Last year I read 45 books! I was excited to start 2020 reading up a storm. Somehow it didn’t happen. I picked up four books, got a few pages in and forgot about them. Finally, my fifth book caught and kept my attention. What She Knew by Gilly Macmillan was the first book I read this year and it took me a week!
What is it about?
“Rachel Jenner is walking in a Bristol park with her eight-year-old son, Ben, when he asks if he can run ahead. Its an ordinary request on an ordinary Sunday afternoon, and Rachel has no reason to worry until Ben vanishes.”
Goodreads
Although this book caught my attention and kept me turning pages, I didn’t love it. I didn’t find myself liking any of the main characters. Rachel, Clemo, Nicola, Emma, Katerina and even Fraser all seemed like dull characters who I didn’t have the urge to learn more about. On the other hand, I was curious about Laura and Woodley.
Despite the meh characters, the plot was interesting and the twists kept me reading. Although there were less twists than I’m used to in psychological thrillers. The writing was good and easy to read which made up for my lack of connection to the characters. I also wanted to find out what happened to Ben and if he was still alive. So I wasn’t completely uninterested.
Goodread Ratings
On Goodreads, the reviews are mixed and the average is 3.87 out of almost 70,000 ratings. Personally, I gave it a four because it was readable and it was the first of five books that I picked up that I didn’t discard. I am open to reading more by this author even though all her books seem to have a similar rating.
I have already ordered the next book in this Clemo series, Odd Child Out. It won’t be at the top of my reading list. However, I know that it will keep me reading. This second book has a slightly lower rating than this, but I am confident that I will still enjoy it. Plus there were some unanswered question in this book that I wouldn’t mind discovering. Although I’m not pacing around waiting for the book to arrive so I can devour it.
Great for the Beach
This book didn’t have me on the edge of my seat. But it did have me spending reading on my lunch break instead of turning on the TV. It would be a great book to take on a beach vacation. I wish I had brought this one on my trip to Puerto Rico in February because I would have read it while getting a tan. It’s one of those books that I would expect to find in one of those ‘take-one-leave-one’ libraries in hostels. This is not a bad thing!
You can find more books that I have reviewed here.
Bonus Jewelry!
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