Book Review: You Are Not Alone by Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen
Uh oh, it's a low three-star review *sorry in advance*
Thriller | Goodreads | Amazon
Source: Library Loan
You Are Not Alone by Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen
Released March 2020Thriller | Goodreads | Amazon
Source: Library Loan
The thrilling new novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling authors of An Anonymous Girl and The Wife Between Us.
Shay Miller has three strikes against her: no job, no apartment, no love in her life. But when she witnesses a perfectly normal looking young woman about her age make the chilling decision to leap in front of an ongoing subway train, Shay realizes she could end up in the same spiral. She is intrigued by a group of women who seem to have it all together, and they invite her with the promise: "You are not alone." Why not align herself with the glamorous and seductive Moore sisters, Cassandra and Jane? They seem to have beaten back their demons, and made a life on their own terms—a life most people can only ever envy. They are everything Shay aspires to be, and they seem to have the keys to getting exactly what they want.
As Shay is pulled deeper and deeper under the spell of the Moore sisters, she finds her life getting better and better. But what price does she have to pay? What do Cassandra and Jane want from her? And what secrets do they, and Shay, have that will come to a deadly confrontation?
You are not alone: Is it a promise? Or a threat?
Shay Miller has three strikes against her: no job, no apartment, no love in her life. But when she witnesses a perfectly normal looking young woman about her age make the chilling decision to leap in front of an ongoing subway train, Shay realizes she could end up in the same spiral. She is intrigued by a group of women who seem to have it all together, and they invite her with the promise: "You are not alone." Why not align herself with the glamorous and seductive Moore sisters, Cassandra and Jane? They seem to have beaten back their demons, and made a life on their own terms—a life most people can only ever envy. They are everything Shay aspires to be, and they seem to have the keys to getting exactly what they want.
As Shay is pulled deeper and deeper under the spell of the Moore sisters, she finds her life getting better and better. But what price does she have to pay? What do Cassandra and Jane want from her? And what secrets do they, and Shay, have that will come to a deadly confrontation?
You are not alone: Is it a promise? Or a threat?
My 2 Cents For Free!
Hmmm, this book has been receiving some very good reviews and I'll warn you now I'm going to be here giving it a three. You might want to turn away if 3's make you cringe. People hate on my 3's even though a three to me means I liked it enough to finish reading it. Is it the best book I've ever read? No. Would I read it again? Probably not. Did parts of it maybe bore me? Uhhhh, yeah. BUT I DID NOT DISLIKE THE ENTIRE THING. A three is smack in the middle and that's not the most horrible thing, in my opinion.
I've read both THE WIFE BETWEEN US (5 stars) & AN ANONYMOUS GIRL (4 stars) and love/liked them but this one didn't manage to hit as hard with me. The secrets didn't thrill or disturb me very much but that doesn't mean you won't love it. I also listened on audio which comes with its own set of challenges.
Things start off when a young woman named Shay witnesses a woman jump to her death right before her eyes. Shay decides to look into this lovely mysterious woman and it leads her to more lovely mysterious women and eventually, she believes she's become one of these lovely mysterious women but nothing is as it seems. And that's all I'll say. This is a mystery, after all, and I am not a spoiler or books.
I should've been a blurb writer with this talent, right?
My problem with the story is the lead character of Shay. I've glanced at a few reviews and I do believe this is a matter of taste and probably mood because no one has mentioned this but me. So I will be the jerk today. What else is new? Anyhow, I'm just going to come right out and say it. Shay was a bit of a sad sack. I found it difficult to understand her or to empathize with her. She makes many poor choices and sometimes comes across as impossibly naive when it comes to the "mysterious women" as well as other things in her life. To be completely honest, she drove me a little nuts.
There's another thing too. I listened to this book as an unabridged audio and it features many female characters and none of them were fleshed out enough for my liking so I continually mixed them up. The timeline also switches around and there was a time or ten when I found myself confused. Who is this person? What is her deal? What year is this? Who am I again? I'd recommend reading this one as a paperback if you are as easily befuddled as myself.
I sound so negative. Maybe this one should be more of a 2 3/4's star? I don't know. This is why I despise numeric ratings But I do know that I didn't hate it or "not like it". The revelations were not earth-shattering but it was entertaining enough to keep me going so I'm sticking with the three. A low three but a three nonetheless. Perhaps I have finally died inside and you should probably listen to the other reviews instead! That's my recommendation anyway.
I've read both THE WIFE BETWEEN US (5 stars) & AN ANONYMOUS GIRL (4 stars) and love/liked them but this one didn't manage to hit as hard with me. The secrets didn't thrill or disturb me very much but that doesn't mean you won't love it. I also listened on audio which comes with its own set of challenges.
Things start off when a young woman named Shay witnesses a woman jump to her death right before her eyes. Shay decides to look into this lovely mysterious woman and it leads her to more lovely mysterious women and eventually, she believes she's become one of these lovely mysterious women but nothing is as it seems. And that's all I'll say. This is a mystery, after all, and I am not a spoiler or books.
I should've been a blurb writer with this talent, right?
My problem with the story is the lead character of Shay. I've glanced at a few reviews and I do believe this is a matter of taste and probably mood because no one has mentioned this but me. So I will be the jerk today. What else is new? Anyhow, I'm just going to come right out and say it. Shay was a bit of a sad sack. I found it difficult to understand her or to empathize with her. She makes many poor choices and sometimes comes across as impossibly naive when it comes to the "mysterious women" as well as other things in her life. To be completely honest, she drove me a little nuts.
There's another thing too. I listened to this book as an unabridged audio and it features many female characters and none of them were fleshed out enough for my liking so I continually mixed them up. The timeline also switches around and there was a time or ten when I found myself confused. Who is this person? What is her deal? What year is this? Who am I again? I'd recommend reading this one as a paperback if you are as easily befuddled as myself.
I sound so negative. Maybe this one should be more of a 2 3/4's star? I don't know. This is why I despise numeric ratings But I do know that I didn't hate it or "not like it". The revelations were not earth-shattering but it was entertaining enough to keep me going so I'm sticking with the three. A low three but a three nonetheless. Perhaps I have finally died inside and you should probably listen to the other reviews instead! That's my recommendation anyway.
3 out of 5
I give a lot of books that I liked but didn't love 3 stars. That's what 3 stars is for! I wish everything I read was a 5-star read, but sadly, that's not reality.
ReplyDeleteSwitches around a time or ten? Love it. I won't be reading this but I don' t mind 3/5 ratings - especially when the reviews are as entertaining as yours :)
ReplyDeleteThree out of five ain't bad. It's just not outstanding. I understand why you knocked off a couple of stars. Eh, not every book is gonna float your boat.
ReplyDeleteI really don't think a 3 rating bad. I had a three today as well and I liked it well enough but had a few problems with it.
ReplyDeleteGood enough to finish is good lol
ReplyDeleteThis probably wouldn't work for me on audio at all though with the issues you mention.
Karen @ For What It's Worth
I can see why you had your issues with the book. I get why authors have that kind of MC but I don't always have the patience to deal with them!
ReplyDelete