Jo Baker | THE BODY LIES

Plot (via Goodreads):

When a young writer accepts a job at a university in the remote countryside, it’s meant to be a fresh start, away from the big city and the scene of a violent assault she’s desperate to forget. But despite the distractions of a new life and single motherhood, her nerves continue to jangle. To make matters worse, a vicious debate about violence against women inflames the tensions and mounting rivalries in her creative writing group.

When a troubled student starts sending in chapters from his novel that blur the lines between fiction and reality, the professor recognizes herself as the main character in his book - and he has written her a horrific fate.

Will she be able to stop life imitating art before it's too late?

Review:

When my amazing friend Abby (@crimebythebook) who works with Alfred Knopf reached out about this title, it was so inviting and seemed to be set apart from some of the other thrillers I've been investing my time in, so I thought I should take a chance and kind of branch out from my typical read. Am I ever glad I did! The Body Lies is part literary fiction, part character study, and part thriller all blended into one beautifully written novel with a plot that is compulsive and not easy to set aside. 

Baker's writing is sensationally beautiful. At times, the writing just completely came off lyrical and made me forget that I was reading a thriller. I knew there was much to uncover with this one, but I just completely lost myself in her writing and before I knew it, my desire to read the first 50 pages in one night turned into a complete addiction and I found myself at 200 pages with little to no concept of time. The way she writes is almost hypnotizing and her ability to go into detail with setting and actions made this one such a treat for my imagination. I'll be the first to admit - I think I would read something by her even if it wasn't a thriller. 

The character study of this one really complimented Baker's writing in how realistically and honestly she wrote a character who deals with assault and still kept it not too graphic or necessarily allowed her narrator to fall into any cliches. This woman endured something terrifying and violent, but still remained a fighter and her strength just completely shined through on the pages. I was taken aback and mesmerized reading this character and felt that Baker really did her justice with her actions and the way she carried herself. 

The plot to this one was structured phenomenally with the real mystery being sprinkled in throughout the novel but not really being addressed until about 1/3 of the way in. This kind of shocked my mind when reading it because I had to constantly remind myself there was a thriller aspect within this story. I found that Baker really used every aspect of this novel to her advantage and built great imagery, kept her writing consistent throughout the novel, and really kicked up the pacing as the novel progressed. The ending was terrifying and brutal, leaving me breathless and anxious. I definitely didn't see the ending coming and felt that it wrapped up this story and these characters flawlessly. So if you're a thriller fan looking for something different, but still addictive, this is definitely one you'll want to scoop up.

Special thanks to Alfred Knopf for this copy in exchange for my honest review.

Rating: 4/5