I've tried to read this book at least 3 times before and each time I fell asleep less than 3 chapters in! I finally pushed through and marathoned it on audio this morning, and now I have closure and know for sure that this just didn't work for me.

I don't want to be too harsh given it's a debut, and it's a fairly decent thriller if you don't read a lot of them. I'd recommend it for people looking to get into mystery/thrillers who aren't sure of their tastes yet, or readers who want a mystery that's not overly gory or disturbing. It's not life changing but it'd be a decent plane/train/boat read (whenever travel is a thing again.....)

I typically love when thrillers tackle gaslighting and the manipulation of memory, so I'm bummed that the writing didn't work for me here. The writing is super dry and the audiobook only exacerbated this - though given I've tried to read it in ebook format twice before, I know it's not purely down to the audiobook narrators! I wanted more emotion and atmosphere from the writing - even if that "atmosphere" were a foggy amnesiac haze.

I thought the revenge porn, victim blaming, and friend's predator father were all strong elements of this story, and I wish we'd had more discourse about this. I wish we'd explored more of these elements and less of being stuck in the cabin in rural NZ! I was never entertained or invested in the mystery of what Kate did, who Jim was, and who was in on it. And tbh I think it would've been more entertaining had Jim actually been

Spoiler

Willow's dad

....

3 stars. A forgettable debut for someone who reads a lot of thrillers, but I've loved everything JP Pomare has written since this and I'm excited to see what else he writes in the future!