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3.42 AVERAGE
3.42 AVERAGE
emotional
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Sexual harassment
slow-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
Like
- A strong start managed to drag me in
- Excellent writing
Dislike
- If you like middle age women office drama... go with this read. - Last 10% is where there is more story
- Laura is the most frustrating character in this book. Wants everything and doesn't except what she already has. To me, she didn't really have a purpose in the book
- Extremely repetitive, very slow moving plot
- By the end, I did not care what happened
- Lost it's suspension and I wasn't thrilled with any of it
- A strong start managed to drag me in
- Excellent writing
Dislike
- If you like middle age women office drama... go with this read. - Last 10% is where there is more story
- Laura is the most frustrating character in this book. Wants everything and doesn't except what she already has. To me, she didn't really have a purpose in the book
- Extremely repetitive, very slow moving plot
- By the end, I did not care what happened
- Lost it's suspension and I wasn't thrilled with any of it
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-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:
Complicated
The first half of this book kept me reasonably entertaining, but the last half felt like a chore. This is told from the perspective of three women, and through police interviews. In the beginning of the book there has been a fire in an office, and the story takes the reader through the events that led to it, and as the story progresses, we find out that all the characters are hiding something.
Unfortunately I found all the characters more or less annoying. Especially Laura, who's returning to work after a maternity leave, and is convinced that her replacement Mia is out to get her. Laura is completely obsessed with Mia and the client she lost to her. But Mia and the other POV character Janie have secrets of their own. All their secrets tie together in the end.
We spend so much time with Laura's obsession with Mia that I thought it would play a bigger role in the end. The connection between the characters feels a bit forced, and the ending leaves too many open questions. How did the culprit manage to do it so that someone ends up dead? Why wasn't the victim able to escape the fire?
On top of that, the language felt clunky and there were some grammatical errors and typos. This work didn't feel as finished, and could have done with another round of edits.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Rape, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol
mysterious
tense
medium-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
I’ve been having such good luck lately that I always fear being let down. Thankfully, this wasn’t the case.
As is the theme, I wasn’t sure I trusted anyone. Except maybe Laura. For whatever reason she seemed the only one who was remotely truthful...
This is told through multiple points of view combined with police interrogations/interviews. Those interviews added another element to the story. And also hinted at who was lying.
I was able to work out some parts of the story. Others I couldn’t quite grasp fully. And in the end, I felt fulfilled by the ending. Things made sense. All the holes were filled and patched up. We got the full story.
I think most who enjoy a good mystery will like this one.
As is the theme, I wasn’t sure I trusted anyone. Except maybe Laura. For whatever reason she seemed the only one who was remotely truthful...
This is told through multiple points of view combined with police interrogations/interviews. Those interviews added another element to the story. And also hinted at who was lying.
I was able to work out some parts of the story. Others I couldn’t quite grasp fully. And in the end, I felt fulfilled by the ending. Things made sense. All the holes were filled and patched up. We got the full story.
I think most who enjoy a good mystery will like this one.
adventurous
dark
tense
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
this was so excellent. every single chapter gave me another reason to keep on reading, it was really well done how the author kept dropping little hints about things that made me question what had happened and what was going on which i really really enjoyed. it was a super slow build up to the sort of "reveal" at the end but it actually worked really well and it didn't feel dragged out or anything.
also LOVED the ending and the reveal. it was v well done and very unexpected
also LOVED the ending and the reveal. it was v well done and very unexpected
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Laura, Mia and Janie are three perfect liars but the truth will always come out.
Laura has completed her maternity leave and is returning to her job at Morris and Wood, an advertising firm. She’s not impressed to find Mia still sitting at Laura’s desk on her first day back to the office. Laura had hired Mia on a temporary basis to cover her mat leave and she fully expected Mia to be gone on her first day back. Instead Mia is not only still sitting at Laura’s desk but she has finagled a permanent job at the firm and has also poached Laura’s biggest client. Now Laura is determined to uncover what Mia is so desperate to hide.
The other liar in this story is Janie, the wife to Harry Wood who is the owner of the advertising agency. Janie has given up her prestigious, lucrative job as a Barrister to be a full-time stay at home mom to their two children. Things are not always as they seem and Janie is also hiding from the truth.
When an arson fire burns down the advertising agency one evening, fingers are pointed at these three women. Did one of them set the fire, and if so, which one and why?
I enjoyed this story and I felt that the author did a good job of keeping me guessing right to the end. One thing the novel really made me think about was with respect to the storyline of Laura trying desperately to get her biggest client back from Mia. At the end of it all, it made me wonder if sometimes we fight so hard for the win not necessarily because we want it so badly, but because we don’t want the other person to have it.
Thank you to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Laura has completed her maternity leave and is returning to her job at Morris and Wood, an advertising firm. She’s not impressed to find Mia still sitting at Laura’s desk on her first day back to the office. Laura had hired Mia on a temporary basis to cover her mat leave and she fully expected Mia to be gone on her first day back. Instead Mia is not only still sitting at Laura’s desk but she has finagled a permanent job at the firm and has also poached Laura’s biggest client. Now Laura is determined to uncover what Mia is so desperate to hide.
The other liar in this story is Janie, the wife to Harry Wood who is the owner of the advertising agency. Janie has given up her prestigious, lucrative job as a Barrister to be a full-time stay at home mom to their two children. Things are not always as they seem and Janie is also hiding from the truth.
When an arson fire burns down the advertising agency one evening, fingers are pointed at these three women. Did one of them set the fire, and if so, which one and why?
I enjoyed this story and I felt that the author did a good job of keeping me guessing right to the end. One thing the novel really made me think about was with respect to the storyline of Laura trying desperately to get her biggest client back from Mia. At the end of it all, it made me wonder if sometimes we fight so hard for the win not necessarily because we want it so badly, but because we don’t want the other person to have it.
Thank you to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Light reading, compelling whodunit that mercifully doesn't have loads of cops. As someone with limited mobility I was sad to see being in a wheelchair (oh noes!) used as like the worst most pitiful thing, but the author kinda claws this back towards the end. I also had no idea whodunit.