Member Reviews
I was looking forward to reading these authors' next book, and I think I enjoyed it even more than "The Wife Between Us." While you certainly have to suspend disbelief to follow along and enjoy the twists and turns, I found it easy and enjoyable to do so. These are interesting, compelling, disturbed characters, and it is a true page-turner. As a mental health professional, I especially liked the "psychological study" at the center of the story.
These authors are definitely on my "must-read" list!
I was given an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.
FIVE stars! This story follows a young woman who entered a psychology study of morality under false pretenses. The study starts to expand outside of the classroom with blind real life tests. Enter many other people being tested as well, not knowing about each other. There were times in the story when I wasn't sure who was more sane in the book. Excellent read with lots of twists and turns all the way to the very end.
I really enjoyed this book. I have not read these authors before but I will now seek out their other novels.
Phenomenally written book!! Definitely a page turner and would recommend for a suspense read!! This really messes with your head and always needing to figure out what else is going to happen.
Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen killed it again! I loved their first book, The Wife Between Us, and this one was just as brilliant. It's a thriller that you can't put down and leaves you guessing until the last page. Thanks to St Martin's Press and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
This is a book that is easy to highly recommend to anyone who enjoys psychological thrillers. The plot was explosive but what was especially interesting were the several thought-provoking universal questions brought up throughout the book.
One characteristic that makes a thriller a thriller is how much the plot makes you squirm and the level of discomfort the reader experiences. This book will definitely qualify as one. An interesting technique the authors initiated was the juxtaposing of the main characters perspective in the chapter presentation.
This is one book I literally couldn't put down to the end!
I really enjoyed this book- much more than The Wife Between Us. I liked the study and how the point of views kept changing. It is almost impossible to talk about this book without revealing essential pieces of the plot, key elements that will be much more exciting if you are allowed to discover them on your own. It will be far easier to explain, if you are a lover of suspense/thrillers, you really must read this book.
The story is told in first person present. I am not normally a fan, but in this book it works. I really loved the two narrators, swapping back and forth, chapter to chapter. Even though the POV puts us inside each narrator’s head, everything is not always revealed to the reader. Instead, it is portioned out in slow measure, driving the suspense higher as you progress further into the book. Even right up to the end, the true motives of all the characters are not fully revealed, which enables the authors to weave feelings of danger throughout the pages, leaving us to wonder if the heroine will survive until the end. 5 stars easy!
This was a definite winner! Even better than the author's first book "The Wife Between Us', An Anonymous Girl takes stalker behavior to an extreme. I took Psychology in college and was expected to participate in graduate students "experiments". They were typically boring and simple, but this story about an experiment is completely believable! I enjoyed the twists and peaks throughout this story and could not put it down. I winner for all of those psychological thriller lovers!
This is a book I could not put down - at the beginning and halfway through. That does not at all detract from my rating, but I found it a little slow in certain spots after that.
However, I'm glad I stuck with it. There are a lot of twists and turns that I did not expect -- I will not give anything away. It's well worth a read. Be prepared for a roller coaster ride!
My sincere thanks to St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review this book!
The title escapes me, but I have read one of their other books and loved it. I just could not get into this one. It did not keep my interest.
Excellent book!! Very well developed characters. This book is intriguing and definitely a page turner. These 2 authors are becoming my favorite authors!
I really enjoyed The Wife Between Us last year. The twist at the end was a surprise and gave me high hopes for An Anonymous Girl. Unfortunately, I was fairly disappointed in the book. The story told through Jessica's POV and through Dr. Shields diary installments. Jessica lies her way into a psych study to make some extra money. As the study goes on, she finds herself doing and saying things that are questionable.
There are a few things that I didn't like about this book. It was really slow. The pacing alone made me almost DNF it. I was bored for a lot of the book. I kept waiting for something exciting or surprising to happen. It was too predictable. All of the twists I called fairly early on, even the one toward the end. If you pay attention, you will as well.
None of the characters were likable, especially Jessica. She kept making dumb decisions. She never asks enough questions about what Dr. Shields wants from her. In any type of study, you have to sign an informed consent. It lays out what will be required of you and what will happen to the data. She never asks for any of this information until she is in way too deep. And in the end, she was exactly as she was in the beginning. She didn't grow at all from the experience. I never felt like she was in any real danger throughout the entire book.
I'm not really sure I would call this one a thriller. I'll probably check out the next book by this duo. This one has received a lot of good reviews, so try it and decide for yourself.
An Anonymous Girl was such a fast, captivating read. I flew through it. I found the therapists chapters to be very ... uncanny? They just made me so uncomfortable. In spite of being a very personal look at her life, they were still very clinical, almost disconnected from reality.
