A review by averywindyday
Drowning Instinct by Ilsa J. Bick

5.0

I received Drowning Instinct by Ilsa J. Bick via a giveaway that Goodreads hosted so thank you Goodreads and Ilsa J. Bick for the opportunity to read and review this book. Drowning Instinct opens in the ER where Detective Bob Pendleton gives Jenna Lord a recorder because he “need[s] the story…need[s] the truth” (3). Jenna, already demonstrating the fact that she will be an unreliable narrator, replies to this by stating: “Like the two are the same thing” (3[ Jenna’s unreliability as a narrator is further cemented with such lines as: “Another thing therapy teaches you, Bob, is how to read between the lines and then feed people and then feed people answers they’ll accept. It’s like makeup, Bob; there’s an art to smoothing on enough truth so those ugly zits don’t show. Or scars, for that matter” {276}]). Thus, the format of the rest of the novel is Jenna speaking to Detective Pendleton through the recorder. This structure is wonderful for the novel because it creates an opportunity where the reader is constantly in contact with Jenna’s unique voice and simultaneously wondering how much what she is stating is truth or fabricated falsehood. Throughout Drowning Instinct, the reader is constantly analyzing Jenna, the other characters of the novel, and the events of Jenna’s past. While some of the answers of the mysteries of the plot one can guess pretty early on (i.e. Jenna’s brother and Mr. Anderson’s character and lies), overall the novel is a page turner that makes the reader want to seek answers; answers that might or might not be answered.