One evening
Hannah Monroe returns to her home in Liverpool to discover that her live-in
boyfriend, Matt Stone, has left with all his possessions. There is no record of his presence in her
life; photos, emails and all social media have been erased. Devastated, Hannah is determined to find
Matt. Then she starts receiving cryptic
messages and she begins to suspect that someone has been in her home.
Hannah is a
difficult person to like. At the
beginning, I had sympathy for her but as she becomes more and more obsessed
with finding Matt, I became impatient with her.
She comes across as immature and self-absorbed. She always sees herself as the victim, even
blaming a friend for dying in such a way that she has bad memories: “What had she done to me, leaving me with
that memory of her?” Her behaviour is
unrealistic as well. At the beginning,
she is so focused on her career but then she sacrifices that career,
friendships, and hygiene just to find someone who obviously does not want to be
found?
There is a Gone Girl twist which, unfortunately, doesn’t
work. After the great reveal, the reader
should want to re-read the first part of the novel to see what he/she
missed. I felt no such compulsion
because it is obvious that the author cheated by withholding too much
information. The one positive thing about
the twist is that it touches on a subject seldom discussed in reality, much
less in fiction. I just wish that it had
been portrayed more realistically.
The premise
is interesting, but the execution is weak.
My interest was piqued but then the pace became so slow that my interest
lagged. So much attention is paid to the
steps Hannah takes, every little step she takes in her search. The reader suspects that something is wrong and
may even form theories as to the truth but ceases to care when Hannah proves to
be such a drama queen and when so much time is spent on her shallow,
competitive relationship with her best friend Katie. The pace around the reveal picks up but then
the book drags again as the author takes great pains to explain everything. On the other hand, what should have been
portrayed in more detail (Hannah’s relationship with her parents) is glossed
over.
The editor
of this book did not do a good job. If
the novel had been better structured, it would have maintained the reader’s
interest and shed light on a topic that deserves more attention. As is, this book will leave my memory without
a trace.
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