The stunning new psychological thriller from the award-winning author of Darkness Peering and The Breathtaker.

Child psychiatrist Kate Wolfe’s world comes crashing down when one of her young patients commits suicide, so when a troubled girl is left at the hospital ward, she doubts her ability to help. But the girl knows things about Kate’s past, things she shouldn’t know, forcing Kate to face the murky evidence surrounding her own sister’s murder sixteen years before, bringing Kate face to face with her deepest fear

Published: April 2018

MY THOUGHTS:

I received this book in exchange for my honest review.  I took my time with presenting my review because I was so on the fence about what I thought about this book.

Alice Blanchard is usually better than this. I tried twice to read this book and found myself not finishing it.  Lavender eyes????? really? Are they still allowing this in publishing houses when the book’s not a fantasy?

For the record, no real human has lavender colored eyes (natural). This is a fantastical imagery used for fantasy world creatures. Of course if you use contact lenses of that color, then that’s another story and one that was not used here.

Alice Blanchard has won a number of awards and this is why I wanted to read this book.

What can I say, the characters, especially the Protagonist, is just not believable. You can still see that easy writing style Blanchard is known for, and the premise did sound intriguing. There’s a lot of discussion of mental health and conditions which is good to see.  I think overall, it’s the characters. I didn’t like them, couldn’t get into them and didn’t like their interactions. It all seemed far-fetched. The conversations between Kate and her lover are juvenile at best and the risks Kate takes… come on, really? The book in the end seemed rushed and harried almost as if Blanchard couldn’t wait for it all to end too.

Not bad enough to give it a zero rating, but it’s just not my fav.

I gave it: