The Wife Between Us -Review

The Wife Between Us  🌟🌟🌟

by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen  

Publishing by St Martin's Press January 9 2018 

Wow, where to start?  I'm  reading along thinking the alternating points of view are leading down one road, and then BAM, nothing is as it seems and the path to the climax takes an entirely different course.  Some readers are going to hate this, some will love it.  Some will be sooooo confused.  You may need to go back and reread parts.

For me, I felt somewhat manipulated and kept asking myself if what happened really made any sense.  I kept with it, through more twists and turns, until the very end.  And then I started it over again.  And yes, it did make sense knowing now what I didn't know before.  So, touche and congrats to the author for pulling it off!

 

Absolutely not what I expected at all, from the title or from the first few chapters.  

My thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley.  

Poison - Review

Poison   🌟🌟🌟
by Galt Niederhoffer
To be published November 21, 2017, by St. Martin's Press 

Now, that's a good ending.  Quick, clean, and an I told you so.   

Loved the title's multiple implications, the relationship gone bad, the suspicions all around, substances with multiple uses and purposes.  I read this not trusting one single character.  Is Ryan trying to poison his wife Cass, or is she paranoid, delusional, and in need of psychological care?  

Liked less the writing in present tense, which seemed awkward to me and at times too much in the way of explanation.  But overall, an exciting and tense read. 

An unsolicited comp copy from St.  Martin's Press through  NetGalley.

3.5 stars.

I Was Anastasia - Review

I Was Anastasia   🌟🌟🌟

by Ariel Lawhon  

Feb 2018 by Doubleday

Finished Nov 11, 2017

Remember the thriller recently written completely in a reverse timeline and readers either tolerated it or hated it?   I didn't mind it too much, once used to it.   Well, in this  book only half of it goes backwards in time, but it bothered me anyway.  The chapters alternate between Anna Anderson's story and Anastasia's.  The Anastasia chapters slowly lead up to when the Romanov family is executed in 1918,  and Anna's goes from 1970 to around the time of the executions.  Only at the end do we know how it all started.  

I have been wondering... why another book on Anastasia; doesn't everyone already know this story?  Have we not watched it played memorably by Ingrid Bergman in the great old film, Anastasia, and heard the countless rumors of a Romanov surviving?  I was curious what this author could offer that wasn't already done.  For me, a few more personal details, and a renewed curiosity about Anna Anderson.  This is historical fiction and the author says she fudged on some details but not much.

 

All in all, I am not certain I'd recommend this one unless you do not already know the story, and even then a non-fiction might deliver better.  I have enjoyed looking at some pictures of the two characters, and there was a definite facial resemblance.  If this had been my first time learning about the Romanovs, I am sure I  would have rated it much higher.  Knowing how it would end and failing to feel any real connection until the last couple of chapters sabotaged this experience for me, I'm afraid.  Even so, some parts will remain memorable, I'm sure.  

Than you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy.