Not my favorite writing style, and the story just dragged for about 75% of the book and then there was a big burst of action near the end. I found the characters to be rather one dimensional and the read to be a bit too wordy to the point that it felt like nothing but filler. On the plus side, while the story was admittedly underwhelming and predictable, it was entertaining. Sorry to say this was just an ok read for me.

This book had an excellent premise, but the writing style really ruined the book for me. The writing is boring and the unrelenting focus on the mundane is excessive and does nothing to move the novel along. I skipped across parts of the novel, hoping it would get better, but ultimately, I was deeply disappointed.

Don't You Cry is a deliciously creepy, mysterious tale, where the plot only fully unfolds at the very end of the story.

Thank you Harlequin/Mira for providing an eARC for review.

Late quick unedited notes

Book was completely underwhelming and disappointing. I'm so glad to be done with it. Quinn was written in an annoying weird teen voice and Alex was just blah. The story meandered and nothing stuck. I didn't care from the beginning to the end about these characters. I figured out the plot half way towards the end. This wasn't a pleasant read at all.

Wow! This book was boring to me. Didn’t feel like it was going anywhere until the end of the book and even then it wasn’t much.
The writing is terrible and wording is odd.
Not my favorite at all.

Esther Vaughan is missing and her roommate, Quinn Collins, knows something is amiss even if the cops aren't prepared to investigate it. Quinn has never quite had it all together, but the discovery of a letter addressed to My Dearest puts her in detective mode. She'll uncover the truth, even if it reveals she's been the worst roommate ever. In another city, Alex falls for the mysterious girl he's nicknamed Pearl. Nothing in Alex's life has been bright, not until her, but unfortunately beneath her shiny surface something sinister lies.

I needed this to be as good as Mary Kubica's other work and it just wasn't. I loved the premise, but I spent the first half of the novel entirely bored, especially of Alex's chapters. Sure, the backstory is interesting, but it made the thriller portion of the novel predictable. I knew too early on what might have occurred and it wasn't written with enough oomph to make it that twisty or surprising. Drawn out for the first half, too fast in the second half.

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book. Unfortunately, the writing style was not for me and I was not able to finish this book.

I know I am several years late in reading and reviewing Don't You Cry, by Mary Kubica, but sometimes life gets in the way and as they say "better late than never"!

Of course I was overjoyed to score an ARC of this book as Mary Kubica is a brilliant author and this book again proves that point. I enjoyed how the story was told by 2 alternating voices who were experiencing totally different associations with the characters in totally different locales. This way of telling the story heightened the surprise for me because it continually kept you guessing as to what was actually happening & how the two stories were related. The conclusion of the story was unique to Mary's writing style.

If you have ever read any of Mary Kubuca's books, you know that reading them is always a treat. If you have not previously experienced this aithor, Don't You Cry would be a great place to begin!

Mary Kubica's writing is pretty "standard". One knows what to expect out of her books and they are pretty formulaic. I have read several of her books always hoping for more, but more never comes. Don't You Cry was no exception. I figured the ending of the book immediately and the rest was figuring out how the storyline would get me there. While the writing is not horrible, there are hundreds of other writers who write similar to this author. I haven't figured out why yet, but there is something about this that really bothers me about this as it pertains to this author. I keep reaching out to her books hoping for more, but so long...it hasn't been delivered.

Reviewed for publisher via Netgalley.

Fantastic book, loved the ending - a mysterious novel with plenty of intrigue. Mary creates characters who are multi faceted and delves deeper into the psyche of anti heroes.

I have to say i was very surprised by the ending. I think even if I had figured out what was happening I would still have enjoyed this book. But the fact that I wasn't even close with any of my guesses made it even better.

Mary Kubica knows how to write an engrossing and suspenseful novel that kept me in its grips right up until the dramatic conclusion.

This is moving way too slowly for me. I ended up putting it down and have no desire to get back to it.

I must admit that it took me a few pages to really get into this read. The narration between different characters was at first confusing. However, I stuck with it and was rewarded with an action packed ending. Truly an "edge of your seat" read, and I was completely surprised as it unfolded. The characters were well-developed and once the story hooked me it flowed well. Would recommend to anyone who likes suspense.

