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A review by jessicamap
Close To Me by Amanda Reynolds
4.0
Thanks to Quercus for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!
What would you do if you woke up and couldn't remember anything from the last year of your life? CLOSE TO ME by Amanda Reynolds follows Jo Harding as she struggles to find out what happened to her the night she fell as well has the year of memories she has lost.
We start off with Jo waking up in the hospital. She finds out she has partial amnesia from falling down the stairs. The last thing she can remember - dropping her son off at college - happened a year ago. As she tries to piece together her life from the last year, things don't feel right. Her husband and her children don't feel familiar. Was she the attentive wife and mother she thought she was? As she begins to remember, she quickly realizes that she wasn't who everyone thought she was.
This is definitely more of a "diving inside the mind of the character" type mystery. It's a slow burning mystery/thriller and I felt that Reynolds did a good job pulling me along through the novel. What happened to Jo? I couldn't imagine not knowing what happened for a year of my life and having everyone around me feel foreign. I know that this won't be for everyone - if you're looking for a fast-paced thriller then this won't fit the bill. However, if you like the slow build of tension with a faster paced ending, then you'll have to grab this debut!
Overall, this was a solid debut. It felt a little slow in parts, but that's expected when it's a more character focused suspense. I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for more from Amanda Reynolds in the future!
I give this 4/5 stars
What would you do if you woke up and couldn't remember anything from the last year of your life? CLOSE TO ME by Amanda Reynolds follows Jo Harding as she struggles to find out what happened to her the night she fell as well has the year of memories she has lost.
We start off with Jo waking up in the hospital. She finds out she has partial amnesia from falling down the stairs. The last thing she can remember - dropping her son off at college - happened a year ago. As she tries to piece together her life from the last year, things don't feel right. Her husband and her children don't feel familiar. Was she the attentive wife and mother she thought she was? As she begins to remember, she quickly realizes that she wasn't who everyone thought she was.
This is definitely more of a "diving inside the mind of the character" type mystery. It's a slow burning mystery/thriller and I felt that Reynolds did a good job pulling me along through the novel. What happened to Jo? I couldn't imagine not knowing what happened for a year of my life and having everyone around me feel foreign. I know that this won't be for everyone - if you're looking for a fast-paced thriller then this won't fit the bill. However, if you like the slow build of tension with a faster paced ending, then you'll have to grab this debut!
Overall, this was a solid debut. It felt a little slow in parts, but that's expected when it's a more character focused suspense. I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for more from Amanda Reynolds in the future!
I give this 4/5 stars