The main character's (or the anonymous girl) chapters also made me a little wary. I was never quite sure whether or not I could trust her. From chapter one she makes sure you know that she really enjoys one night stands. During her one night stands she lies about her identity, and then she lies to her friends about them happening. Overall this entire novel just left me feeling a little cold and uncomfortable, which really is the highest of compliments for a thriller.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review. This was a great book. I was so excited to get an e-arc of this and it did not disappoint!
An Anonymous Girl was sent to me last fall by St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review. I had a feeling I would like this book because I really loved their last book The Wife Between Us. Sarah Pekkanen and Greer Hendricks did not disappoint! This book was even better than The Wife Between Us.
Jessica Farris has struggled with money, and her family also has had recent financial woes. When a situation presents itself for Jessica to be involved in a study on ethics and morality on women aged 18-32, Jessica cannot turn down the extra money. Jessica becomes involved deeply in the study with Dr. Shields and gets involved so far she cannot turn back.
This book is extremely captivating and suspenseful. It’s one of those books that you have trouble putting down. I had anxiety pretty much the entire time I read this book and couldn't figure out who was telling the truth and who was lying! This will definitely shock you!!
Hendricks and Pekkanen threw me for a loop with intense and complex characters coupled with an amazing plot. The twists and turns throughout this entire books will leave you breathless and wondering how you ended up where you are in the book. It's complete madness and you'll be hooked from the very start.
Jessica finds herself in a psych study because she really needs the money. Surprisingly she opens up a lot to the professor even though the questions are personal and emotional. Eventually Jessica starts to have doubts about the professor and so from there, the plot just keeps getting crazier and crazier. I don't want to go into too much detail because you really need to go into this one blind.
Overall, the plot was amazing and executed in a way that leaves readers second guessing everything. Every single twist in the plot will hit you like a freight train and you'll love every minute of it.
"We all have reasons for our actions. Even if we hide the reason from those who think they know us best. Even if the reasons are so deeply buried we can't recognize them ourselves."
This book is a thriller that keeps you wanting more. A real page turner! A must read! I have recommended this book to many friends, it keeps you guessing. Really enjoyed this psychological thriller!
While I don't believe that <i>An Anonymous Girl</i> is the "tour de force" that so many are touting it to be, it's certainly entertaining. While I didn't find it 'unputdownable', I did think the premise was intriguing, and I wanted to know what would happen.
<i>An Anonymous Girl</i> (written by a writing team), takes us into two worlds. One: the world of Jessica, a struggling makeup artist in New York City, who works to help support her family and specifically, her sister, who is differently abled and requires additional care. When Jessica inadvertently hears about a psychological study being performed by a renowned New York psychologist, she sneaks her way in, attracted by the money on offer. Labeled as "Subject 52", Jessica finds herself in a barren room, answering questions on a single laptop. Questions about morality, about judgment, about the tough choices we make, day in and day out.
The second world belongs to Dr. Shields, who is running the study, and who becomes singularly focused on Jessica and invites her for further "examination". Dr. Shields is ostensibly fascinating, but Hendricks lays this on way too thick - her "spicy" perfume and the fact that she likes shawls are held up as layers of character development.
As their two worlds intersect and collide, it becomes clear that the study isn't quite what it seems, and that Jessica may be in over her head...
Saying any more would spoil the unveilings that occur, and I do think this tale is worth reading till the end. A few personal quibbles - I didn't find Jessica all that sympathetic, and I thought she was idiotic for trusting such a creepy doctor and such an invasive "study" - every instinct would be telling her to run in the other direction since it was so odd from the get-go. Hendricks would have been better served to dial down the creep factor until Jessica was already fully embroiled. I also hated how much she ignored her dog (she was NEVER home...), how she treated Noah, and how little she learned by the end.
BUT it's not like I have to be best friends with her. I also think the book would have benefited from tighter editing. However, the story itself is certainly engrossing, and I see why it's popular.
I've read several Sarah Pekkanen novels. They are reliably solid reads. BUT her novels with Greer Henricks?! They are on an entirely different level. I read An Anonymous Girl compulsively. In line at the deli. In lieu of television with my husband. Stole a few pages before I got out of bed in the mornings to get my kids ready for school - minutes that I did not have surplus to lose. As I drove, cooked, showered, did laundry - in every spare mental minute - the story and dialogue and twists swirled in my mind. I read so much that "unique" storytelling devices rarely, if ever, blow me away. There are only so many. Pekkanen's and Hendrick's style of narration is the rare exception. I've been recommending this book to everyone I talk to in person and online since I finished the introduction. Exemplary, seductive, addictive, ultimately satisfying, surprising read.
Thank you for sharing this title with me.
This is a thrilling, psychological ride all the way through. I love the moments when I was unsure or wondering who had the upper hand at what moment. While the journal-writing point of view chapters slowed things down for me, I was brought back to the story in the next chapter's character's point of view. Stick with it. You'll enjoy the plot turns and escalation to a satisfying resolution.