I feel bad for rating a book so low which addresses such important themes of exploiting power over young people to getaway with abuse - particularly in the film industry. 

 

Whilst Ella has been able to portray a sense of empathy towards Grace and her clear PTSD, it really felt like the overall plot and emotional depth was a missed opportunity. Though I can appreciate the 'show' rather than 'tell' aspect in the writing style when depicting manipulation, all other emotions outside of this felt like it could have done with so much more depth. 

After starting with strong initial tension and building the background to Grace's sad story (40%), there really was not a lot of plot progression for the majority of the book which made it feel incredibly 
 drawn out and became very disengaging. 

 

Rather than being an exposure/revenge #metoo thriller or emotional journey of trying to make peace with the past - this story was predominately surface level interactions with other characters (none which I particularly care for).

With a drawn out plot, only the last 10% of the book held that long awaited exposure which then ultimately felt rushed and not nearly as impactful as it could have been. 

I think the true downfall of this book is that while the initial concept of the plot was promising - it wasn't overly layered or complex and therefore really needed a strong emotional narrative to keep it moving forward… which this really didn't have for me. 

Overall, I feel that if i had not read this as an audio book, I would have DNF'd at the midway point and at the end of the book I can't help but feel pretty unsatisfied.