My Rating: 4 stars
I
actually finished reading this book back in December but I’ve been down with a
bad case of the flu this past week and only started feeling stronger today, so
didn’t get a chance to write the review on this until now.
After having read Greer Hendricks’ and Sarah Pekkanen’s debut novel The Wife Between Us last year, I was really excited to be approved for an advance copy of their sophomore work, An Anonymous Girl. As is usually the case with thriller / suspense novels, I don’t want to say too much in this review, as the “fun” in reading this genre is to go in knowing as little as possible and seeing where the story takes you. The premise of the story — about a woman named Jess who sneaks into a paid research study on morality and ethics, then subsequently finds herself entangled in a dark web of deceit, betrayal, and obsession — is completely original and different, which is definitely refreshing given that so many psychological suspense novels nowadays seem to cover the same types of themes and characters. The story was captivating, despite the fact that there weren’t a bunch of explosive scenes — rather than being action-packed, the story was actually a slow-burning one, with a bunch of smaller surprises at the end of each chapter rather than one huge shocking twist. I feel this structure worked well in this case, especially with the narrative alternating between Jess and the doctor conducting the study, as we got to experience the story from two very different perspectives, which helped make the mini reveals in each chapter all the more interesting.
After having read Greer Hendricks’ and Sarah Pekkanen’s debut novel The Wife Between Us last year, I was really excited to be approved for an advance copy of their sophomore work, An Anonymous Girl. As is usually the case with thriller / suspense novels, I don’t want to say too much in this review, as the “fun” in reading this genre is to go in knowing as little as possible and seeing where the story takes you. The premise of the story — about a woman named Jess who sneaks into a paid research study on morality and ethics, then subsequently finds herself entangled in a dark web of deceit, betrayal, and obsession — is completely original and different, which is definitely refreshing given that so many psychological suspense novels nowadays seem to cover the same types of themes and characters. The story was captivating, despite the fact that there weren’t a bunch of explosive scenes — rather than being action-packed, the story was actually a slow-burning one, with a bunch of smaller surprises at the end of each chapter rather than one huge shocking twist. I feel this structure worked well in this case, especially with the narrative alternating between Jess and the doctor conducting the study, as we got to experience the story from two very different perspectives, which helped make the mini reveals in each chapter all the more interesting.
In many
ways, I feel that Greer and Hendricks took their storytelling to the next level
with this book, as it delves much deeper into the minds of its characters while
at the same time, making us as readers wonder how we would answer if posed the
same questions. With that said though, there were certain points throughout the
story where I couldn’t help questioning why Jess would agree to certain things
or whether she truly didn’t see some of the things that went on — so yes, there
were some believability issues for me but relatively minor ones given the
context of the story. I also thought the ending was anti-climactic — in
this area, their first book The Wife Between Us was way,
way better in that the ending there left me stunned and shocked while the
ending with this one left much to be desired.
Overall,
this was a well-written psychological suspense novel, a good choice if you’re
looking for something different within the genre and don’t mind the slow pace
of the story. Definitely recommended!
Received
ARC from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley
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