A review by onemorepagecrew
Jar of Hearts by Jennifer Hillier

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Jar of Hearts by Jennifer Hillier was all I hoped it would be.  I knew going in it would be a disturbing page-turner and both were accurate.  What I didn’t expect was the unbothered tone of each horrific thing and how downright effective it would be as a writing style.  This is a new benchmark in thrillers for me, along with The Whisper Man.  
 
In this story we meet Geo, a woman with a successful pharmaceutical career and about to be married.  The story opens as she is being sent to prison for her role in a crime that happened when she was a teenager.  The timelines switch between then and now, and as a reader the inner thoughts of Geo are hard to trust which adds to the suspense.  I liked that the mystery was less about trying to solve what happened, that’s clear early on, and more about the psychology of who played what role in each timeline. 
 
There are two levels of twists in this book.  One is a classic thriller gotcha (I saw it coming) and a second was more chilling, and for me, very unexpected.  Both were fantastic. The author’s IG profile says she imagines the worst in people and then writes about it – that is funny and accurate.  She’s now an auto-read thriller author for me.  
 
Please know, this book is not for the faint of heart – take note of all content warnings.  The disturbing elements are not peppered throughout, they’re in every inch of the book. 
 
Content warnings:  graphic violence, sexual assault, murder, child death 
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