I am obsessed with this book. Binged the last two hundred pages while at work (oops) because I couldn't put it down and then immediately put the rest of Harper's books on hold at the library.

My biggest problem with thrillers in general is they so often rely on cheap ploys to hold the reader's attention. There's a big dark secret you don't know, who is murderer, what grisly crime will happen next. I don't hate that, but I frequently feel like if you took away those devices, the story and characters wouldn't be able to hold up on their own. The story in this book was magical. I adored it.

Everything was fascinating to me. Every character relationship was well done and fleshed out. Every character had a full history and personality and their own motivations and desires. Every setting was gorgeous. Everyone and everything felt so real and authentic. I truthfully didn't even care about the mystery aspect because the rest of the book was so well done.

It did feel like it ended a bit abruptly. I was expecting like one more chapter to kind of give closure, but it very much seemed to stop as soon as all the information was revealed. And it also seemed like the characters made massive leaps in logic frequently, to the extent that I was a little confused/annoyed. Like when a woman was found drowned on the beach, everyone immediately assumed murder with nothing to suggest that apart from having drowned in the ocean. It happened a fair amount and sometimes I had a little trouble following it, just because it didn't make sense.

I'm looking forward to reading more of her books so much. I will caution that this is a slow mystery, heavy on the characters and light on the thrills. If you're looking for something fast paced and exciting then it's probably not for you, but I adored this. Best mystery/thriller I've read in a very long time. And judging by reviews, this isn't even Harper's best rated book so I am beyond stoked to read more.