Book Review: The Girl Across The Street by Vikki Patis

Description:

You’re hiding a secret that only she can see.

Her name is Beth. She came into my life when I needed her the most. We lead very different lives, but she’s the only person who understands me. She was the only other witness to the terrible accident on the street between our homes. The only person who saw the cracks in my perfect life before I had the chance to cover them up. It’s been so long since I’ve had a friend. Someone to talk to, to listen to, to laugh and dream with.

Beth would never do anything to hurt me.

She only wants what’s best for me, for my marriage. Doesn’t she?

Review: 2.5 Stars

This one is a hell of slow burn, yet a quick read. The plot keeps getting thicker but nothing is happening! There is a lot of suspense and drama, and the plot seems like a domestic noir. It’s interesting and you want to find out more but even by 50% you have no idea what is going on or where this is headed. You can certainly make some guesses but there’s hardly any basis to what you are guessing.  Beth alludes to ‘knowing’ Jake in her narrations but we don’t know how. Why Isla is married to Jake is beyond me. Her narration portrays him as a controlling, judgmental and maybe even slightly abusive husband. There are enough red flags there to make you wonder what is making her stay married to Jake. Same is the case with Beth and Kyle. No apparent reason for them to be together except habit. 

The thing with a slow burn is that once it’s all heated up it starts to boil over pretty quickly and a lot of things happen rapidly. Yet the mystery remains and the pieces don’t fall in to place very quickly. Hiren how little movement there is in the plot the reader can easily guess what’s going on, there is enough confusion there to not be 100% certain right till the end but most readers of this genre will have figured it out. The last 15% of the book is where everything comes to head and you know what’s going on and how accurate your guess was. 

Overall this isn’t a book I highly recommend. It’s pretty boiler plate and there is nothing that particularly stands out. It’s an average read. 

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

#NetGalley, #TheGirlAcrossTheStreet