Was totally and immediately engrossed in this story. I really loved the characters and the crazy twist ending. I spent the whole book trying to figure out what was going to happen and I wasn't even close. There were a few characters I wished weren't so heavily involved in the story because they turned out to be complete dead-ends. I thought it was kind of unnecessary "fluff" to add in so many characters that added nothing special to the story. Overall though, I really enjoyed this read and would recommend it to anyone entering the mystery/thriller genre.

Mary Kubica was a new to me author in 2017. I have now read all except her latest novel. If you are looking for a good suspense/thriller then you should give her books a try.


Quinn, a mainly self-absored young adult, realizes that her roommate, Esther, is missing. She doesn't even realize it right off the hop, when things in Esther's room don't add up. Slowly, she realizes that something had must have happened to Esther, but it takes her some time to really start trying to figure out why she would leave. And while she's waiting the basic 48-72 hours before being able to report her as a missing person, she starts digging into Esther's life and belongings trying to make sense of it all. Not only does she come up with more questions than answers, but she starts to freak out thinking that Esther really wasn't who she thought she was.


Over the course of the story we flip back and forth between Quinn's POV and Alex's POV. Quinn being the roommate and Alex being a restaurant worker who sees Esther and kind of falls in love with her at first sight. Between the alternating POV's we begin to unravel a completely creepy and suspenseful story of a girl who everyone thinks they know, but do they really? Is Esther really the good girl that Quinn has come to know and love? Is she the out of place new girl that Alex has come to secretly crush on? Or is she someone else that no one even has had the chance to get to know yet?


I did not see the twist coming. I had so many ideas of what happened to Esther, but not one of them even came close to the truth. I love Ms. Kubica's novels for this reason. She always keeps me guessing.


If you're looking for a good thriller, give this or any of her other novels a try. I'm looking forward to getting my hands on Every Last Lie.

I'm late reading this one but it was enjoyable and a fast read.
The novel tells parallel stories of Quinn and Alex. Quinn's normally reliable roommate has disappeared. She discovers that Esther has changed her name and finds a series of creepy letters that appear to be written by Esther and addressed to "My Dearest". Are the letters meant for Quinn? Is Esther secretly stalking her?

Alex works in a diner and notices a beautiful new customer who sits for hours staring out the window at ...something or someone. Who is she watching? What is her story? He decides to find out...

When Quinn Collins set out to live on her own, she answered an ad for a roommate and moved in with Esther Vaughan never dreaming that Esther would turn out to become her best friend. Then one morning she awakes to the sound of Esther’s alarm going off but Esther’s not in her room and her bedroom window is wide open to the freezing cold Chicago air. Surely she didn’t climb down the fire escape in the middle of the night! Quinn waits in vain for Esther to return but it doesn’t happen. It seems that Esther has disappeared! Was she kidnapped? Did she run away from something? Quinn idolizes Esther and she can’t imagine what has happened to her. She enlists the help of her friend Ben from work and tries to figure out where Esther is. But the more Quinn tries to puzzle through what happened to Esther, the more she realizes how little she really knows about her friend. She’s beginning to think that Esther is not the saint that she always imagined.

Meanwhile, in a small town near Lake Michigan, a young man named Alex Gallo has given up his dream of college to take care of his father who became a good-for-nothing drunkard when his mother left. He spends his hopeless days working as a dishwasher in the Priddy’s café. One day a new customer comes in and she’s a young woman he has never seen around town before. Alex gives the woman the name “Pearl” and he finds her to be quite an intriguing mystery. He sets his sights on finding out more about her. But Alex’s boredom and loneliness may be leading him down a dangerous road.

Don’t You Cry is full of suspense and the details of each storyline will keep the reader guessing right up until the end. Piece by piece the puzzle falls into place until the big reveal. This is one of those where you think you have it all figured out but you never quite get there. A fast-paced and compelling read!

I want to thank the publisher (Harlequin- US & Canada) for providing me with the ARC through NetGalley for an honest review.

Don’t You Cry started off a little slow for me but if you don’t mind a buildup when you read then this will be worth it. The author’s writing will keep you engage however I had a little trouble connecting to the characters (reason why this wasn’t a higher rating for me) – the characters kind of fell flat for me. However, the story line does make it up for that. I enjoyed this one more than I did with the author’s debut novel of The Good Girl. Looking forward to reading her other work.

Mary Kubica is a masterful psychological suspense author! Don't You Cry is another story!

Terrific page-turner. I have enjoyed all the books written by this author.