Overall Take:
If you are looking for a thriller that will grab your interest from the start, then pick this one up.
Star Rating:
5 Stars
Genre:
Thriller, psychological thriller
Synopsis:
Rose is nine and witnessed the possible murder of her beloved nanny, right in the middle of her parents divorce. As a result, she stopped speaking.
Stella is a best interest attorney, an attorney assigned to the child during a divorce to determine what custody arrangement is best for them. While she normally doesn’t accept children under 13 due to her own trauma, she is intrigued by Rose.
From the moment Stella sees the estate that Rose lives at with her family, she realizes this family might be more troubled than she feared.
As Stella comes closer to uncovering secrets that the Barclay’s desperately want to keep hidden, she finds herself in danger.
Thoughts:
I always seem to struggle a little more writing reviews for books I loved, and this is one of those books that there were so many things I enjoyed.
I loved that this was a nuanced thriller. There was the main plot, but the subplot was also interesting and really held my interest. I needed to know what was going on with everything and quickly flipped through the pages. I enjoyed that I was guessing about how several things would play out. What happened to Tina? Who is going to get custody of Rose? And what happened to Stella’s mom? Just so many things I needed to know the answers to, and they were finally all revealed starting at about the 75% mark.
I loved that this book shined light on court appointed advocates for children. I had one of these when I was a child and am fascinated with how this process works. I didn’t realize that some of them are trained investigators and really try to uncover what is best for the child in their natural environment. I’d be curious to see if this was really true or just a work of fiction. I know when I was working with mine, they just interviewed me, and I played with some toys and colored while we talked. I remember being really mad after though because she didn’t do what I wanted, but then as I got older and reflected back it was what I needed, so I was glad she was there for me.
While I enjoyed the sub-plots, I was a little surprised that they were included. I think that they added depth to Stella’s character and helped shape the why behind the way she acted and reasons for what she did, however, they didn’t really have any relation to what was going on with the main plot. It didn’t bother me, it just made me curious, but I enjoyed it. For me it added to the story and wasn’t a distraction.
I’ve read another book by this author and while I immensely enjoyed it, this one was even better. I think that her writing is wonderful and very easy to read. She writes with a style that is relatable and flows nicely. I enjoyed all the characters, and I liked reading about how Stella and her ex still had a amicable relationship after their divorce, it was a nice change of pace from what I normally read about.
I found this book to be unpredictable. I don’t usually put much effort into trying to figure out who “did it” but sometimes you just know. I thought I had this one figured out for the longest time, there were even red herring along the way to distract me from thinking it was this person. But then about the 75% mark the reveal happened, and I was just shaking my head from surprise. I didn’t see this one at all, and when it was revealed, it was fantastic. When all the pieces were laid out, I was like
oh gosh yes!”. It was perfect and I loved it.
I can’t wait to read the next book that Sarah Pekkanen puts out because they just seem to be getting better each time!
Thanks for my copy to:
Thank you to St. Martins Press, @StMartinsPress and Netgalley @Netgalley for this e-arc. All opinions are my own.
Publication Date:
January 2, 2024
Author:
Sarah Pekkanen
Page Length:
336 pages
Publisher:
St Martin’s Press
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