by Frieda McFadden

Well…darn it. This is the first Frieda McFadden book that I’ve read that I was disappointed with. I was very excited for her newest novel, I had it pre-ordered for a couple months and looked forward to reading it because I have mostly enjoyed every book she’s written. Some I like better than others, some were good, some were great, this book, however, had me in a state of constant frustration. McFadden’s books always have a Shyamalan twist and this book was no exception, I hadn’t even expected the twist, but it wasn’t really about that.

First, let’s talk a bit about the plot: This book moves between the present and past, the past being the childhood of one of the characters. It opens with a boy who’s desperately in love with his neighbor, Daisy. He doesn’t think he’s good enough for her, she’s beautiful, popular, smart, and sweet. He’s introverted and, what some kids classify, as “nerdy”. Daisy likes him, nonetheless, but there’s a darkness in the boy that he’s afraid of and he is scared to let Daisy near him.

In the present, we meet Sydney, who’s in her mid-thirties and trying to find the love of her life via online dating. Sydney goes on a disastrous date with a man named Kevin, who tries to assault her. Luckily, she is saved by a charming and handsome stranger. A couple days later, her best friend, Bonnie, ends up murdered. Bonnie’s murder comes just after another run in with Kevin where Bonnie told him off. Bonnie also happens to live in the same building as Sydney. Sydney sees Kevin in the back of the church at Bonnie’s funeral, but doesn’t tell anyone and thinks she may have been mistaken.

A couple months later, Bonnie’s murder is still unsolved and Sydney and the handsome stranger, who had saved her from Kevin, have another chance encounter. We are introduced to Tom, he is a doctor, he is sweet and funny and Sydney is smitten. They begin dating but very quickly it becomes clear that her new love is secretive, is telling lies, and something just isn’t right.

I will stop with the details there to avoid spoilers, but let me explain why I was so frustrated with this book. The amount of times that Sydney chose not to tell people when something strange happened (like Kevin showing up at Bonnie’s funeral) or just made decisions that put herself in genuine danger was just downright unbelievable. To make this story happen, this woman had to consciously want to be murdered. I had to put the book down and vent to my husband multiple times because it was just silly. I just have to believe that no human on the planet would do (or not do) so many things when they were acutely aware that there’s a murderer that has access to her building AND she is being stalked by some creep who attacked her. There were times where Sydney would think to herself, “Should I tell my detective ex-boyfriend who’s on the murder case about this extremely important and suspicious detail?… Nah”.

GIRL, are you trying to die?!

After all that, and after reading so many of her books, I just thought that the situations might be just a little more realistic and wouldn’t depend so much on the suspension of disbelief. While it was still an entertaining read, it was one that I wouldn’t personally recommend.

Overall rating: 6/10 frustrated stars.