‘She Lies in Wait’ was a hell of a read! It’s a compelling mystery thriller which kept me wondering until the very end. So unlike popular opinion (aka Goodreads), I wasn’t able to solve the mystery until near the end.
Disclaimer: I’ve received an advanced reader copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Personal Experience:
Quote:
“Did I tell you I had a dream where I found you lying there, and I kissed you, and it revived you?”
Who should read it? I think pretty much anyone would enjoy a good thriller.
Would I recommend it? I liked it, so yes.
The Plot
While I won’t say the plot was extraordinary, it was definitely enough to keep me hooked. A mystery unsolved for thirty years? A group of friends who have something to hide? I wanted to know who was telling the truth and who was lying. Apart from that, it was difficult for me to get attached to the murder event itself because we only have brief snippets from the past and not much info about the girl found dead. Everything makes us wonder, which is probably why I’ve liked it so much. Indeed what made the book so interesting for me was the way the story was told, parallel bits being revealed between the two different timelines. This might be an unpopular opinion, but I didn’t think the killer was obvious, and honestly, it could be anyone else. So I liked the suspense and the way the events unfolded.
The Characters
I didn’t feel much for the characters, I think mostly because of the writing style and PoVs. I was curious to know more about Aurora, and I was disappointed that her chapters were so brief. Jonah’s inquisitive nature was interesting and the way all characters are portrayed was smart, to the point I’ve suspected of every single one of them. It does give you that vibe of “can’t trust anyone”. Hanson character could have been better explored in my opinion. Overall, I felt the characters were simply there to support the mystery solving narrative and unfortunately I didn’t feel much attached to any of them.
The Writing Style
This was probably what disappointed me the most but I don’t want to be unfair since this was an advanced reader copy. The head-hopping was what frustrated me the most. At one point we were reading from Jonah’s PoV and then suddenly… we were inside Hanson’s head. The best chapters were Aurora’s since we were only hearing from Aurora’s PoV and no one else’s. It’d be such a shame if I’ve given up of this book in the beginning because of this (I was close to) because I’ve ended up enjoying it a lot. Apart from that, the idea of having two different timelines worked really well.
Final Rating
Overall, I felt ‘She Lies in Wait’ was an enjoyable read, with a great amount of suspense and the plot was good enough to make
