Darcey Bell | A SIMPLE FAVOR

Plot (via Goodreads):

She’s your best friend.
She knows all your secrets.
That’s why she’s so dangerous.
A single mother's life is turned upside down when her best friend vanishes in this chilling debut thriller in the vein of Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train. 

It starts with a simple favor—an ordinary kindness mothers do for one another. When her best friend, Emily, asks Stephanie to pick up her son Nicky after school, she happily says yes. Nicky and her son, Miles, are classmates and best friends, and the five-year-olds love being together—just like she and Emily. A widow and stay-at-home mommy blogger living in woodsy suburban Connecticut, Stephanie was lonely until she met Emily, a sophisticated PR executive whose job in Manhattan demands so much of her time. 

But Emily doesn’t come back. She doesn’t answer calls or return texts. Stephanie knows something is terribly wrong—Emily would never leave Nicky, no matter what the police say. Terrified, she reaches out to her blog readers for help. She also reaches out to Emily’s husband, the handsome, reticent Sean, offering emotional support. It’s the least she can do for her best friend. Then, she and Sean receive shocking news. Emily is dead. The nightmare of her disappearance is over.

Or is it? Because soon, Stephanie will begin to see that nothing—not friendship, love, or even an ordinary favor—is as simple as it seems. 

Review: 

I have had my eye on A Simple Favor by Darcey Bell for over a year now. Last summer, it was on my list of books I wanted to cover on my blog and I just couldn't find the time to fit it into my schedule as badly as I wanted to read it. Then that feeling intensified when I heard they were turning it into a movie. Naturally, as a fan of both novels and film, I have this obsession with needing to read the book before the movie comes out. The comparison is like a whole other experience for me and watching a movie and then reading the book after is just not the same. Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively signed on and I knew this was one that I had to keep my eye on and had to fit into my schedule regardless of what was going on. While I was planning my reading agenda, I figured I might as well read this one in September right before the movie comes out so it's still fresh in my mind. 

The plot to this one starts off really different. We get a sneak peek into Stephanie's life through real time and her reality and get to compare it to what she puts and what she leaves out in her blog. I found this to be really fun and entertaining all the while putting together that Stephanie is not at all a reliable narrator and someone you had to keep an eye on as this story progressed. And what a progression it is. This story just went in so many different directions that I was just captivated the entire time. Throughout the novel, I kept getting more excited to see this one on the big screen. Told in a few different parts, right when you think you know what is going on and the direction that Bell is headed, she takes such a wild turn that you're left shocked and suffering from whiplash. Each revelation created shock and really provided me with a story I have yet to experience all while keeping me right on the edge of my seat.

Now, while I loved this story and the characters and really got to enjoy reading a book where all of my guesses were completely wrong, there were just a couple of things I couldn't wrap my head around when I found out what really happened to Emily and got to the bottom of what was going on within this novel. This kind of hindered my reading experience and left me wondering if there was more to come or if these couple of items I found to be unbelievable were going to be explained but they just kind of disappeared in the background eventually. Nevertheless, Bell ended this novel with one final chapter that made me chuckle out loud and have a "YASSS!!!" moment. I definitely will check out more writing from Darcey Bell and if you couldn't tell, I'm also really excited to see the movie.

Rating: 3.5/5