Cover image from Goodreads.com
Alicia is an artist married to a photographer. On the surface, they have a great life together. That is, until Alicia is found standing next to her husband, who had been shot five times in the face. She refuses to speak from that point forward and is sent to a psychiatric facility in lieu of jail time.
Theo is a criminal psychotherapist who is overly interested in Alicia’s case. When a position at the facility opens up, Theo jumps on it in hopes of treating Alicia. His treatment is mostly successful. Alicia attacks him at first, but eventually opens up enough to talk. But what comes out of her mouth is lies.
The novel is told in flashbacks through Alicia’s diary and through the eyes of Theo. As a reader, I felt there was something off about Theo’s interest in her and his pushing to treat her. It turns out he’s an unreliable narrator, which the author pulls of brilliantly.
The twist near the end had me gasping out loud. Truly fantastic. I think I should have seen it coming but rather than try to predict what would happen I simply let myself get carried away with the story.
One nitpick is the author’s heavy references to Alcestis, the heroine of a Greek myth. While it’s relevant to the story, I grew weary of the references early on.
Should Be Writing 