Author: Liz Nugent
# of Pages: 320 (ebook)
Genre: Adult, Thriller, Mystery
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Synopsis: Sally Diamond cannot understand why what she did was so strange. She was only doing what her father told her to do, to put him out with the rubbish when he died. Now Sally is the centre of attention, not only from the hungry media and worried police, but also a sinister voice from a past she has no memory of. As she begins to discover the horrors of her childhood, recluse Sally steps into the world for the first time, making new friends, finding independence, and learning that people don't always mean what they say. But when messages start arriving from a stranger who knows far more about her past than she knows herself, Sally's life will be thrown into chaos once again . . .
Review: Is the thriller/mystery in the room with us?
This book aims to demonstrate how abuse can affect generations and trauma can be cyclical. It also gives the reader some insight on how dark minds justify their twisted agendas. But this book wasn't particular sinister; everything is recounted pretty clinically. It’s more of a crime book than a rollercoaster thriller/whodunnit page-turning mystery.
I kept waiting for something to hook me in or some big mystery, but everything was hinted at very obviously. I reached the end of the book and still couldn’t figure out if any of what I read was supposed to surprise me.
A comparison to a similar story: Although I haven’t read the books, the Netflix TV show You did a better job at showcasing the mental gymnastics a person goes through to justify actions that are otherwise blatantly messed up. People were even sympathizing with the main character, which made the horrors of what he was able to accomplish even freakier and more believable. Strange Sally Diamond tries to do something similar but less effectively and leaves the reader frustrated and disconnected from the characters.
This book only further affirms that I don’t like POV switching. The first person narrative switches between Sally and Peter, each starting in two different places on the timeline. I could respect Sally for her logical thinking and honesty but never felt truly invested in her character growth.
But is this book really about Sally (as the title suggests)? Peter’s story was actually more interesting; which made the POV switches back to Sally even more frustrating. Instead of switching throughout the story, there should have been a Sally prologue, and then the rest of the story could have been about Peter (might be a hot take, but it's my honest opinion).
Maybe I’m just jaded from reading similar content, it really felt like this story could have been told more effectively in general. I wasn’t a fan of the mixed use of media (first person narrative, letters, transcripts of recordings, etc); felt like an amateur way to get out details of the story.
The middle section of Peter’s narrative was almost a 4 star read for me; I really wanted to know what happened to this guy. But then everything fell into place rather quickly, and the conclusion of his story felt sloppy and rushed which would his overall narrative around a 3 star read.
I wouldn't recommend this book unless it already sounds interesting to you. Go into this book expecting to read about crime rather than thriller/mystery, and you might enjoy it more than I did.
