This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Reviewed by Susan Lobban
You don’t remember her but she remembers you.
Emma is feeling isolated as she spends her days in a fugue with her toddler and another on the way. She has no real friends and her husband is not really interested in how she spends her days.
Nina is glamorous and has her life in check. She is Emma’s saviour, both literally and figuratively, when she ‘finds’ her purse and an unlikely friendship is struck between the two.
It is clear to see what Emma gets from the friendship but Nina’s intentions get murkier by the day. As the saying goes: keep your friends close but your enemies closer!
I found this book to be a roller coaster of a read. It starts off slow and then begins to build up pace as the tension mounts, only to slow down again to a bit of an anti-climax, speeding up again until it reaches an abrupt stop. As soon as I found out that Nina knew Emma from somewhere else and that she had ulterior motives for befriending her, I was compelled to read on. Each chapter alternates between the two women’s viewpoints, which was highly effective in that it highlighted just how oblivious to Nina’s actions Emma was. Once you find out how the women are linked, it shows that what is inconsequential and insignificant for one is worth holding a long-standing grudge over for another.
The way Nina plays on Emma’s loneliness is made all the more alarming when she has no qualms in using Emma’s toddler son as a pawn in her twisted revenge games. The women are polar opposites, and I could not help feeling sorry for Emma, who was just desperate for a friend and confidante whilst, at the same time, being perversely transfixed with what Nina would do next. The back story reveal is a bit of a damp squib but this does not really matter because by then you are so preoccupied in the present day’s events.This is a tense and creepy read, which hooks you with its fascinating characters rather than its thrilling twists and turns. Without giving anything away, I was not sure what to make of the ending, but this is one of those books that you will devour and then leave you wanting, although on reflection you realise that it will linger with you for a long time afterwards.
8/10