I loved this book! Sad, twisty, suspenseful. It would make an excellent movie. I truly was shocked by each twist.

It did a great job of capturing human struggles. One of my favorite quotes came at the end: “… we all have a little monster in us. Some people are just better at hiding it than others..”

𝑰'𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘. 𝑨 𝒇𝒖𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝑰'𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆. 𝑱𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝑩𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒎𝒖𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒘𝒔. 𝑨𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒏.

This book has a lot of promise. I was intrigued by this premise from the blurb: Natalie has only ever wanted to find “the one.” The perfect man, the happy family she never had. But each time she thinks she is finally getting somewhere, she’s bitterly disappointed. Another red line through a list of exes. And that was before the night of the Big Fallout that left her even more alone.

When Natalie meets James, she feels like her luck has turned around. Maybe he won't end up dead, and she can have the happily ever after she's always wanted. But things got really convoluted. Usually the more twists in a thriller the better, but many of the twists in this book came across as formulaic, as if the author was doing what was expected instead of being truly shocking.

However, I did like the author's voice, and I think once she finds her footing, her books will be in the five star territory. Natalie was a complex, morally grey character that I really liked, and I am eager to see what this author comes up with next.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dutton Books for the early copy. This title is expected to publish February 3, 2026.