This novel had me excited for a number of reasons. For one thing, it had such an interesting and (slightly) disturbing premise! And this novel takes place in Toronto, where I’m from! I have been seeing it everywhere in my local bookstores so I really wanted to go out and get a copy. Here are my thoughts:
Summary (Goodreads): Jean Mason has a doppelganger. At least, that’s what people tell her. Apparently it hangs out in Kensington Market, where it sometimes buys churros and shops for hats. Jean doesn’t rattle easy, not like she used to. She’s a grown woman with a husband and two kids, as well as a thriving business, and Toronto is a fresh start for the whole family. She certainly doesn’t want to get involved in anything dubious, but still . . . why would two different strangers swear up and down they’d just seen her–with shorter hair furthermore?
Jean’s curiosity quickly gets the better of her, and she visits the market, but sees no one who looks like her. The next day, she goes back to look again. And the day after that. Before she knows it, she’s spending an hour here, an afternoon there, watching, taking notes, obsessing and getting scared. With the aid of a small army of locals who hang around in the market’s only park, she expands her surveillance, making it known she’ll pay for information or sightings. A peculiar collection of drug addicts, scam artists, philanthropists, philosophers and vagrants–the regulars of Bellevue Square–are eager to contribute to Jean’s investigation. But when some of them start disappearing, it becomes apparent that her alleged double has a sinister agenda. Unless Jean stops her, she and everyone she cares about will face a fate stranger than death.
My Rating: 
Review: I rarely DNF a book. But this one … I just couldn’t do it.
I think my major problem with this novel was the way it was written. At first, I found the rambling voice of Jean to be intriguing, as it let the reader understand the way her mind worked.
But then it got old. Worse, it got boring. And this is with there being scenes with action to them.
I found myself very confused as to what was happening, and who was talking, and just … I couldn’t figure out the point of it all. Does Jean have schizophrenia? She certainly seemed like she had the symptoms.
Even though this novel had an unusual premise and I saw quite a few people give it 5 stars, I just couldn’t push through. I need my novels to make sense and not go off in multiple directions that don’t necessarily make any sense. I may come back to this novel at some later point in time, when I actually want to push through and give this book another chance. But for now, it is staying in the DNF pile.
Happy reading ~