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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
A decent listen...yet so reminiscent of Liane Moriarty's Big Little Lies that Michael Kiwanuka's Cold Little Heart—the theme song to the television series—was a constant earworm as I was finishing the last third of Her One Mistake. But that's okay...Cold Little Heart is a killer song:
Did you ever want it?
Did you want it bad?
Oh, my
It tears me apart
Did you ever fight it?
All of the pain, so much power
Running through my veins
Bleeding, I'm bleeding
My cold little heart
Oh I, I can't stand myself
Did you ever want it?
Did you want it bad?
Oh, my
It tears me apart
Did you ever fight it?
All of the pain, so much power
Running through my veins
Bleeding, I'm bleeding
My cold little heart
Oh I, I can't stand myself
You look at your phone for a minute, and then the child you are watching for a friend is gone; heart stopping horror of losing a child, on a bright sunny day and not being able to find her.
I was hooked right from the beginning, there is something so compulsive about the mounting horror and tension as the events of the day and those that follow unfold.
Charlotte takes her children to a school fete on a sunny day, with her is her reclusive and shy friend Harriet’s daughter, Alice. As the children enter an inflatable obstacle course, Charlotte takes a moment to check Facebook on her phone; as Charlotte’s children exit the ride, she realises that Alice is not there.
The books splits the focus between Charlotte and Harriet; between the ‘now’ and ‘before’. We explore Charlottes feelings of guilt through her interview with the police and her conversations with her friends and ex-husband; and see behind the closed doors of Harriet’s home life with her husband Brian.
The pace of the book is rapid, taking place essentially over thirteen days. There are revelations and twists; at times I thought that I could predict the outcome, but I was proved wrong. As a parent, I understood the panic felt when a child disappears, for many of us it is only for a second or two, but the sickness, rapid heartbeat and fear is there. There is a feeling of voyeurism as we enter into the home and marriage of Harriet and Brian. We see a certain amount of ambiguity and contradictions in their public and private personas, leading the reader to decide whose ‘truth’ can be trusted.
This is the first book that I have read by Heidi Perks, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I would highly recommend.
I was hooked right from the beginning, there is something so compulsive about the mounting horror and tension as the events of the day and those that follow unfold.
Charlotte takes her children to a school fete on a sunny day, with her is her reclusive and shy friend Harriet’s daughter, Alice. As the children enter an inflatable obstacle course, Charlotte takes a moment to check Facebook on her phone; as Charlotte’s children exit the ride, she realises that Alice is not there.
The books splits the focus between Charlotte and Harriet; between the ‘now’ and ‘before’. We explore Charlottes feelings of guilt through her interview with the police and her conversations with her friends and ex-husband; and see behind the closed doors of Harriet’s home life with her husband Brian.
The pace of the book is rapid, taking place essentially over thirteen days. There are revelations and twists; at times I thought that I could predict the outcome, but I was proved wrong. As a parent, I understood the panic felt when a child disappears, for many of us it is only for a second or two, but the sickness, rapid heartbeat and fear is there. There is a feeling of voyeurism as we enter into the home and marriage of Harriet and Brian. We see a certain amount of ambiguity and contradictions in their public and private personas, leading the reader to decide whose ‘truth’ can be trusted.
This is the first book that I have read by Heidi Perks, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I would highly recommend.
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
medium-paced
Imagine taking your friend's daughter to the school carnival with your children. You turn away for a second and your friend's daughter disappeared without a trace. That is what happened in this book and it is full of twists and turns that will keep you reading till the end.
Her One Mistake by Heidi Perks is a new psychological thriller that starts at a school fair and ends with one person dead and another missing.
This fast-paced nook is exactly what I like in a psychological thriller. It keeps you guessing and second-guessing right until the very end. Characters are well developed and the storyline is well written. The story is told through flashbacks between then and now and from different viewpoints.
High recommended for all who like a good psychological thriller!
*I received an advanced readerès copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
This fast-paced nook is exactly what I like in a psychological thriller. It keeps you guessing and second-guessing right until the very end. Characters are well developed and the storyline is well written. The story is told through flashbacks between then and now and from different viewpoints.
High recommended for all who like a good psychological thriller!
*I received an advanced readerès copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
I received this book from NetGalley at a time when I was trying to read more contemporary fiction, but for whatever reason, I didn’t pick it up. I didn’t connect with the cover and the idea, but I knew that it sounded like something I could like. So I waited, and I waited, and I waited some more, and finally decided to dive in, and found a complex and compelling narrative that I should have consumed so much earlier.
Now You See Her is split into two halves and tracks two timelines that combine to create the overarching story and I guess mystery that progresses throughout the novel. Harriet and Charlotte, at the beginning of the book, are two seemingly normal mothers and good friends. The first half of the book is told from Charlotte’s perspective, sure we still see the story when she isn’t there, but it is from her point of view or as a third person, a feature which switches to Harriet half way through the book. I think the tool was used well, it opened different character aspects and stories well and undoubtedly had to be the way round it was in the story.
The story itself centred around the mysterious disappearance of Harriet’s only daughter and the subsequent search to find her. I had something fixed in my mind as to what I thought had happened and was pleasantly surprised to find that it wasn’t quite as straight forward as I thought it was progressing to be. Charlotte is a fairly straight forward character unlike Harriet who is surprising and challenging and fascinating, again a combination that progressed the story at differing speeds, allowing the twists to present themselves.
I can’t say that I actually liked any of the characters. The women were great friends, and the deep bond remains through the story even if their surface relationship is strained as the books events unfold. The side characters with respect to the ‘friends’ of the pair (more accurately Charlotte) were fairly detestable but worryingly imaginable. No-one likes to think of parents and friends thinking the worst, abandoning, or judging people, but you know that it happens and I think Perks presented that trait of adulthood extremely well, even if it was an unpleasant aspect to the story. The men were, much like the women, a mix of complex and simple. Charlotte’s ex-husband is OK, seemingly long-suffering but over-archingly well-meaning, he simply exists in the story. Brian, however, is horrible, controlling, and the worst type of man/father/husband imaginable. While I know his evolution is a reality for some, and I know was required for the story to take place, I found him unbearably horrid and completely unrelatable.
I am trying to tip-toe carefully around the plot, because ultimately the book unfolds in a complex weave to create what turned into an emotional rollercoaster and carefully thought out mystery. I didn’t quite connect completely with the book. Sure, I read and devoured it quickly, but once I was finished I was quite happy to be done and move on, an unusual personal feeling when finishing any form of mystery book. There was a depth and a power to the story, but I think that would be more acutely felt if the reader were a parent, or a gaslit partner, or someone whose story can be found between the pages.
Ultimately, it was a good book and a good story, but it wasn’t spectacular. It had depth and drive, but lacked some form of ultimate connection that stopped it wowing me.
Now You See Her is split into two halves and tracks two timelines that combine to create the overarching story and I guess mystery that progresses throughout the novel. Harriet and Charlotte, at the beginning of the book, are two seemingly normal mothers and good friends. The first half of the book is told from Charlotte’s perspective, sure we still see the story when she isn’t there, but it is from her point of view or as a third person, a feature which switches to Harriet half way through the book. I think the tool was used well, it opened different character aspects and stories well and undoubtedly had to be the way round it was in the story.
The story itself centred around the mysterious disappearance of Harriet’s only daughter and the subsequent search to find her. I had something fixed in my mind as to what I thought had happened and was pleasantly surprised to find that it wasn’t quite as straight forward as I thought it was progressing to be. Charlotte is a fairly straight forward character unlike Harriet who is surprising and challenging and fascinating, again a combination that progressed the story at differing speeds, allowing the twists to present themselves.
I can’t say that I actually liked any of the characters. The women were great friends, and the deep bond remains through the story even if their surface relationship is strained as the books events unfold. The side characters with respect to the ‘friends’ of the pair (more accurately Charlotte) were fairly detestable but worryingly imaginable. No-one likes to think of parents and friends thinking the worst, abandoning, or judging people, but you know that it happens and I think Perks presented that trait of adulthood extremely well, even if it was an unpleasant aspect to the story. The men were, much like the women, a mix of complex and simple. Charlotte’s ex-husband is OK, seemingly long-suffering but over-archingly well-meaning, he simply exists in the story. Brian, however, is horrible, controlling, and the worst type of man/father/husband imaginable. While I know his evolution is a reality for some, and I know was required for the story to take place, I found him unbearably horrid and completely unrelatable.
I am trying to tip-toe carefully around the plot, because ultimately the book unfolds in a complex weave to create what turned into an emotional rollercoaster and carefully thought out mystery. I didn’t quite connect completely with the book. Sure, I read and devoured it quickly, but once I was finished I was quite happy to be done and move on, an unusual personal feeling when finishing any form of mystery book. There was a depth and a power to the story, but I think that would be more acutely felt if the reader were a parent, or a gaslit partner, or someone whose story can be found between the pages.
Ultimately, it was a good book and a good story, but it wasn’t spectacular. It had depth and drive, but lacked some form of ultimate connection that stopped it wowing me.
i feel a little like you have to suspend a good amount of reality to believe this but still alright
Pretty slow and another one of those books where simply being vague creates the whole mystery. The second half picked up and made it better and more gripping. 3.5 stars. Written well.