Audiobook Review: 4,5 Stars
Audiobook performance: 5 Stars - Story: 4 Stars
What did you like best about this story?
I love the mystery in the story, both in Eliza’s life and The Dots, the book Eliza wrote. I love how intertwined both stories are, and how everything is revealed by the end.
In The Elizas, Eliza is a debut author with a huge career ahead, but after an accident she had, where everyone thinks she was trying to commit suicide—it had happened in the past, so everyone asumed the worst—she’s very sure somebody tried to murder her, so she investigates on her own what really happened. And that investigation leads to revelations about her past, and how it’s connected to the book she wrote.
Who was your favorite character and why?
I’m between Eliza and Dot. They were equally awesome characters and infuriating—I totally understand the worry and obsession in Eliza. I would have done the same thing.
What does Jayme Mattler bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
I loved Jayme’s voice. It was soft and melodic and she did perfectly with all the emotions in both Eliza and Dot’s lives. I loved the pace of her performance because it kept the mystery on point, making me want to finish the story ASAP.
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Absolutely. When I read outside of the Romance Genre, I usually want some romance in the story, and I didn’t miss it at all in this book. The mystery around Eliza and Dot got all my attention and I didn’t need the romance at all to fully enjoy this book.

The book, in standard Sarah Shepard fashion, this book is kinda unique and quick and fun and kinda predictable and overwrought. Almost exactly what I expected.

Sandy's 4 Blush Review
Eliza is found floating in a hotel pool after she has “fallen” in. Except that she’s convinced that she was pushed in by someone trying to kill her. Problem is her family thinks she’s crying wolf because she has tried to take her life more than once. A brain tumor that was removed was responsible for her previous erratic behavior. Now that it has been removed - why would she do this? After all, she has written a book (titled The Dots) that the publisher expects will do well.

Faced with the fact that no one believes her Eliza decides to solve this mystery herself. Whoever pushed her into that pool is still out there so she’s not safe. Everyone is a suspect. Everyone. Eliza seems to be losing time, memories and is having trouble keeping herself grounded in reality.

Sara Shepard is a great storyteller. I definitely felt she was messing with my head big time! Dot/Eiza – Eliza/Dot - at times it seemed like the two characters meshed and were one. If you're a fan, you will definitely find shades of Pretty Little Liars here. I quite enjoyed how chapters of The Dots were woven into the story. This was a clever tactic that, for me, did not detract from all the other things that were going on.

Just as I thought I solved the mystery - the whole thing went sideways. It was definitely a slow burn psychological thriller that picked up in the middle and steadily moved forward to a final twist that brings it all together. The resolution felt a little anti-climactic to me. It was like uh huh....ok.

After all the years of Pretty Little Liars, I will admit that I had expectations. My expectations were high and Sara Shepard did a good job of meeting them. I encourage you to make yourself comfortable, pour a glass of something you like and crack open The Elizas.
Christina's 3 Blush Review
This was my first book by Sara Shepard and I have to say that her writing quality is quite good. She has the ability to drop you right into her world through detailed imagery and strong character development. I enjoyed the back and forth in this story from the viewpoint of Eliza and the story of The Dots, which is the novel that Eliza is writing. Through the experience of reading her novel, we are able to learn so much about Eliza and most of what we learn is completely heartbreaking. The author does an excellent job of weaving a tale that keeps you on your toes and keeps you guessing. The most satisfying part of the book for me was how everything came together at the end. A lot of questions were answered and secrets were revealed. The only thing keeping me from rating this a bit higher than I did, is while I appreciate the need to keep the reader on her toes and keep her in the dark for the sake of big reveals, I did find the storyline to be slightly confusing at times. Not to mention the fact that I had some character issues with Eliza's mother. Other than that, if you're a fan of Sara Shepard then I think you'll enjoy The Elizas.



Louisa's 3.5 Blush Review


So not my normal read. I have to admit at times I was a bit confused, but as I continued to read it all began to come together for me.

Eliza finds herself at the bottom of a pool and swears that she was pushed. Not everyone believes her but she KNOWS she didn't jump.

This book has alternating chapters, Eliza's present life, and The Dots, the book she's about to publish. Such a cool concept and to see their lives parallel was absolutely astonishing. A phycological thriller that had me guess for the whole book. When I do read books like this I spend the entire time trying to figure it out and Sara Sheppard had me guessing through the entire book. Scene after scene, page after page she had me hooked. Sara Sheppard captured me with her Pretty Little Liars series and this book had so many similarities of what I loved with PLL. A slowly building thriller that what beautifully written.

