Blog Tour · book review · books · child abduction · crime · missing person · secrets · suspense

Have You Seen Her by Lisa Hall {ARC Review}

HaveYouSeenHer_BlogTour_2

Blurb:

Anna only takes her eyes off Laurel for a second. She thought Laurel was following her mum through the crowds. But in a heartbeat, Laurel is gone.
Laurel’s parents are frantic. As is Anna, their nanny. But as the hours pass, and Laurel isn’t found, suspicion grows.
Someone knows what happened to Laurel. And they’re not telling.

Review:

This book contained a whole pack of liars. I mean that in a good way too. When it comes to a missing child story you can’t trust anyone who is close to the child. Is Anna the caring, doting nanny she that she is trying to portray? Is Fran the high-strung frantic mother she shows to the world or have her acting skills kicked in? Is Dominic just a good-looking, highly skilled, ultra busy surgeon? All these questions went thru my head when poor Laurel comes up missing. Who did it and why?

As the story develops, you find out that Anna has a secret that she is desperately trying to keep hidden. Something has happened to her before that is causing her to have anxiety about Laurel missing. She frequently alludes to an event in her that she was involved in and made such an impact on her that she had to move. You also find out that Fran and Dominic aren’t the picture perfect couple(or parents for that matter) that everyone sees. It could be just the stress and pressure of having to deal with a missing child or there could be some underlying secrets that are trying to come to head. As Anna tries to help as much as she can to help find Laurel, while keeping her own secret hidden, she has to decide who she can trust. Can she trust those trying to help? Can she even trust her own employers?

Lisa develops the plot in such a way that you find yourself questioning everything and everyone. As you try to figure out what is going on, Hall throws in past events that make you doubt what you thought you had figured out. The pace of the book makes it an easy and fast read.

Rating:

3.75 Stars

Availability:

Available in ebook May 1, 2019 and in paperback June 27, 2019

Thank you to HQ Stories for the opportunity to read and review this book for their blog tour. I received this free book in exchange for my honest review.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blog Tour · book review · books · suspense

I Know Who You Are By Alice Feeney {Review}

Blurb:

l Know Who You Are is the brilliant tale of two stories. One is about Aimee Sinclair—well-known actress on the verge of being full-on famous. If you saw her, you’d think you knew her. One day towards the near-end of her shoot on her latest film, Aimee comes home from filming to find her husband’s cell phone and wallet on the dining room table. He never goes anywhere without them. But he’s nowhere to be found. She’s not too concerned—they had a huge fight the night before. They both said things they didn’t mean. He might have done things he didn’t mean, things she can’t forget. Even though she has a history of supposedly forgetting. After all, she’s a very good actress.

The next morning she goes for her morning run and then goes to her favorite coffee shop. But her card is denied. When she calls the bank they say her account has been emptied of $10,000. She immediately suspects her husband. But they say no, it was Aimee herself who closed out the account. And thus begins a bizarre rabbit hole into which Aimee finds herself falling where nothing is at it seems.

Alternating with Aimee’s story is that of a little girl who wandered away from home. We always tell our kids not to talk to strangers or bad things will happen. Well, bad things happen.

In I Know Who You Are, Alice Feeney proves that she is a master at brilliantly complicated plots and twists after twists.

Review:

I am always a little hesitant when going into a popular thriller because I am afraid that I will not enjoy it and be the odd man out.  That is not the case for this story. One of the first things I thought was “oh boy, this is going to be an unreliable narrator who can’t handle her liquor.” I admit that I was okay with that aspect for this novel. Thankfully it was not the case. This story is told in dual timelines switching from when Aimee is a child to present time as an adult.

This is such a dark and twisted story. I was warned beforehand, but was still not prepared for how things were going to transpire. Dark and twisted is an understatement for this story. There are things that happen to Aimee as both an adult and child that literally made me cringe while reading.

Even with all that, I became so engrossed in this story I didn’t want to put it down. I was determined to figure out what was going on with her, this situation with her missing husband, the stalker, and also her childhood.

Learning what happens to Aimee as a child makes perfect sense as to how she becomes as an adult. She was a product of the environment that she was forced into. So much abuse and passive aggressive behavior. She has tried to live a normal life as a somewhat successful adult, although I am wondering how she would have known what was normal considering how she lived as a child. Then her past comes back to haunt her in more ways than one.

Nothing is what it seems. The pieces of her life don’t seem to fit together. The details of her marriage, her attitude about her missing husband, the things that are going on with her career.  Then BAM, there’s the plot twist. Talk about a bomb being dropped.

I would highly recommend this story if you are wanting a story that is going to blow your mind, but please see the trigger warnings below.  Also, please be prepared for the ending, lol. I was not fully prepared for and it was a bit overwhelming to be honest.

*Trigger Warnings:

Child abuse, allusions to rape, animal cruelty

 

Rating:

3.5 Stars

Availability:

Available now in hardcover, ebook and audiobook.

 

A special thank you to HQ Stories for providing a free copy of this novel,  having me along on this blog tour, and allowing me to share my honest opinion about this story.