lanieq 's review for:

Second Life by S.J. Watson

2.0

---

An interesting premise, and at the beginning, I found Julia to be a sympathetic character. But as Lukas threw up more and more red flags that she ignored or explained away, and as her rationalizations for carrying on with him grew more and more desperate, she likewise became more and more annoying and hard to care for. Her husband Hugh and her son Conner were difficult to care about as well, both felt very distance and judgmental, though in Conner's case it can be excused as "typical teenage behavior". Though no matter how many times the narrator tells us that Julia loves them, it never feels like she really does. As the story progresses, and Julie gets closer to the truth, things just begin to feel more and more contrived, as if one character after another is ripping off a mask like at the end of a Scooby Doo gang mystery. And then to reward us for slogging through this, we're left with a cliffhanger ending.