I've never been that keen on psychological mysteries, but if you do enjoy them, you'll love "The Elizas", which is intricate and cleverly written.

From my blog: Always With a Book:

This is my first book by Sara Shepard...and while I never got into the whole Pretty Little Liars series, I thought I would give her first foray into adult fiction a try. I think I would definitely categorize this type of book as a binge-worthy popcorn type of read - it's fun, it's got some suspense and paranoia, but it's not the typical dark, heavy, gritty read I have been drawn to and that's ok...this was perfect and just what I needed.

I love the whole book within a book concept and enjoyed that aspect. Having this story alternate between Eliza's POV in the present and chapters of the book, "The Dots" made the story quite intriguing, especially as you get further and further into the book and you start to piece everything together. At first, I think I was more drawn to Eliza's story, but as time went on, I found myself equally invested in both.

Right from the beginning, you find out that Eliza is an unreliable narrator. And the more you find out about her, the more you realize just how unreliable she really is. Yet, for some reason, you really feel this pull to find out what really happened to her. You get sucked into the story - and on top of it, she's not really the most likeable of characters. But there's just something about her that just draws you to her and what has happened to her. It's quite bizarre.

This is an enjoyable, fun book. It has quite a few twists and turns, and is filled with paranoia and tension that builds slowly throughout. It's a captivating read that would be perfect for a day at the beach!

This book was a roller coaster. It had my nerves on edge the entire time. I was never sure what was reality or Eliza's unreliable memory or Eliza's misconceptions of events. Like Girl on the Train, this book had me off kilter the entire time, in the BEST possible way. I never knew what was around the corner, what was going to happen or how it all would end up. I loved the alternating chapters between Eliza and The Dots, it was clever and engaging. I felt for Eliza the entire time, no matter many crazy roads she lead me down. I wanted answers for her. I wanted to know the truth as badly as she did. Even the secondary characters were engaging...so many holders of secrets, truths and answers, but none of them giving them up very freely. You don't want to miss this book! It will leave you reeling!!!!

One fateful night everything changes, ending up in the bottom of a pool with no recollection of how. The Elizas by Sara Shephard unravels or ravels, depending on your point of view. Everyone thinks Eliza Fontaine tried to end her life, but as memories surface in pieces, she is adamant that that is not the case.

An unreliable narrator makes for an interesting read, never knowing what is truth and what are false memories, as does the plot being about a book within a book. Alternating between Eliza's present, and excerpts from her upcoming book Dots. She's quirky, and sometimes all over the place.

A psychological suspense with plenty and twists and turns made for an enjoyable read. The ending was good, not exactly what I saw coming, and that I loved.

She remembers having a brain tumor removed and knows she's had some problems with recovery but she thought she was doing fine. Then she starts seeing things that aren't there and situations and places make her feel deja vu. Some things are familiar but they should not be. What's happening? Is her brain giving up on her?

Atria Books and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you). It is being published today.

Eliza has written a book about two characters that is going to be published. Her mother doesn't want it published. Eliza thinks it's because she can relate to the character of the mother in the book and the daughter was disappointed with her mother. But that's not the only reason.

Sometimes parents try too hard to protect their children. While she was going through psychiatric care, they took her to specialist that used experimental techniques. He tried to suppress her memories but they won't stay hidden.

When she's found in a pool, she knows they think she was trying to commit suicide again. She'd done it before. But this time she swears she was pushed. No one believes her. Her life is getting out of control and she can't stand it.

Eventually the truth comes out but it doesn't give her freedom. It means she has more healing to do.

The part that really makes me shudder is having someone play with your brain. Leave mine alone; it can get into trouble enough on its own!

After waking up in the hospital and finding out her family believes she attempted suicide, Eliza isn’t sure what is really going on. She has gaps in her memory and nothing seems to make sense to her. Despite what her family thinks, Eliza knows that something isn’t right, so she takes it upon herself to investigate her “incident” and get to the truth.
As a writer, Eliza is used to creating fiction, but it isn’t long before it appears that Eliza’s imagination has gotten the best of her and reality starts to blend in with her book. And then everything comes into question.

