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A review by remilauren
The Vow by Debbie Howells
4.0
Amy and Matt are to be married in two weeks. Days before their wedding, he goes missing. Amy is up for a shock when she discovers that another woman (Matt's partner) has reported him missing. Betrayal and revenge form the theme of this book.
One detail I loved about this book is how it beautifully swings between the present and the past (1996) and that being recognized in those gorgeous one-page writeups. Another thing is how you could see the different aspects of the story through the POVs. The three people are Amy, her daughter Jess and Fiona (Matt's partner). You can see the progression in the narrative with Amy's POV, see the little things that others have missed about the case in hand through Jess's and realize how much one can be consumed by hate through Fiona's.
Coming to the story, the first part basically had us discovering how blindly Amy trusted Matt, without really knowing anything about him. This was proven through the testaments of multiple women and is even confirmed by the police. Even then poor Amy seems to believe that Matt and she were in love and finally ends up paying for it. To be honest, this part seemed like a bit of a drag.
It's the second half of the story that got me hooked. We learn about Fiona, with whom Matt was cheating on Amy. The women are connected by their past and the title borrows itself from it. While both of them repeat their version of the events, you can clearly guess the personalities through the tone of it. My gut sense was actually right in this one!
So far different types of evidence are stacking up against the two women and we still don't know what really happened in the past or to Matt. It is all fun and exciting until we find out where Matt fits in this puzzle. It's our little genius Jess that figures it out and not the police, who were very easily led on. Everything is done and dusted, the people who should be behind the bars are taken care of. Justice has been done.
I've come to realize that, if someone wants you punished and they want it badly, they'll go to extreme means to ensure that but in the end, truth does come out. That's the way of nature, I also learned some symbolisms reflected through flowers. Also, I never knew what gaslighting was, didn't know it was a thing, glad that I got educated and can now detect it.
I really enjoyed this book, especially the second part of it. Just didn't like how the last 60 pages were rushed to tie all loose ends but the first 100 pages were wasted on Amy lamenting. But overall, it was fun to read. Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with this gorgeous read!
One detail I loved about this book is how it beautifully swings between the present and the past (1996) and that being recognized in those gorgeous one-page writeups. Another thing is how you could see the different aspects of the story through the POVs. The three people are Amy, her daughter Jess and Fiona (Matt's partner). You can see the progression in the narrative with Amy's POV, see the little things that others have missed about the case in hand through Jess's and realize how much one can be consumed by hate through Fiona's.
Coming to the story, the first part basically had us discovering how blindly Amy trusted Matt, without really knowing anything about him. This was proven through the testaments of multiple women and is even confirmed by the police. Even then poor Amy seems to believe that Matt and she were in love and finally ends up paying for it. To be honest, this part seemed like a bit of a drag.
It's the second half of the story that got me hooked. We learn about Fiona, with whom Matt was cheating on Amy. The women are connected by their past and the title borrows itself from it. While both of them repeat their version of the events, you can clearly guess the personalities through the tone of it. My gut sense was actually right in this one!
So far different types of evidence are stacking up against the two women and we still don't know what really happened in the past or to Matt. It is all fun and exciting until we find out where Matt fits in this puzzle. It's our little genius Jess that figures it out and not the police, who were very easily led on. Everything is done and dusted, the people who should be behind the bars are taken care of. Justice has been done.
I've come to realize that, if someone wants you punished and they want it badly, they'll go to extreme means to ensure that but in the end, truth does come out. That's the way of nature, I also learned some symbolisms reflected through flowers. Also, I never knew what gaslighting was, didn't know it was a thing, glad that I got educated and can now detect it.
I really enjoyed this book, especially the second part of it. Just didn't like how the last 60 pages were rushed to tie all loose ends but the first 100 pages were wasted on Amy lamenting. But overall, it was fun to read. Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with this gorgeous read!