So this is what we know about the book at the beginning:
They say every house has secrets, and the house that Maggie and Nina have shared for so long is no different. Except that these secrets are not buried in the past.
Every other night, Maggie and Nina have dinner together. When they are finished, Nina helps Maggie back to her attic room and into the heavy chain that keeps her there. Because Maggie has done things to Nina that can’t ever be forgiven, and now she is paying the price.
But there are many things about the past that Nina doesn’t know, and Maggie is going to keep it that way—even if it kills her.
Because in this house, the truth is more dangerous than lies.
This sounds quite good, right? After reading these few lines, I immediately screamed, ‘Yes, please!’ I wanna know about all the skeletons in the wardrobe. Give me all the drama and dirty secrets, and I will sit with my cup of tea and enjoy it; the number of good reviews on Goodreads was terrific. More than 80% were 4/5 stars, so it has to be good!
Then, after a few chapters, I wondered if something was wrong with me. I did not feel all these emotions and excitement for the plot. I was sure I would be screaming ‘WHAAAAAAT?’ for the whole book, but mostly it was ‘meh’. Page after page, I waited for this shocking plot to throw me out of my slippers. None of this happens.
I didn’t find the story interesting. There were too many twists, and we have two really toxic characters that are hard to root for here. Do you know what happens when you can’t root for the character? You don’t care anymore. That was my case. In every corner, you have another super twist that is more shocking than another. Still, at the same time, this book was so predictable. The characters’ choices did not make much sense to me. It looked like Maggie was trying to protect her daughter, Nina, but why? Nina is mentally unstable and she does some crazy things and then POOF she does not remember. Let’s blame all on amnesia. Maggie takes the blame, and Nina abuses her to punish her. This is to show her that this is the price for her mistakes, but mostly, there are things that Nina did. Over and over and over the same thing.
For me, this plot has a lot of holes.
First of all, Nina told Maggie’s sister that she was in a nursing house. The sister never really tried to contact. No visits, okay. I understand she may be sick and can’t travel, but she never asks for a phone number.
Second: The neighbour was Maggie’s friend, and she knew about some secrets that had happened, but she had never really tried to find her friend.
There were no redeeming characters in this book. By the end, it looked like everybody was a victim.
As I saw one of the opinions, it said, ‘Relentless misery from beginning to end.’
Definitely agree with that.
It is not a book for me, but the writing by John Marrs is great. You may like it more than me.
For me, it is 2/5. Sorry, not sorry.