Eliza is very much an unreliable narrator in this story. The point of view shifts from Eliza in one chapter, to her novel The Dots in the next chapter. I was constantly trying to figure out what was true and what wasn’t. Is Eliza crazy? Is her novel pure fiction or something more? I’ve been a fan of Sara Shepard ever since I read Pretty Little Liars several years ago. She knows how to weave a good story and fill it with lies, suspense, and unique characters.

If you like a story that keeps you guessing and has some twists and turns along the way, then take a look at The Elizas.


RATING: 3½ out of 5.

Eliza Fontaine is an author whose first book, The Dots, is about to be released. A few years ago, she had a brain tumour that made her believe someone was chasing her and caused her to jump into the water, even though she didn't know how to swim. So when she is found unconscious in a hotel pool, her family thinks her tumour has returned, despite her protests that someone pushed her. Since no one seems to believe her, Eliza starts to investigate on her own but soon her real life blends with the fictional life of the protagonist of her book and Eliza doesn't know who or what to believe anymore.
The plot is twisty and suspenseful and the characters are engaging and well-developed. I was first drawn to this novel because it's written by the author of Pretty Little Liars of which I am a fan. But I only really got into this book about halfway through. I don't know why it took me so long but once I was in, I was completely captivated.

If I’m being perfectly honest, I don’t really know what grabbed me about this book but something just did. When the pitch came through I wasn’t entirely sure this was something that I was interested in reading.

Maybe it was the colorful cover or maybe it was the idea of a false memory. I don’t know but something made me think this was something that I would be interested in.

Sara Shepard wrote the wildly popular Pretty Little Liars series so maybe that was what made me excited. I mean her books are popular right? She must be doing something right, so I agreed to read.

This is Shepard’s first adult novel so obviously the stakes are high when you come from writing YA and try to break into adult literature. I was curious to see how that played out for Shepard so here we are.

When debut novelist Eliza Fontaine is found at the bottom of a hotel pool, her family at first assumes that it’s just another failed suicide attempt. But Eliza swears she was pushed, and her rescuer is the only witness.

Desperate to find out who attacked her, Eliza takes it upon herself to investigate. But as the publication date for her novel draws closer, Eliza finds more questions than answers. Like why are her editor, agent, and family mixing up events from her novel with events from her life? Her novel is completely fictional, isn’t it?

The deeper Eliza goes into her investigation while struggling with memory loss, the closer her life starts to resemble her novel, until the line between reality and fiction starts to blur and she can no longer tell where her protagonist’s life ends and hers begins (summary from Goodreads).

So if this book was meant to be a suspense novel, I would say that Shepard nailed it if it was meant to be a psychological thriller I would say it was good but not great. I hate when a book lands in the middle.

So what did I like? I liked that this novel kept me guessing at first. Could it be confusing at times? Yes, but on the whole I was more intrigued than confused….at least in the beginning. I mean it was all kinds of odd….not odd like I have no idea whats happening, but more odd like I know something is fishy but I’m not sure what. I liked that a lot. I thought there were some psychological elements in the story that were meant to have a greater impact on the story and add more of a darker thriller feel but I wasn’t sure that that came through strongly enough to completely move it out of suspense and firmly into thriller.

Eliza is clearly an unreliably narrator which I love, but sometimes I felt that what was reality and what was in her mind was a little too busy and could be confusing as the story went on. While I love an unreliable narrator, sometimes it’s difficult to execute. I wouldn’t say that Shepard’s attempt failed by any means, but I jut think sometimes it got to be a little much. Less is more. There were a few times where I felt like I needed to just put the book down and come back to it later. It wasn’t so much that I wanted to put the book down completely, more like I just needed a break from time to time.

So I think the idea of this novel was for it to be a darker more adult thriller. I would say this is on the lighter side of thriller. It lacks the complexity that some of the more serious thrillers have, but for someone who is new to the genre and it’s not really their ‘thing’ or for younger readers transitioning to more adult novels….this is probably a good place to start. For die hard thriller fans, this is probably not going to be the book you were hoping.

Overall it was ok for me. I am not a ‘die hard’ thriller person by any means, but at the same time I’ve read enough of the darker thrillers to have an appreciation for the genre and this book would be lacking for those die hard fans of the genre.

