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Well looks like I’m the outlier on this book as I have been reading many glowing 5 star reviews. Maybe I’ve been reading too many thrillers lately. For me to love a thriller all of the characters have to be well developed and intricate to the story, the plot has to be a good one and have more to offer than just the “thrill��, or wow factor at the end of the book. I found the characters to be shallow and the plot seemed to run off in several directions throughout the course of the novel.

I should add that a 3* from me means that the book was just an o.k. read for me, not bad but not great enough that I will be thinking of it long after I’ve finished or be recommending it to my friends. Still worth a read :)

One thing proved true, this book did have me turning the pages quickly to find out what would happen at the end. However while I was turning these pages quickly, I wasn’t really getting very much out of the story. I felt as though the fact that she wouldn’t speak was the main focus of the book rather than looking into whether she was really guilty or not. I know that she had been tried and found guilty but I had hoped that perhaps the doctors would find other issues worth pursuing regarding her guilt or innocence.

There are multiple characters introduced but none of them are really very well described. Dr. Diomedes is the head of the facility and he appoints a new doctor, Theo Faber, who has recently joined the staff to oversee Alicia’s care. She had previously been under the care of another physician but he hadn’t made any progress with her and so it is hoped that this new doctor will help to make her finally speak.

The book is narrated by Theo and then later by Alicia as we begin to read her previously hidden diary.

The book takes place in “The Grove�� a private facility for psychiatric patients. Theo Faber transferred from another facility because he is obsessed with Alicia’s case. We do get to know him through his thoughts about his own marriage to Karen who seems increasingly “busy�� and coming home late from rehearsals, she is an actress. This is a storyline that is introduced and somewhat developed and then just left hanging. What really is going on with Theo’s marriage? He seems to be spending all of his time at the facility with Alicia.

SPOILER ALERT***

Alicia had been a successful artist and Gabriel a photographer of some repute. There really is never any answer to the question of “why��, why would Alicia kill Gabriel. There doesn’t seem to be any evidence that they were unhappy or that Gabriel was unfaithful, there doesn’t seem to have been much research as to why she would kill her husband. She was convicted because she was found at the scene with the gun in her hand, covered in blood because she had slit her wrists in an attempt to kill herself.

The twist is a good one but doesn’t come until the last 20 pages or so. I had pretty much figured it out by then but I’m sure it will come as a surprise to many.

I would say read it without reading lots of reviews, decide for yourself if it is indeed “the debut novel of the year for 2019�� as the publisher has written in the blurb for the book! After the last session that Theo had with Alicia he is writing everything down while it was still fresh in his mind and he states "As you will see, it's an incredible story--of that there is no doubt. Whether you believe it or not is up to you."

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.