Published: August 17, 2021

Bookouture

I received a copy of this book for free and leave my review voluntarily.

Jill Childs has always loved writing – real and imaginary – and spent 30 years travelling the world as a journalist, living overseas and reporting wherever the news took her. She’s now made her home in London with her husband and twin girls who love stories as much as she does. Although she’s covered everything from earthquakes and floods, riots and wars, she’s found some of the most extraordinary stories right here at home – in the secrets and lies she imagines behind closed doors on ordinary streets, just like yours.

“I should never have let him in.”

After a hit and run leaves, Louise is laid up with a broken leg; her sister suggests taking the time to have someone paint her flat. Lou, struggling with the accident, her recent breakup, which is why she was on her bike that night, to begin with, and the disappointment in losing the chance to go to Chile for work, decides she will have her flat painted. Ed is methodical and mysterious. And together, they slowly start to reveal the skeletons in their closet. What would you give for a second chance?

I liked that the story starts immediately. There wasn’t any wasted time in the buildup. Immediately we are immersed in the accident and Lou’s internal struggles as she attempts to process that she may never know who hit her and left her on the side of the road.

The characters were all very well done. I enjoyed Lou and Jo and their relationship. The sisterhood bond was undeniable, as was a mutual love and desire to protect one another. My favorite character was Mia. She was beyond adorable and such a gem. Ed was a typical broody male character with an emotional twist.

I very much enjoyed how Louise’s flat was very much a character in the book. I thought that was clever, and Childs executed this perfectly. The transformation was vivid and innovative and reflected the situation well.

The plot was excellent, and the build-up was quite intense. The story took a completely different turn, however, in a direction I wasn’t expecting at all.

The twist in this novel is genuinely unexpected and somewhat shocking. I sat for several minutes after finishing the book, attempting to process what just happened. Overall, I don’t know how I feel regarding the twist leading up to the ending.

Part of me wants to romanticize what happened and allow the emotional power to take hold and cherish the way things happened. Another part wants to throw the book across the room and scream.

I was not expecting the ending at all. I am rarely able to sort any part of a twist out, but this one took me by complete surprise. Overall, it was a quick read, and I had a difficult time putting the book down.

I’m still unsure how to process the twist, but the plot was solid, and the overall concept was interesting.