in my very humble opinion: this was not a tour de force nor was it thrilling or page turning.

this book was so hyped and honestly i can not see why. it was incredibly, endlessly sad and the only thing that kept me going was seeing what awful thing her daughter was going to do next/waiting for a twist or turn. the husband enraged me to no end which i know was the point - woman with legitimate fears is deemed “hysterical” and ends up isolated and trapped in her thoughts. the way the chapters were “structured” was awful, i don’t know if the physical book was more clear but most of the time i was figuring out which character i was reading which became tedious. and the only “omg thriller twist” was on the last page….and it was entirely predictable.

i will say i’m coming at this having had a baby 4 months ago and having suffering from debilitating PPD, and the first quarter of the book was entirely relatable and the descriptions of not having that immediate instinctual mother feeling hit very close to home. so i did find that redeeming since i think postpartum depression should be a topic more often discussed.

that being said, i’ve read books before that didn’t click with me that others loved but i still found the value in them. that was not the case with this novel for me.