Elizabeth Heathcote | Undertow
This week really took a toll on me! By Friday night, I was fighting to stay awake as I left my friends birthday dinner and took a nap at 9PM just so I could stay up until midnight to finish "Undertow" by Elizabeth Heathcote.
Plot:
Carmen is happily married to Tom, although she knows she'll always live in the shadow of another woman - the mistress who ended his first marriage: Zena. Mercurial, mesmerizing, manipulative Zena - a woman who, Carmen begins to discover, had the potential to incite the darkest of emotions. Zena, who drowned in the sea late one night.
Zena seems ever-more present, even in death, and when Carmen unknowingly stumbles on evidence that her husband has not been telling her the whole truth, she can't shake her unease. As she uncovers documents and photographs, a very different tale than the one Tom has led her to believe begins to unfold, and she finds herself increasingly isolated and paranoid. As the twisted events of that night begin to come to light, Carmen must ask herself if it's really a truth worth knowing... even if it destroys her and the lives of the people she loves most.
Review:
I would consider this one more of a fun, beach read. With the cover and the plot, I was expecting something darker and more similar to a "Girl on the Train" kind of vibe.
I loved how this began. A woman and her daughter walking their dog on the beach and they stumble across a body. Unfortunately, within 100 pages I had the ending guessed and really continued to work out a few of the details I was questioning. I did have a hard time pushing through this one.
While it was a genuinely good book, I was expecting something darker with more suspense. This was more of a psychological thriller than I had expected with the story being more about Carmen's journey for a year in her life and the death of Zena was just something that was kind of...there.
A lot of characters were introduced in this with no purpose other than to add to the red herrings and a lot of things happened that made me question where this was going. I believe we could've shaved about 50 pages off from this one.
I will say, while I struggled with this one and wasn't really into it, that doesn't mean it's not good. This was well-written and there were a couple of shocking things that were revealed in the ending. I did find the last 50-70 pages very enjoyable.
So when this is released, I wouldn't not recommend it, but if you want an easy and light thriller for the beach or a quick flight, this is the one for you!
Rating: 3/5
Plot:
Carmen is happily married to Tom, although she knows she'll always live in the shadow of another woman - the mistress who ended his first marriage: Zena. Mercurial, mesmerizing, manipulative Zena - a woman who, Carmen begins to discover, had the potential to incite the darkest of emotions. Zena, who drowned in the sea late one night.
Zena seems ever-more present, even in death, and when Carmen unknowingly stumbles on evidence that her husband has not been telling her the whole truth, she can't shake her unease. As she uncovers documents and photographs, a very different tale than the one Tom has led her to believe begins to unfold, and she finds herself increasingly isolated and paranoid. As the twisted events of that night begin to come to light, Carmen must ask herself if it's really a truth worth knowing... even if it destroys her and the lives of the people she loves most.
Review:
I would consider this one more of a fun, beach read. With the cover and the plot, I was expecting something darker and more similar to a "Girl on the Train" kind of vibe.
I loved how this began. A woman and her daughter walking their dog on the beach and they stumble across a body. Unfortunately, within 100 pages I had the ending guessed and really continued to work out a few of the details I was questioning. I did have a hard time pushing through this one.
While it was a genuinely good book, I was expecting something darker with more suspense. This was more of a psychological thriller than I had expected with the story being more about Carmen's journey for a year in her life and the death of Zena was just something that was kind of...there.
A lot of characters were introduced in this with no purpose other than to add to the red herrings and a lot of things happened that made me question where this was going. I believe we could've shaved about 50 pages off from this one.
I will say, while I struggled with this one and wasn't really into it, that doesn't mean it's not good. This was well-written and there were a couple of shocking things that were revealed in the ending. I did find the last 50-70 pages very enjoyable.
So when this is released, I wouldn't not recommend it, but if you want an easy and light thriller for the beach or a quick flight, this is the one for you!
Rating: 3/5
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