Adeline suffers from Anxiety and PTSD, yet is trying to find peace and be a good mother to her two daughters and a good wife while trying to not be affected by her traumatic past.
It’s all good and well, until her instincts tell her that she is in danger, and her eldest daughter confirms that with worries of them being watched by a strange man, having nightmares that keep her awake for nights, and it doesn’t take long before the book “starts” and the pent-up anxiety is released full-burst into chilling and weird scenes promised with the suspense filled narrative of Lauri Schoenfeld.
It’s something beautiful, the way the author tells us the little details about what the characters do, their thoughts, the way they pause and all the little motions that gives us time to envision what is actually happening and how each character is reacting to the world, allowing us to accept the invitations to pay more attention to the story and to be drawn to it from the beginning.
The author gives off statements that are familiar with a lot of people such as : “Adaline was so tired of being told by other people how to feel. That she somehow didn’t know her own body, heart, and mind”, allowing readers to connect with Adeline and the novel itself. Nice touch.
As characters are put into display such as the cute Eliza, increasing the grip of this book on the reader, we start to get enough information to start constructing the psych of the main character without effort as the info is given to us in small comments and reactions, showing the prowess of Lauri Schoenfeld in making things move seamlessly on the background.
One thing that is intriguing and makes readers pay attention is the way the writer “lets us know” how the mind of someone with severe anxiety works, specially when cause by a trauma and abuse, by showing all the lingering doubts and all the “holding back” in order not to cause conflict because they are seen by others as fragile and not “being able to distinguish their own reality”, no matter how right they can be, something that we need to read more of. This speaks even louder when that person turns out to be your life partner.
The tension between a couple that starts to fall of alignment due to stress, tragedy and selfishness is well put in words, feelings and acts, this, given that the trauma Adeline endured starts affecting her, escalating into what seems like a coping mechanism for her.
Mystery grows with the number of pages and the line between illusion, insanity caused by trauma and reality blur together and swirl with tension in a tango of suspense and possibilities. It’s something… new to read, as even us, the readers, although we are given more clues than each character, we cannot decide what to believe, or at least, not until we know more about the story that is being told, which is EXACTLY why we keep reading until we cannot dare to turn back, there are just too many loose ends, too much in stake in order not to know how this is going to end.
If Lauri Schoenfeld wanted us glued to our seats, then she achieved that with an A+.
As it seems, above all the tension between the characters that seem like to either hold an box of secrets or dark intentions, more than one part plays the role of victim of this ghostly, cunning attacker, extending the possibilities that all of them being related to him in some way, as he seems to be able to manipulated everyone in order to make Adeline look insane, adding her torment in this whole situation.
As a writer, I should congratulate Lauri Schoenfeld in the aspect of leaving many routes open, and leaving the reader wandering more and more as the story progresses without losing the hold and total control of the plot, which gave her the ability to wrap up a plot twist that will never be expected, no matter how the story turns out. Impressive indeed.
It’s nice how everything just starts coming together, with characters jumping in and having a part of the action, the mystery, raising more questions, opening side-stories while they start to interact with each other as they go, casually making the story more cohesive and joining some loose strands of the plot and striating possibilities as the story progresses.
Tension, emotional tension, is the trademark of this book because it seems like everybody is on the edge given that there are a lot of secrets, pent-up emotions, such as rage, grief, distress, confusion in many characters. It’s not a bad thing, but a necessary condition in order to keep the mood of the story, as everyone wants to find out what’s is going on and why so many other characters keep things hidden. It seems like everyone is suspect, and everyone is suspecting on others in this web of victims of the Owl Keeper that hides himself in plain sight, or so it seems.
With fragmented, randomly surfacing memories about her past, our main character holds the key to solve everything about this mystery, but she can’t remember much due to trauma, and as it seems, more than one character is highly interested in her, that, and the fact that the people around Adeline are involved in some type of conspiracy to hold her… captive of herself, some to protect her and some to kill her, but the question is WHY?
We don’t know at all what is at stake here. Things are just not revealed enough to us, not even a sneak peek of a dust speck that will shed some light in this, nothing. Questions are added one over the other and only minor progress is made by the characters that also don’t show themselves enough for we to take sure conclusions, or at least the right ones, as we think that everyone here might be compromised in a way or another.
The Owl Keeper, the villain, is a presented as a twisted, totally narcissistic, manipulative psycho. That’s the only way to describe him, he is just sick, or is he? Is he the real monster? Is the Owl Keeper the real villain of this story? Is the Owl Keeper the only villain in this tale?
Nothing is what it seems and everything keeps changing, until the end, making this an entertaining story that keeps us curious until the end, and end that promises another book, as this vicious cycle of killing promises to repeat itself.
VERY nicely done by Lauri Schoenfeld. If you love a shifting mystery, and to be held by the power of a puzzle, this book is the treat you should give to yourself.
Pros:
- Excellent portrait of anxiety and PTSD
- Excellent portrait of the workings of a victim of abuse, and how verbal abuse can affect someone
- The take of overcoming her condition by herself is very empowering to readers
- Great portrait of characters emotions, thoughts, expressions and doubts
- A powerful female main character that refuses to be taken as the damsel in distress
- Excellent tension in the narrative even without a fast-paced approach
- Nice mystery
- Unpredictable plot. TOTALLY unpredictable plot
- Unpredictable ending that promises a sequel!
Cons:
- I think that the identity of the Owl Keeper was little too obvious. I mean, if one thinks about it a little, it’s clear who he is WAY before he is revealed. That might have been the intention of the writers though.
- There was a slight exaggeration of the strength of the villain in the final scenes.
Scribble's Worth 