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A review by liralen
Lie Still by Julia Heaberlin
4.0
When this book showed up on my doorstep, I briefly wondered whether I'd regret having entered/won the firstreads giveaway. I don't read a ton of mystery, and I'm trying to read more nonfiction.
Then I read the first three lines, and I was hooked.
For somebody who has regular nightmares, this was a creeptastic read -- the right level of I'm probably overreacting and genuine threat. An early mystery splits off into multiple mysteries, related but not always directly. A few characters end up being a bit caricature-y for my liking, but most were complex and unpredictable without being inconsistent.
While at times the multiple mystery strands felt like too much, I particularly appreciated the complexity of Emily's fears about her stalker / her past trauma -- something that brings up a painful history but isn't something she's initially actively afraid of; a wound that has largely healed but with a scar that will never go away; guilt that she knows does not belong to her but which she can't help but feel anyway. Mike makes for a pretty endearing hero -- not perfect, but there in the ways that matter. Ditto Emily: not perfect, but right in the ways that matter.
Pretty good for a book that made me wonder whether I should really be reading it right before I went to bed.
I received a free copy of this book via a Goodreads giveaway.
Then I read the first three lines, and I was hooked.
For somebody who has regular nightmares, this was a creeptastic read -- the right level of I'm probably overreacting and genuine threat. An early mystery splits off into multiple mysteries, related but not always directly. A few characters end up being a bit caricature-y for my liking, but most were complex and unpredictable without being inconsistent.
While at times the multiple mystery strands felt like too much, I particularly appreciated the complexity of Emily's fears about her stalker / her past trauma -- something that brings up a painful history but isn't something she's initially actively afraid of; a wound that has largely healed but with a scar that will never go away; guilt that she knows does not belong to her but which she can't help but feel anyway. Mike makes for a pretty endearing hero -- not perfect, but there in the ways that matter. Ditto Emily: not perfect, but right in the ways that matter.
Pretty good for a book that made me wonder whether I should really be reading it right before I went to bed.
I received a free copy of this book via a Goodreads giveaway.