For me, it takes ages to decide upon a book that I would want to read. Incessantly scrolling through numerous book reviews and must-reads, I finalize a read when it is recommended the most by avid readers or the blurb sounds amazing! In this case, it was the latter. And also, taking a moment to appreciate the gorgeous cover!
The publisher’s summary:
When Autumn Carpenter stumbles upon the social media account of the family who adopted her infant daughter years ago, she finds herself instantly drawn into their picture-perfect existence.
From behind a computer screen, Autumn watches Grace’s every memory, from birthdays to holidays to bedtime snuggles. But what starts as an innocent fascination spirals into an addictive obsession met with a screeching halt the day the McMullen family closes their Instaface account without so much as a warning.
Frantic and desperate to reconnect with her daughter, Autumn applies for a nanny position with the McMullens, manipulating herself into Grace’s life under false pretenses. And it’s only then that Autumn discovers pictures lie, the perfect family doesn’t exist, and beautiful people? They have the ugliest secrets.
Thoughts:
When I read the summary, I couldn’t wait to start reading this book because the plot was extremely fresh! I mean, here we have, a stalker mother who is curious about the family who adopted her daughter years ago. My mind was going places and I started imagining what secrets the characters in the book might hold (yep, I am imaginative like that). And now, if I may say so, my imagination turned out to be way better than what the author wrote. It’s just like those times when the movie trailer is fantastic and the movie itself is worth skipping!
The story starts with a promise but drags on for about 70 percent of the book without much happening and ends abruptly with so many unanswered questions. It isn’t even about the adopted daughter. Frankly, I don’t even know what it was about. Yes, there is a twist and huge one at that but the story leads to the twist in a haphazard manner. While reading the end, I hardly enjoyed the twist because it was dragged to the point where I did not care anymore. I just wanted the book to end.
Despite the rave reviews, personally I found the book to be okay-ish, or maybe not even that because I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. There are plenty of good psychological thrillers out there so why waste time with this one? The amount of inconsistencies, the dragged plot, the lack of depth, the unlikable characters – I kept reading because I thought it would get better, well, it didn’t!
SKIP IT!
RATING: 2/5
Favorite Quotes from the book:
NONE. I want to forget I ever read this.
(Disclaimer: All opinions expressed are strictly my own and in no way influenced.)
The Famished Reader 