Lisa Unger | UNDER MY SKIN

Plot (via Goodreads):

It's been a year since Poppy's husband, Jack, was brutally murdered during his morning run through Manhattan's Riverside Park. In the immediate aftermath, Poppy spiraled into an oblivion of grief, disappearing for several days only to turn up ragged and confused wearing a tight red dress she didn't recognize. What happened to Poppy during those lost days? And more importantly, what happened to Jack?

The case was never solved, and Poppy has finally begun to move on. But those lost days have never stopped haunting her. Poppy starts having nightmares and blackouts--there are periods of time she can't remember, and she's unable to tell the difference between what is real and what she's imagining. When she begins to sense that someone is following her, Poppy is plunged into a game of cat and mouse, determined to unravel the mystery around her husband's death. But can she handle the truth about what really happened?

Review:

Reading UNDER MY SKIN by Lisa Unger was like being kidnapped and not wanting to be found. I immediately fell in love with Poppy from the first chapter and found myself chuckling at some of her thoughts. While the novel seemingly starts off innocent enough, I was really surprised with how much I just fell in love with Unger's writing. I mean, this is a psychological thriller and I'm addicted to a novel before anything happens - during a horrible first date, mind you. This may be my first Lisa Unger book, but talk about a statement about an authors storytelling capabilities.

Then the novel dives into murky water and I remembered why I was here. To be psychologically terrified and taken hostage. Right. Well, this isn't funny anymore. It's scary, confusing, and downright poignant at times. I'm going to preface the rest of this review with one thing and I want to make it very clear - I think some of the reasons I had read mixed reviews on this one is why I really enjoyed it as a psychological thriller and I'm going to tell you why. This novel kind of takes an alternate route that initially confused me and frustrated me almost as much as it did my precious Poppy. Unger's writing to me kind of envelopes the reader into a story that perfectly describes what the main character is going through. So, Poppy is dealing with flashbacks, blackouts, and then finds herself in a stage of hypnagogia which are basically hallucinations while being in an in-between state of awake and asleep. So, Poppy might be describing what she's seeing on the sidewalk and then having a flashback of a memory from a year ago and then finding herself dreaming and then waking up on that sidewalk. Yes, it's the kind of novel that you really have to pay attention to and yes, it's confusing at times, but it's what really lured me in as a fan of psychological thrillers. 

With that being said, you could say I kind of devoured this plot. Between the psychological tastiness of it all and the question looming over me of whether there was more to Poppy's husbands murder or if it was an isolated incident really sold me on this read. Mix in a possible stalker and a cat and mouse aspect and I was obsessed to put it mildly. I loved Poppy. While this is a psychological thriller and suspense novel, Unger did a brilliant job of making me love Poppy and at times it was really hard to read her deal with her husbands death and trying to get used to life as a single woman. I found her friendship with Layla comforting and let me tell you, that woman is a force to be reckoned with. Everyone has a friend like Layla, which made this character so easy to love. If you read this novel and think you're best friend isn't like Layla, it's because you are the Layla. She is protective, fierce, loyal, and brilliant. I especially loved reading about their friendship. 

This novel is not only well written, but cinematic and thrilling. I could almost feel my vision blur and the axis of my world tip as I found myself in Poppy's shoes enduring another blackout as the sidewalk began to raise. I could feel the sadness as she mourned her husband and began to dive deeper into what really happened that morning in the park. Not only was this one a great journey, but the ending was one I never saw coming and Unger did a stunning job of wrapping up all loose ends and giving me all of the answers to those questions that loomed over me as I let this novel take over my entire life for 24 hours. An exceptional psychological thriller by an author that I will let take the reigns again very soon - I could not get enough of this psychological puzzle that confused me, terrified me, and tugged at my heart a little.

Special thanks to Harlequin Books and Park Row Books for this copy in exchange for my honest review.

Rating: 4.5/5