Week 41 Review: A Familiar Stranger

From Goodreads:

Such a quiet and ordinary wife and mother. Who will even notice what she's done?

Lillian Smith leads an unexceptional life, writing obituaries and killing time with her inattentive husband and disconnected son. Then she meets David, a handsome stranger, in a coffee shop. Lured into an affair, she invents a new persona, one without strings, deadlines, or brooding husbands.

Lillian has never felt so reckless, unpredictable, or wanted. But as her affair with David intensifies, she withdraws from everything that's real, even her closest friend. When evidence of her life as a secret lover finds its way onto her son's social media, she risks ruining much more than her marriage or reputation.

As lies beget lies, Lillian's two worlds spiral dangerously out of control. And betrayals run deeper than she imagines. Because Lillian isn't the only one leading a double life. 

My Review:
I had such a great time reading this book! We knew there were secrets, but both Lillian and I the reader made assumptions, and boy, did it not go in that direction. Or at least, it was not just that. And I loved it, and it was a twisty read! 

We were mainly in Lillian's head, as her marriage spiralled, as her husband cheated, and she in turn cheated. Of a video of her cheating went up on the internet. Just over half of this book was setting things up before they snowballed out of control, and that was great!

We knew that there was going to be a death, there was a running countdown. But who it was? Yeah, I wasn't expecting them to die. And the rest of the book was the fall out of that, and of the secrets that were being revealed. And oh, what they were hiding! Almost all of our viewpoint characters held something close to the chest! 

I felt badly for Lillian, almost all of the people who surround her, either don't like her, or don't support her. She's dealt with a lot, from miscarriages, mental health issues, and alcoholism. Just because it's harder, doesn't mean she should've been treated like that, so I really enjoyed how things play out. Though I do have a random theory, that she wasn't the one to key her boss's car. It's head canon that she's not the one who did it, that the murderer did, to cause chaos in her life.

Loved reading this book, and I can't wait to read more by A.R. Torre! 

Author: A.R. Torre  
Read: October 10th, 2022
Source: NetGalley 
Reason Why: Sounded really good, and it's a RR Book, SAC 2022 Book and a WoW Book!
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Published: September 27th 2022

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars