I think I’m starting to realize that I’m extremely picky about my thrillers/mysteries. If I’m not buddy reading it with someone, it’s a lot harder for these genre books to grip me and thrill me, and unfortunately this book never quite got me. While I was still invested enough to finish the book, I had a hard time forcing myself to continue listening to the audiobook, even though it was a quick read and was narrated by narrators I generally enjoy.

I think the main reason I never fell into this book is that I never connected with Alice. I feel like connecting with the main character(s) of a thriller/mystery novel is extremely important, because otherwise you aren’t affected by the stakes of the novel. If you don’t care for the characters, you have no reason to cheer for them or be invested in the mystery. Sure, I didn’t want Alice to get hurt, but I was never extremely anxious for her safety until the very end, when things really kicked up.

The mystery itself is also essential in books like this, and unfortunately this never gripped me either. I wasn’t on the edge of my seat, desperate to know who was behind the Wednesday attacks. I think this was perhaps because there was just a bit too much going on, too many potential threads for this attacker to come from. There were too many men that could be willing to hurt Alice, too many reasons for wanting to do so (without actually making Alice seem like a bad person, she just appeared extremely unlucky). It wasn’t quite overwhelming, but it still pushed me away all the same. It also didn’t help that the investigation was clearly focused around one individual, building up this background story that ended up not being entirely relevant/needed. This took a lot of page space away from other parts of the mystery, and I think it just didn’t feel cohesive in the end. While it’s probably more realistic in that way, as there’s always so many things going on in the life of a person, it didn’t feel like it was fully brought together in a way that a story like this needs.

Overall, this book wasn’t for me, even if I didn’t necessarily dislike my time spent reading it. It was a good audio companion while I was busy doing chores, travelling to school, or playing Pokemon Go, but I’m not excitedly reaching for another book by this author quite yet.