This book was sent to me electronically by Netgalley for review. The characters are realistic but not likable. Neighbors watch…they talk…this book moves somewhat slowly. The author is talented at writing a book with intrigue.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

2.65-3/5

This was an interesting book and I appreciated the different perspectives. However I didn’t like any of the characters, and I found the book ultimately very anticlimactic. It also goes back and forth to some scenarios/time in that year and I just didn’t feel like I could connect with the story well enough.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Rating 2.5 stars.

I typically enjoy a psychological thriller, and I read this book in one sitting because I did find myself needing to see what happened. So from the standpoint of suspense, it performed well.

There were certain aspects of career development that I thought were excellent. For example, the development of Adam was done in a way that shed light on the very real stresses of being a stay-at-home parent.

I also thought the development of the relationship between Adam and Sarah was effective in showing just how complex relationships can be.

I felt a sense of discomfort reading this book, however, and I think it was due to the way race was presented. The depiction of racism that existed in the white characters was fine coming from a white author. It was extremely difficult and uncomfortable for me to hear a white author projecting about what was happening inside the mind of a Black woman in these situations, however. I’m having trouble putting exactly what I am trying to convey into words. Black women face racism constantly and the author was right to make this clear. It was just hard to feel that he was presuming how she was thinking and feeling about the things she was experiencing. This wasn’t central to the overall plot, but it was enough to make me uncomfortable in my reading experience.