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marilynw 's review for:
Where the Truth Lies
by Anna Bailey
Where the Truth Lies by Anna Bailey
Seventeen year old Abi goes missing from the small town of Whistling Ridge after she convinces her best friend Emma to leave her at a party in the woods. Emma is now racked with guilt for leaving Abi and she is determined to find out what happened to her. The deeper Emma digs, the dirtier things get.
The story is told with frequent, short, NOW and THEN segments, seen from the POV of numerous characters. The changes from one time and person to another can be jarring and I would have like to have stayed with each viewpoint and time for a longer period of time. Also, the THEN segments can be anywhere from days ago to almost 2 decades ago, which can add to an already confusing story.
At first I was enjoying the story, despite the sudden changes. But we soon learn that this is a cesspool of a town, everyone has secrets and the town is floating in it's own filth of prejudices, hatred, lies, cruelty, and debauchery. Each of these people and their faults could be real but when so many flawed and broken people end up in one small town, the story becomes overwhelmed with corruption without anything to add an iota of balance to the people. I trudged through the middle of the story, learning more and more about these disgusting people and not understanding why more kids and adults don't run away from this place as fast as they can.
The last part of the story seems to pull itself together. It's as if what resolution that we get seems to pour down a cleansing rain on the people and place, giving just about everyone, who isn't crushed by their misdeeds, some hope of a brighter days in the future. This would have been more believable if we hadn't seen so much vileness throughout the main part of the story.
Publication: August 3, 2021
Thank you Atria Books and NetGalley for this ARC.
Seventeen year old Abi goes missing from the small town of Whistling Ridge after she convinces her best friend Emma to leave her at a party in the woods. Emma is now racked with guilt for leaving Abi and she is determined to find out what happened to her. The deeper Emma digs, the dirtier things get.
The story is told with frequent, short, NOW and THEN segments, seen from the POV of numerous characters. The changes from one time and person to another can be jarring and I would have like to have stayed with each viewpoint and time for a longer period of time. Also, the THEN segments can be anywhere from days ago to almost 2 decades ago, which can add to an already confusing story.
At first I was enjoying the story, despite the sudden changes. But we soon learn that this is a cesspool of a town, everyone has secrets and the town is floating in it's own filth of prejudices, hatred, lies, cruelty, and debauchery. Each of these people and their faults could be real but when so many flawed and broken people end up in one small town, the story becomes overwhelmed with corruption without anything to add an iota of balance to the people. I trudged through the middle of the story, learning more and more about these disgusting people and not understanding why more kids and adults don't run away from this place as fast as they can.
The last part of the story seems to pull itself together. It's as if what resolution that we get seems to pour down a cleansing rain on the people and place, giving just about everyone, who isn't crushed by their misdeeds, some hope of a brighter days in the future. This would have been more believable if we hadn't seen so much vileness throughout the main part of the story.
Publication: August 3, 2021
Thank you Atria Books and NetGalley for this ARC.