Challenge/Book Summary:

Book: The Elizas by Sara Shepard

ebook, 352 pages
Expected publication: April 17th 2018 by Atria Books
ISBN 1501162799 (ISBN13: 9781501162794)
Review copy provided by: Publisher/Author in exchange for an honest review.
This book counts toward: NA

Hosted by: NA
Books for Challenge Completed: NA
Recommendation: 3 out of 5

Genre: mystery, thriller, suspense

Memorable lines/quotes:

Sara Shepard is quickly becoming an auto-buy author for me! Her fast paced dramatic thrillers are usually so delicious that I eat them up in one sitting and that was definitely the case for The Elizas. The first chapter of the novel immediately hooked me and I couldn't put it down. The plot was unique, thrilling, and constantly left me guessing.

There were a few times when Eliza's character was a little annoying and untrustworthy, but I quickly got over those feelings as the novel continued. The novel goes back and forth between Eliza's novel and her actual life and I really liked the constant change in the story. It was a great suspense builder and constantly left me wanting more at the end of each chapter.

All in all, The Elizas was full of drama, suspense, and unique twists that had me on the edge of my seat from the very beginning to the very end. I would highly recommend this novel to readers who enjoy suspense novels! Thank you to NetGalley and Atria for sending this novel in exchange for and honest review.

Rating 4.5/5

Though I’ve known about her work for years, this is the first novel by Sara Shepard that I’ve ever read—and I ended up being pleasantly surprised by this particular story. It is a pretty solid young adult thriller. Being quite a huge fan of suspenseful mysteries—particularly any type with unreliable or biased narrators—this caught my attention immediately. I am much more used to reading adult psychological thrillers, and this is not quite on par with the plot structure and intensity of many of those. As it is a young adult novel, it is a bit less complex and much lighter, so it’s important to note that going in. However, The Elizas is an entertaining and heart-pounding story that is sure to hook its intended audience.

In this novel, we follow a young woman named Eliza Fontaine, a debut novelist whose book release date is rapidly approaching. But life takes a strange turn when she is pulled from the bottom of a hotel pool. Her family believes it to be just another suicide attempt—she insists it was an attempted murder. With only one person on her side, and what seems like the whole world trying to convince her she’s just insane, Eliza must investigate the attack herself.

However, as she struggles to regain lost memories, every avenue she explores only ends up raising even more questions. And suddenly, her novel is starting to sound less like a story and more like her life. Told in chapters that alternate between Eliza’s point of view and excerpts from her book, The Dots, the parallels become undeniable, and the line between reality and fiction becomes increasingly blurry.

I’ll admit, it took me quite some time to fully immerse myself in this novel. The first half of Eliza’s story plays out very slowly, and is often times extremely repetitive. This makes sense in the grand scheme of things, since we are primarily dealing with her attempting to regain memories she cannot seem to unlock. But I still feel that her plotline is in need of more events—however small—to help us become more invested in her as a character. For awhile, I found myself being much more interested in the excerpts from The Dots instead of the main storyline, though both are equally important.

The narrative came across as a bit choppy to me in the beginning—it feels like things are repeating and going nowhere, there is a sudden heightening of the tension, and then we are back to the same circumstances. This is obviously congruent with the situation of someone dealing with memory loss, so I completely understand the effect that Shepard is going for. However, I do wish there had been a tiny bit more added to Eliza’s experiences, just to gradually pull the reader deeper into her life throughout the novel as a whole.

Unreliable narrators are, by nature, inconsistent, and always add a good amount of confusion into the process of getting to know who they are, as well as what is truly going on. Eliza is especially unpredictable all the way through—but at the start, her personality comes across like Shepard can’t decide what to do with her instead of what might be naturally erratic for her mental state. In general, though, I do think Shepard really captures and deals with all the physical and mental health aspects of this novel clearly and believably.

Even with the initial lagging of the main plotline, Shepard manages to build quite a lot of suspense in both stories. She sprinkles just enough intrigue into most of the early chapters, and I was always at least a little curious to find out what would happen next. The switching between Eliza’s point of view and the excerpts from The Dots added a great deal to the tension building up as things progressed. And, despite it being a little rocky at first, I did consistently become more and more hooked.

That second half though—oh boy. I was absolutely riveted to every page. Every aspect of the story escalates so quickly, and even though I had predicted some of the ending, it still had me on the edge of my seat. For me, Shepard ended in the strongest way possible—she made every last bit pack a punch, and threw in a few surprisingly powerful twists. Though it is not hard to guess most of what is going on and roughly how things will shake out, there are plenty of details that you most likely will not see coming. That, coupled with the strength of the overall reveal, truly enriches the novel as a whole.

