Good for fans of:
Jennifer Hillier
Lisa Jewell
Gillian Flynn

This is excellent, especially for a debut. This book follows Annie, whose OCD re-emerges after the sudden death of her mother, a Vietnam War refugee with whom she had a tortured relationship. There were multiple threads in this story: in the present, we see how Annie’s delusions and rituals take over her life and make her doubt her reality; through flashbacks, we see Annie’s difficult and abusive childhood, as well as her mother’s heartbreaking experiences fleeing Vietnam; and then there is the mysterious hotel where Annie wakes up next to a body. 

In the hands of less skilled writer, this story would quickly get unwieldy and too difficult to follow. But Nguyen deftly weaves a tapestry from all of these threads and the result is a thriller that pulls you in and doesn’t let go until the final page. While reading, I felt Annie’s stress and discomfort viscerally. To me, that’s a hallmark of a great writer. I also enjoyed reading a story set in the northern Virginia suburbs of DC. That added a fun extra layer to my reading experience. 

There is dark subject matter here and I recommend looking up content warnings - especially if child death and/or animal death are your triggers.