ARC Review: The Accomplice

 

Publication Date: January 25th, 2022

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book or my review itself.

This is a book that has left me unsure exactly how I feel about it.

 And that may be the point? That it makes me like the characters, who all seem to be left unsure how they feel about each other and their lives by the end. Lisa Lutz is a great author, so I could absolutely see her playing with her readers' emotions that way.

In The Accomplice, Owen and Luna have been extremely close since college. They've never dated, no one else is really sure why, but they've always been each other's person. They've been there for each other through two murders now (one? three? the book keeps this secret for the perfect amount of time), but both think they still have secrets from each other-and from the reader.

I was really into this book up until around the last quarter. I loved the reveals of the (many) secrets, and found myself completely shocked every time. I just felt like the last quarter didn't entirely work for me, but that feeling seems a lot like personal preference and not a commentary on the actual book. I wanted the characters to make different choices, but in the world of the book, I honestly don't think they could have. 

ARC Review: Reckless Girls

 

Publication Date: January 28th, 2022

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book or my review itself.

This is a good book. It's a gripping read. I was a big fan of The Wife Upstairs by this same author.

But the way it was described made it sound way more like an Agatha Christie-type, killer among us on a deserted island vibe. And it really didn't come across that way for me.

Hawkins did a fantastic job on slowly building suspense, but not so slowly that I lost interest. I thought the flashbacks were really effective, and definitely hooked me on trying to deduce everyone's true backstory. Lux is a great narrator because she feels real, drifting around after a terrible loss and hoping that the man she is in love with will heal her. When another character's flashback starts, they read as a completely different person to Lux, and the way relationships form on the island as their found family crashes together is really compelling.

What I wasn't as in love with was that with so much suspense, the ending felt a little rushed, and almost a little pat. I did really enjoy the twists and turns, but I was hoping for more buildup Christie style.