Shepard also does a relatively good job with her character creation. They are all very clearly described and, aside from Eliza, have static personalities the whole way through. This means that not all of the characters are very multi-dimensional, but they are still depicted well and fit very nicely into the plot. Eliza is definitely a dynamic character—our view of her is constantly changing and building until everything is fully revealed in the end. And the majority of the relationships between Eliza and the others are highly realistic and comprehensible.

The one element that I never got fully on board with was the romance. In the first place, it was a severe case of insta-love. When they first meet, Eliza goes from describing him like he is sort of gross and creepy to abruptly feeling incredibly turned on basically by her sudden thought of them having sex. Over the short time they initially spend together, she goes back to showing little interest in him, while he is awkwardly proclaiming his undying love for her. And voila, they are now a couple. Though their relationship was sweeter toward the end, I spent most of it trying to comprehend how it happened, while occasionally feeling mildly disturbed.

I found Shepard’s writing style to be fairly strong. It didn’t particularly stand out or completely captivate me, but it flows well for the narrative she weaves and is very easy to read. She crafts a good mystery, following up on all the various threads to the point were I couldn’t personally think of anything left completely unexplained. Shepard also writes very cinematically—her descriptions are vivid, and the interactions between characters were stellar. We are able to clearly visualize everything playing out, and distinctly feel the clarity that Eliza is slowly experiencing.

Overall, if this sounds good to you—or if you’re looking for a quick thriller—I would highly recommend giving this novel a try, especially if you are a young adult reader. While, like I said, it’s not going to have the intensity and depth of an adult psychological thriller, and it isn’t entirely unpredictable, it really does have a lot going for it. It is gripping enough to pull a mystery fan in, and just chilling enough to make for an entertaining read. As for me, I ended up enjoying this story more than I thought I would, and I am definitely interested in reading some more of Shepard’s work.

About: The Elizas is a mystery thriller written by Sara Shepard. It was recently published on 4/17/18 by Atria Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, 352 pages. The genres are adult, mystery, thriller, and fiction.

My Experience: I started reading The Elizas on 3/26/18 and finished it on 4/7/18. This book is an okay read. I like the glimpse into the author’s experience when comes to publishing a book. I smile following the discussion between Eliza and her agent about bloggers & instagramers reviewing her book and getting tons of advance review copy requests. It’s fun to read about the other side because I am on the blogger’s side. I like the main character’s dry sarcastic humor when she couldn’t find her phone because she worries she has been missing hours of news from Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, etc even statuses on some relatives she doesn’t even like. This is my first read from the author even though I am aware of her other books.

This book is told in the first person point of view following Eliza Fontaine, a young woman with a record for attempted suicides by drowning in hotel pools. When she was yet found in the bottom of another hotel pool, her mom wanted to send her to a psychiatric home for treatment. However, Eliza claims that this time she didn’t intentionally try to hurt herself but was pushed by someone. She couldn’t remember the details because she had ingested some drinks with her medications. In past suicide attempts, Eliza also explained the same reasons but when doctors performed a brain scan, they said that she suffered from a tumor pressing against an amygdala. This pressure causes the body to tell the brain how to react to emotions. Before the current incident, the tumor has been removed. Since the current incident is so similar to her past attempts, no one believes Eliza of what she claims to be true. The story goes parallel with a book Eliza authored calls The Dots, where the character named Dot suffers seizures but not knowing exactly the causes. In Eliza’s book, Dot is very close to her aunt Dorothy and resents her mom for always working. In Eliza’s life, she lives with two roommates and not very close with her mom and family. Eliza often has blackouts where she doesn’t remember what happened in the chunk of time that passed by. Since no one believes her, Eliza set out to investigate what happened. This book narrates between Eliza and her book’s main character, Dot.

This book has an interesting take when comes to alternating through two separate stories. I don’t enjoy reading about characters with false memory so much because it makes the story slow going. There are some oddities that I don’t enjoy reading, such as her quickies with guys that hardly have any background info from a bar. Eliza just takes Desmond’s words without questions. She puts a move on him and he backs away, yet he came back to ask her out. Everything I read and thought I understand started to change because of Eliza’s false memory. I was able to guess about Dot’s aunt Dorothy but this type of story just couldn’t hold my attention. I still recommend everyone to read it and form your own opinion.

Pro: easy to read, fast paced, dry sarcastic humor,

Con: slow story building, just not my cup of tea in general with false memory

I rate it 3 stars!

