I received this novel as an advance copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Corrine and her boyfriend, Dominic, have been trying very hard to conceive. But after 3 failed IVF attempts, it is looking like becoming parents is not in their cards. After Corrine’s sister, Ashley, loans the couple money for one last IVF treatment, there is finally a stirring of hope. Maybe, just maybe, this time it will work. When Corrine finds a tiny part of a doll house outside her flat, it feels like a positive sign. But as more pieces turn up, Corinne realizes that they are far too familiar; they look just like the ones she used to play with as a child. Someone knows about her childhood doll house. And they want Corinne to know.
Meanwhile, Ashley is struggling to keep her family in control. Her youngest baby, Holly, isn’t sleeping at night, her oldest daughter, Lucy, is running wild, and her husband never seems to be home. Just when things couldn’t get worse, she starts receiving mysterious phone calls. At first, she dismisses them as crank calls but eventually, they take on a more sinister role.
As these two sisters battle through their crises, they start to wonder who is targeting them? And what do they want?
The original synopsis of this story did not mention Ashley at all, so I went into this story thinking it would only be about Corinne. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that this would be about both sisters. The story is told in their alternating voices, with brief interjections from Dominic, as well as moments from the past told in the voice of an unknown character. Of course, the unknown person was the most intriguing part of the story, and I was wondering the entire time who it could be. I found Ashley’s perspective to be a lot more interesting than Corinne; I also liked her better as a character, even though not much was really happening on her end as compared to Corinne. But to be honest, I didn’t really care much about what was happening with either one of them. There just wasn’t enough emotional connection or depth to them to get me interested; every time I felt I was connecting, the story would hurry on and it would be lost. I had pretty much guessed the ending of the story so there wasn’t too much of a thrill there. However, I WAS surprised by the identity of the unknown character; it wasn’t the person I was expecting it to be. For the most part, this story was lackluster, and I was just trying to get to the end to see if I was right or not. The ending was the only interesting part of the novel, but it ended in such a cliffhanger way that I wonder if there will be a sequel. Overall, this was an okay thriller with characters I didn’t really care about, and not enough thrill to keep me enthralled. I’m giving this a 2/5 stars.
Happy reading ~
