I'd rate this 3.5 stars.

Reading this book reminded me of that classic quote from the movie Cool Hand Luke: "What we've got here is failure to communicate."

So many of the issues faced by the characters might only have been avoided if they had spoken up, rather than kept things to themselves, or figured they'd talk about it some other time.

Both Tom and Helen feel their lives are spiraling out of control, but neither has expressed that feeling to the other. At a particularly vulnerable time, they left New York City and moved more than an hour away to a suburb that promised to be the next great destination, but those plans never materialized, and they find themselves in a fairly deserted town in a house that is more than they realistically can afford.

Helen, a freelance graphic designer, is feeling overwhelmed with the challenges of a growing workload and the demands of staying home to care for the couple's twin daughters, Sophie and Ilona. Although they have made friends with the couple across the street, she still feels as if many in the neighborhood judge her, and Tom, and it's starting to make her feel increasingly angry. For reasons she cannot explain, she is edging closer and closer to the desire to inflict physical violence on someone, but she's afraid to utter this aloud or figure out why she feels this way.

Tom, meanwhile, has his own secrets—one in particular which threatens to topple everything he has. The sheer act of maintaining the façade that everything is fine is taking its toll on him—he is barely sleeping and he is having trouble concentrating, which is particularly troublesome given that he works as an editor on a newswire service. He doesn't realize that Helen notices his inability to focus, but he isn't ready to discuss anything with her.

Over the course of one day, both will be pushed to their limits. Neither is prepared for what they will face, on what seems like another ordinary day, but it will test everything—their ability to parent, their jobs, their relationships with their peers, and most importantly, their marriage. And while they've seen some of what's on the horizon, most will catch them totally unprepared.

This was an interesting book, a look at a suburban marriage which seems to be imploding, both because of misunderstandings and actual misdeeds, but neither person wants to verbalize what is bothering them. Jennifer Kitses keeps dialing up the suspense, making you wonder just how far she'll push her characters, and what she'll make them face in the end. I kept approaching the story like I would a horror movie, because I wasn't sure just how out-of-hand she'd let things get. (While the book really hinted at the possibility of utter chaos, I was glad things didn't explode that badly.)

Neither character is particularly appealing the day the book takes place, but you can see what they were like when they were at their best. I'll admit, I get frustrated when the events of a book turn more on things that are unsaid, when characters tend to be stoic rather than share what's going on, and while that certainly happened in this book, it didn't seem overly egregious.

I didn't love this as much as I hoped I would, but it was very well-written, and it certainly was suspenseful to an extent. I believe this is Kitses' first novel, so she definitely has a great career ahead of her given how well this was told. I could definitely see this as an interesting movie.

NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing provided me an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making this available!

“Her hands were shaking. Her body was covered in a sickening sweat. She didn’t want to know. She pushed against it, refusing to allow it to come in.”

The above excerpt really hits home in any marriage/partnership. Some secrets are devastating some are small but all are a freeloading squatter you never invited into your relationship. You can’t close your eyes tight enough to the truth, it always rips the seams of the unseeing. There is a sickening despair in finding out the truth when you’re being betrayed by the person you love most. It has been two years since Helen and Tom moved from New York to a former mill town, Devon. A town that showed promise, where plans were surely in the works- and at first they could afford a home. But things got tight financially, they are stuck and Helen blames herself for falling for the sell of the dream. Helen is about to have a terrible encounter with two teenage girls and everything crumbles over a day.

Tom has been struggling with his focus, with the disappointments of their choices but none more so than his own indiscretion that has him split in two. On the surface he is ‘one of the good guys’ but what does that mean, really? A loving father, one whom their twins prefer over their mother Helen but he is a terrible father too for different reasons. Tom is being drowned by a monster of his own creation, and its tentacles are about to pull his entire family under. He can’t, in good conscience, keep living a lie when it affects the innocent. Not all mistakes can be erased, and Tom comes to realize he doesn’t want them to be even if it topples his world. What he has held close will change his wife and daughters, he is at a turning point that could risk devastation but is there hope?

So much I would love to say about this novel but can’t without giving it away entirely. The reader is furious for Helen, and yet comes to understand that sometimes it’s too easy to slip into subterfuge. Helen is overworked, under far too much stress and has always lived doing what’s right, being responsible. Something is building inside of her that comes to a head with the incident with the teenagers. Tom has a safe arrangement at first, but deception eats away at those closest to us, it is a haunting presence that over time threatens to destroy the family he has built. Helen relies on Tom, but is his lie larger than the fear of being alone? There is a hatred of the truth, that we are forced either to ignore or confront it- it makes demands on us. There is a sickening, heaviness that burrows into our hearts, guts when we discover things about our loved we didn’t want to be true, things that can’t remain ‘unknown’. Maybe that is love, uncovering those rotten bits and loving a person in spite of it all.

Mistakes can come with heavy consequences, they can swallow us whole but they also can be a gift. I found myself feeling sorry for Tom and I imagine many readers having a different take. “Well, had he just been straight from the start…” of course, that is the most logical answer but truth isn’t the easiest path. Truth hurts as much as lies, but it always comes to the surface in the end. Sometimes even ‘the good ones’ make a mess of their life, and what difference do intentions make by that point? The situation is not at all far fetched. I put myself in Helen’s shoes and wondered how I would react, and there is no easy answer. Add this to your summer reading list. I imagine this novel could fire off some heated discussion in a book club.

Publication Date: June 13, 2017

Grand Central Publishing

Enjoyed this book, tho the ending left a bit to be desired. There was no clear end to the book, which may have been what the author wanted. There was a lot of stuff happening at once, but again that brought the book together. Both main characters were not likeable, and had a few secrets. Overall book was entertaining and worth the time.

I gave up on this after 10% or so. The characters just didn't work for me.