***Disclaimer: Many thanks to Atria Books for inviting me to host a blog tour. I appreciate the opportunity to read and review. Please be assured that my opinions are honest.

xoxo,
Jasmine at www.howusefulitis.wordpress.com for more details

Eliza Fontaine, a young novelist with her debut’s release mere months away, is found on the bottom of a pool at a resort. She claims she was pushed, yet her doctors (and family) believe otherwise: this isn’t Eliza’s first suicide attempt, this isn’t her first blind leap into a pool, knowing full well she can’t swim. But Eliza knows she wasn’t alone that night and she’s determined to find out the truth.

The Elizas is a psychological, twisty tale of a young woman convinced her childhood brain tumor has returned – after all, what else could explain her bizarre memory gaps, her insistence she wasn’t somewhere when her roommate claims she was. Interspersed throughout Eliza’s story are chapters from her novel The Dots. Eerily similar to her own upbringing, The Dots follows Dot, a young girl with a tumor and her glamorous aunt Dorothy as the doctors try to figure out why Dot still suffers from seizures and illnesses when the surgery to remove the tumor has been successful.

It’s clear from the start what the big reveal will be, so the ending didn’t come as a surprise (in fact, the final pages of the book brought to mind Clare Mackintosh’s recent release Let Me Lie), but this was my first Sara Shepard novel and she’s a Pittsburgh gal, so I went along for the ride. Allow me to follow up the Let Me Lie comparison with another: Lindsay Hunter’s Ugly Girls. In that review I mentioned how the book had a grunge-y vibe that left me feeling dirty and unwashed, like I wanted to take a 5-hour shower to scrub all the grit away. There’s a character in The Elizas that made me feel exactly the same way…the love interest. Yep, the man meant to be swoony-worthy to readers instead had me cringing. Anytime he appeared I wanted to skim over those scenes.

The more time I spent with The Elizas, the more I began preferring the chapters featuring The Dots. That is the novel this book could have been and I would have loved to read that story instead. Eliza’s story, her paranoia, her unwavering belief that she was pushed into the pool eventually did nothing for me. I slowly realized I didn’t care about her roommates or the creepy shop where she worked or her disgusting boyfriend. I didn’t care about her talk show interview (where she had a meltdown that obviously went viral). I didn’t care about the HUGE secrets her family had been keeping from her and that’s what should have made the story. Instead, I kept wanting to return to The Dots, to Dorothy and Dot’s toxic relationship.

As this is my first Shepard novel, I can’t say how this holds up against her others, though I believe this is her first adult novel. That said, I feel her YA fanbase will easily latch onto this one. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same about this reader. The Elizas had so much potential and could have been an excellent psychological novel, but so much of it left me bored and wanting more.

My Highly Caffeinated Thought: A psychological novel playing with memories, perception, and lies.

The latest from PLL author Sara Shepard, THE ELIZAS, is one of those books you just can't put down. It is addictive, fast moving, and has just the right amount of drama for the story the author weaves together.

What I loved about THE ELIZAS is how the Shepard misdirects the reader so she makes us as unreliable as the narrator. While I was reading, there was many times that I thought I figured everything out only to get thrown another curveball sending me down a completely different path. This deception and web of lies is where the author truly shines. She manages to give her readers nuggets of the truth all the while veiling them in the fiction that her character has created.

For fans of Pretty Little Liars and those who like books with mind games and a hint of mystery, this book will be right up your alley. Those who are looking for a gritty and deeper thriller, this may not be a good choice for you because it will not go as far or in-depth as you will want. Is it worth a read? Absolutely. I devoured this book. It was a nice break from some of the darker novels that I have read lately and exactly what I was hoping for when I sat down to read it.

3.5 stars

The Elizas
Sara Shepard
Atria, April 2018
ISBN 978-1-5011-6277-0
Hardcover

From the publisher—

When debut novelist Eliza Fontaine is found at the bottom of a hotel pool, her family at first assumes that it’s just another failed suicide attempt. But Eliza swears she was pushed, and her rescuer is the only witness.

Desperate to find out who attacked her, Eliza takes it upon herself to investigate. But as the publication date for her novel draws closer, Eliza finds more questions than answers. Like why are her editor, agent, and family mixing up events from her novel with events from her life? Her novel is completely fictional, isn’t it?

