Review originally written for the Canadian literary magazine, Cloud Lake Literary.

Book Review: Where the Truth Lies by Anna Bailey
Written by: Rebekah Dolmat

Content warning: child abuse, child alcoholism, child drug use, child neglect, conversion therapy, domestic abuse, homophobia, murder, racism and racial violence, sexual abuse

Anna Bailey’s debut novel, Where the Truth Lies, is a slow-burning, atmospheric and chilling read that follows the disappearance of a seventeen-year-old girl from the small, insular town of Whistler Ridge, Colorado.

When Abigail goes missing in the woods one night following a party, her best friend Emma seems to be the only one who cares. Although Emma’s concern is largely rooted in her guilt of having left Abigail alone, she feels compelled to find out what really happened to her best friend. As Emma strives to uncover the truth behind Abigail’s disappearance, she also uncovers a plethora of deeply-rooted small-town dark secrets.

Where the Truth Lies starts off really, really strong. The writing is excellent and the insular small-town setting is atmospheric, eerie, and completely captivating. However, at some point in the novel, the focus of the story shifts, leaving the reader feeling perplexed—the book becomes less about uncovering the truth of what really happened to Abigail, and almost entirely about the dark secrets and small minds of the townspeople. To put it simply, I think that Bailey attempted to include too many big ideas, touchy subjects, and extremely large character arcs for secondary characters that, when all put together, confuses the main plot, which is supposed to be about a missing teenager.

However, instead of focusing on Abigail’s disappearance, the book hyper-focuses on:
• Child abuse and child neglect
• Child alcoholism and drug use
• Domestic violence and sexual abuse
• Homophobia and conversion therapy
• Racism and racial violence
• Violence in the name of Christianity

While there is nothing wrong with including any of these issues in a novel, Where the Truth Lies’ downfall is in its attempt to address too many issues—especially for a book under 300 pages. The added issues ultimately detract from the story, cause plot holes, and essentially defeat the purpose of including them in the story in the first place. Had this book not included so many issues, I think that I would have enjoyed it more. Nonetheless, I’ll be looking forward to seeing what Anna Bailey has in store for her readers, next!

This book has a couple of my major buzzwords at the center of the plot - missing person and small town. But it also has one of my anti-buzz words - slow burn - which is leaving me with mixed feelings. Overall - it was an enjoyable read for me.


Things I loved:
-small town drama
-complex family dynamics
-interesting characters
-discusses heavier topics - drugs, social commentary, religion
-dark, atmospheric writing

Things that weren’t my favourite:
-very slow burn
-not one that’s going to stick with me - read this a couple weeks ago and already can’t remember parts of the plot

This was just "alright" for me. Definitely had potential--an interesting mystery/thriller where we're following the aftermath of a teenage girl who has went missing. The frequent time jumps were confusing for me because the flashbacks were not chronological. It was tricky to pinpoint how everything connected. The ending seemed to tie everything up nicely, I just don't know how believable I find it...

Thank you to NetGalley, Anna Bailey and Penguin Random House Canada for the free e-book in exchange for an honest review.

Honestly, I found this one a bit trying. There is a lot of characters and it's hard to keep them all straight in the beginning. Then you just keep reading and reading to try to find out what's going on in this town. The back and forth between the past and present with each character got me confused and I just found that the confusion made me enjoy the book less. The writing is quite good and could be really compelling if I had have been more interested in the characters. If you enjoy novels heavy on the characters and not so much the plot, this is definitely for you.