I enjoyed this book a lot and especially the exploration of intergenerational trauma and mental illness (OCD). I thought the descriptions of Annie’s OCD symptoms were incredibly evocative and showed a deft handling of a mental illness that is too often poorly represented in the thriller genre.

However, there were two issues that I had with this book that made me give it a 3.5-star rating. The chapters in this book are really short, especially in Part 1, which wouldn’t necessarily be a problem in and of itself but for the first part of the book, every other chapter is a flashback, a dream, a memory, or a flash forward. The reader is constantly being pulled in multiple directions instead of being introduced to the characters or premise. This is only for the first part of the book as the chapters eventually get longer and the number of flashbacks, etc decreases. I actually quite liked the flashbacks to Annie’s childhood later on.

The bigger issue I noticed while reading was how the main character’s actions and emotions are over-explained. As a reader, it feels like I’m being spoon-fed character development as if I can’t figure out anything on my own. It’s already very clear how Annie is feeling at all times because the reader is shown her emotional state through her words and actions. Instead of showing or telling, the author seems to have opted for both showing and telling, repeatedly, to ensure that the reader could not possibly misunderstand anything. For example, if Annie is having an argument with someone, the text will literally explain that she said something because she was feeling angry or confused. 

Finally, though this is not necessarily bad, it’s also extremely easy to figure out the plot twist early on in the book. Before I had even finished Part 1, I knew who the antagonist was going to be since there were basically no other credible suspects.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dutton for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.