The deeper Eliza goes into her investigation while struggling with memory loss, the closer her life starts to resemble her novel, until the line between reality and fiction starts to blur and she can no longer tell where her protagonist’s life ends and hers begins.

The Elizas is an interesting kind of crime fiction in that much of the story has the protagonist, Eliza, questioning her own mental faculties and the reader is just as baffled as she is. Eliza isn’t very likeable—some of her behavior, particularly in the past, can be called unpleasant at best—and most of us are not saintly enough to blithely overlook some aspects of mental issues so connecting with her takes patience and effort. After all, having someone in our lives who may or may not be psychologically damaged is just not easy but I did sympathize with Eliza as she struggled to understand what was real and what wasn’t.

There’s a scene near the end that I wondered about because it seemed so unlikely; a police detective tells Eliza something about the authorities not doing an autopsy and it struck me as a strange accommodation for the police to make. Perhaps the approach is different in Los Angeles and I was just unaware.

The impact this novel could have had on me was lessened somewhat by the use of first person present tense. I know many other readers feel otherwise but I just don’t understand why any crime fiction author does this. Instead of heightening the tension, it pulls me out of the story because (1) unless something supernatural is going to happen, I know the speaker is going to survive so I really don’t need to worry and (2) I can’t help wondering how the protagonist is telling the story as he runs down the street, gun blazing. But then that’s just me and I’m quite sure others will find this perfect for the reader who wants a thriller that is less intense than so many.

Reviewed by Lelia Taylor, April 2018.

Reading this book is one rollercoaster of a ride, but I loved every minute of it. In the beginning, though I wasn't so sure, it starts out kind of weird, but after it got going it never stopped. I needed to read more and couldn't stop.

I’ve wanted to read Sara Shepard’s books for a while now but had never really made the time until now and… I think I chose the wrong book to begin with. I’m not saying I no longer want to read the rest of her books because I still want to give them a try someday but I definitely lost some of my excitement towards them after reading this book.

When I decided to read THE ELIZAS I imagined I would get a read so thrilling I would get sucked into the story and wouldn’t be able to put it down even for a second but surprise! I didn’t get that. Oh, how I hate my sky-high expectations right now, those things always ruin it for me!
I didn’t like Eliza, the main character. She rubbed me the wrong way. I felt like I couldn’t trust a single thing that came out of her mind/mouth. She is just a big no for me. I don’t think there is even one thing I like about her. And that made me lose a lot of interest in her story and all of the mystery that surrounded her.

I was a bit confused when I started reading and discovered that the book is jumps between the present and excerpts from Eliza’s book (yes, a book inside of a book!). I didn’t understand why I had to read those excerpts from Eliza’s book but things started making sense eventually. And I have to admit I really enjoyed that. The plot of the story is very clever and well thought-out and original—although not very thrilling.

Even though this was more of an “okay” read for me, I still recommend y’all give it a try. I’m not a huge fan of thrillers which means I don’t read a lot of them which means I don’t actually know a lot about what qualifies as a good thriller so there’s a big chance some of you are really going to enjoy this one.

Have you ever read a book where, for pretty much the entire book, you have no clue what is going on? And did you love every minute of it? That, my friends, was my experience with this book.

The author, Sara Shepard, is best known for her book, Pretty Little Liars, upon which the television series is based. I have neither read nor seen PLL, so I wasn't familiar with her style. I have, however, been on a thriller kick lately. Thrillers are like drugs, the more you read, the more you need. This was definitely a book that hit the right receptors and made me want to keep coming back for more.

Here's the thing, I never knew what to believe. There are two stories going on here, Eliza's own story and the novel that she wrote. In many ways, this novel reminded me of another book that I loved, The Bookseller by Cynthia Swanson. The two stories are so intertwined that the line between fact and fiction blurs and then disintegrates.

Shepard's writing style is the perfect fit for this story. She has the conversational, dry tone necessary to capture the narcissistic world in which Eliza lives, but she is still able to keep the momentum growing as Eliza's life spins further out of control and closer to the truth.

In many ways, this book seems primed for a film or television adaptation. While I won't say it is "action-packed," it does spend far more time with the characters doing things than sitting inside someone's thoughts...which is surprising considering the subject of the novel.

I've tried to not get into the meat of the novel because I don't want to spoil anything (trust me, you'll thank me). But I will say this...the end will give you shivers. This is a fantastic psychological thriller and one that I would readily recommend to anyone.