When I started this book, I got major Fight Club vibes. I expected that I knew exactly where everything was headed. But when I got to the end, it wasn’t what I thought.

This is a dark look into codependency and addiction. A look into what it’s like to lose sight of yourself completely in favor of another person.

Our nameless narrator loses herself shortly after her high school graduation in her sister Debbie’s world of sex and drugs. But then Debbie is gone, leaving our narrator adrift in a way she has not felt before. Our narrator is in a constant battle with herself to prove that she is enough.

I liked the dark nature of this book. I felt like everything was happening under the cover of a dark and twisted night, even when it was clearly day time. I also felt like this book highlighted the taboo nature of mental health issues, particularly in children of immigrants that have suffered generational trauma. It is definitely not a read for the light-hearted. It will make you take a long hard look at yourself and how you deal with relationships.

A quaint coastal cottage in Australia, a picture perfect family. Life sounds ideal. But this cottage is set near a cliff that happens to be a favorite spot for those at the end of the rope. Gabe takes it upon himself to be the unofficial savior and sounding board for those that come to the cliff thinking there is no other option while Pippa watches from the window and calls the authorities. Things go well until they don’t. One day, Gabe isn’t enough. But Pippa can’t help wondering if her eyes were playing tricks on her when she thought she saw Gabe push.

A multiple POV narrative that delves into the troubled pasts of several characters while simultaneously showing their distress in the present. A suspense filled page turner that keeps you guessing as to how everything will connect in the end.
I thought that this was a quick, easy thriller read. It helped bring me out of a slump after reading several heavy books in a row.

A new view of classic Greek mythology. While there are some Greek myths centered around female non-deities, I think Atalanta did a good job of weaving that concept in with more traditional and well known Greek myths.

Atalanta was abandoned as an infant at the edge of Artemis’s forest domain. She spent her early years raised by the creatures of the forest and somehow thrived. One day, she happens upon Artemis and her nymphs. Her life is changed forever. When Jason makes to set sail on the Argo in search of the Golden Fleece, Artemis sends her favorite as her champion: Atalanta. As she seeks to prove herself worthy in a crew of Greek heroes, Atalanta must remember the vows Artemis made her take before leaving. Should she fail, she will suffer the wrath of her angry goddess.

I always like reading mythology and seeing how the past dealt with explaining unknown phenomena. This adventure was a twist on one of my favorites and it actually changed my view of some of the characters.