Lauren Doyle Owens | THE OTHER SIDE OF EVERYTHING

Plot (via Goodreads):

Laura Lippman meets Megan Abbott in this suspenseful literary debut about three generations of neighbors whose lives intersect in the aftermath of a crime.

Bernard White is a curmudgeonly widower who has lived in Seven Springs, Florida for decades and has kept to himself since his wife passed. When his neighbor is murdered, he emerges from his solitude to reconnect with his fellow octogenarians. These connections become a literal lifeline as a second, and then a third, elderly woman is murdered, and “the originals” as they call themselves, realize that they are being targeted.

Amy Unger is an artist and cancer survivor whose emotional recovery has not been as successful as her physical one. After the woman next door is murdered, she begins to paint imagined scenes from the murder in an effort to cope with her own loss. But when her paintings prove to be too realistic, her neighbors grow suspicious, and she soon finds herself in the crosshairs of the police.

And then there’s Maddie Lowe, a teenage waitress whose mother recently abandoned the family. As Maddie struggles to keep her family together and maintain the appearance of normal teenage life, she finds herself drawn to the man the police say is the killer.

As they navigate their increasingly dangerous and tumultuous worlds, Bernard, Amy, and Maddie begin to uncover the connections between them, and the past and present, in a novel that ultimately proves the power of tragedy to spark renewal.


Review:

The Other Side of Everything is a harrowing, sharp, and poignant debut novel centering around a serial killer in Florida. Told from the perspective of three very different characters, the reader gets a phenomenally deep look into how violence and fear can affect those of all different backgrounds and ages. 

I was absolutely astonished with how quickly I found myself immersed in this novel. Usually, going into a suspense or a thriller, I am immediately drawn to the red herrings and always trying to guess who it is and why. The thing I loved about this novel was that, although the novel does center around these murders, they are almost present in the background, but the main focus are our three main characters. I would consider this novel a tense and emotional character study on these three central characters and the changes their lives quickly take as a possible serial killer terrorizes their community.

I really enjoyed how different the perspectives were from one another, even down to the themes that ran through each page. One perspective is an emotional journey into love and loss, one is about finding yourself and recovery, while the other is a more adolescent view into fear and love. I couldn't get enough. With amazingly well written characters, a genius and unique plot, and an intense ending. this is one binge-worthy novel that is well crafted and addictive. 

*Special thanks to Touchstone Books for providing me with this copy in exchange for my honest review.

Rating: 4/5