The character depth was amazing! I loved Eileen...how strong yet how vulnerable she was & I enjoyed that she had a story as well...she wasn’t just “the sister.”
Clare was hard to like but I think that was the point? I did feel for the teenage Clare as I think everyone can relate to a first love slipping away.
I did see the twists coming but the many layers of the story kept me engaged .
Overall a very captivating debut! Well done!
Thank you Sourcebooks for my gifted copy in exchange for my honest review.
The character depth was amazing! I loved Eileen...how strong yet how vulnerable she was & I enjoyed that she had a story as well...she wasn’t just “the sister.”
Clare was hard to like but I think that was the point? I did feel for the teenage Clare as I think everyone can relate to a first love slipping away.
I did see the twists coming but the many layers of the story kept me engaged .
Overall a very captivating debut! Well done!
Thank you Sourcebooks for my gifted copy in exchange for my honest review.
bookstasamm's review
4.0
Eileen is surprised when she gets the call from her brother-in-law, Simon, that her sister, Claire, was found dead on the beach from an apparent suicide. The news comes after the release of Claire’s latest book, A Perfect Life. Eileen flies to California to help Simon with the funeral details. Eileen has been jealous of Claire’s fame so hadn’t read many of her latest novels, but is there something hidden in the new one that will help her understand why Claire did what she did?
I thought this book was done really well. It is told from three different perspectives – Eileen in the present day and Simon and Claire in the past. I enjoyed all three points of views and liked learning about what lead to Claire’s suicide. The author did a great job of showing Eileen and Simon’s grief without making it cheesy. It was a very thoughtfully written book, and I look forward to reading more from this author.
This book is tagged as a mystery/thriller, but it’s really not that at all so don’t go into it expecting some big mystery. There is a small mystery that is pretty easy to figure out, but it does not take away from the story at all. I would consider this more of a literary or contemporary fiction novel. This was an easy read, and I highly recommend it.
I thought this book was done really well. It is told from three different perspectives – Eileen in the present day and Simon and Claire in the past. I enjoyed all three points of views and liked learning about what lead to Claire’s suicide. The author did a great job of showing Eileen and Simon’s grief without making it cheesy. It was a very thoughtfully written book, and I look forward to reading more from this author.
This book is tagged as a mystery/thriller, but it’s really not that at all so don’t go into it expecting some big mystery. There is a small mystery that is pretty easy to figure out, but it does not take away from the story at all. I would consider this more of a literary or contemporary fiction novel. This was an easy read, and I highly recommend it.
harrissarah's review against another edition
3.0
It was less of a mystery than I expected, fairly obvious and straight forward. It hit a little close to home for me (suicide). But still an easy good read.
panicatthebookstore's review against another edition
3.0
"Long before Clare had become Clare Collins, she had been a force in the world. Audacious, fearless even. It didn't add up, didn't make sense. Why?"
When Eileen finds out her sister Clare is dead, she goes to her sisters home in order to make some kind of sense of it all. Reading the journals that Clare has kept from the age of eleven and her newly published novel, Eileen starts to understand that Clare didn't have a perfect life after all.
Let me start by saying, I didn't hate this one. But I didn't love it either.
I felt like it was pretty slow paced, and found there were still a few unanswered questions at the end. I predicted the ending quite early on and was disappointed by the lack of shock factor/twists.
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this.
When Eileen finds out her sister Clare is dead, she goes to her sisters home in order to make some kind of sense of it all. Reading the journals that Clare has kept from the age of eleven and her newly published novel, Eileen starts to understand that Clare didn't have a perfect life after all.
Let me start by saying, I didn't hate this one. But I didn't love it either.
I felt like it was pretty slow paced, and found there were still a few unanswered questions at the end. I predicted the ending quite early on and was disappointed by the lack of shock factor/twists.
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this.
cherrysoda9_9's review against another edition
3.0
There was a lot about this that I liked. I thought the sister's stories were well connected and there was a decent pace throughout the entire book. I did feel the ending was a bit rushed compared to the rest of the story and things wrapped up a bit too nicely, but I have no big issues with it.
bebst's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars
This is a story about two sisters who could not be any more different from each other. Their paths cross again, when sucessfull writer Claire commits suicide which her sister Eileen would not accept. She embarks on a journey to discover what really went on in Claires life. A life that was not as perfect as it seemed to be.
Thank you netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for this reading copy
This is a story about two sisters who could not be any more different from each other. Their paths cross again, when sucessfull writer Claire commits suicide which her sister Eileen would not accept. She embarks on a journey to discover what really went on in Claires life. A life that was not as perfect as it seemed to be.
Thank you netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for this reading copy