Words cannot describe how excited I was when NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press approved my request for an ARC of You Are Not Alone by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen!! Their first novel, The Wife Between Us, is definitely on my list of top reads of all time! It’s one I recommend constantly and love chatting about with other people. Their newest one, which released yesterday, was probably my second favorite out of the three they have co-authored. I read it about a month ago and at the time it was my top read of 2020. I’ve read a couple of other good ones since then, but so far it’s still pretty high on my list for this year 😊
Plot Summary: This book drew me in right from the start. It’s really hard to summarize it without giving too much of the story away. I think that’s also why most of the blurbs online are pretty vague. The story centers around a woman in NYC by the name of Shay who feels completely unnoticed and a little down on her luck. Through a random subway incident, she finds herself drawn into a close circle of friends and she begins to finally feel noticed. However, the group has some pretty big secrets and she has no idea what she has gotten herself into…
Category: Thriller/Mystery
My Review:
What I liked: This was a super easy read! I feel like the authors did a great job of making you sympathize with the main character. Her loneliness was so profound that she was willing to turn herself into someone else in order to be liked and accepted. I think it’s a timely message of how disconnected people can become and how important it is to have truly genuine friends. I also LOVED that it was a thriller with literally no foul language! They can be so hard to find and I am super appreciative of being able to read a well written suspense novel that doesn’t feel the need to incorporate curse words for no apparent reason. The twist at the end was one I didn’t see coming (I’m honestly not sure anyone could see that particular twist due to the way the rest of the book is written). It wasn’t quite as shocking to me as the twist in the middle of The Wife Between Us (that one made me literally gasp and immediately recommend the book to all my friends). But it was still well done.
What I didn’t like: I really don’t have anything I didn’t like. I will say I did figure out part of one of the twists in the middle. I knew what the group was up to before they met Shay. I felt that was a little obvious, but there were still connections that were made later that were not as obvious. The ending was tied up pretty neatly and could have been a little longer in my opinion. But this is one of only a few thrillers I’ve read this year where I found the ending satisfying and not disappointing, so it wasn’t that big of a deal overall.
Disclaimer: PG in my opinion for language. There are a few adult themes, but I would say a mature teenager could definitely handle it.
Do You Read Me?: YES!! 100% YES! And then please go read The Wife Between Us and tell me what you thought of both of them! I also really liked Anonymous Girl by these authors, so pick up that one too 😉
In short, this was another solid thriller by the authors. I will definitely continue to read their books, recommend them to others, and anxiously await the next one!
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC of this book! (Side note: I actually love these authors so much and really wanted to be able to lend this one out after I read it, so I also bought a physical copy in my BOTM box 😂)