M.T. Edvardsson | A NEARLY NORMAL FAMILY

Plot (via Goodreads):

Eighteen-year-old Stella Sandell stands accused of the brutal murder of a man almost fifteen years her senior. She is an ordinary teenager from an upstanding local family. What reason could she have to know a shady businessman, let alone to kill him?

Stella’s father, a pastor, and mother, a criminal defense attorney, find their moral compasses tested as they defend their daughter, while struggling to understand why she is a suspect. Told in an unusual three-part structure, A Nearly Normal Family asks the questions: How well do you know your own children? How far would you go to protect them?

Review:

After Celadon Books released The Silent Patient, I was eager to find out what next thriller they would  release as they clearly have an eye for novels that are complex and feature distinctive voices. When A Nearly Normal Family was delivered to me, I had no idea what I was in for and left myself blind to the plot and went in with little to no research. This is the kind of novel that you don't want to know a lot about ahead of time as it is even more delicious when you go in blind.

Told in three different parts, I loved how each part had a different feel, almost like each section of this novel was a different genre. I don't want to give too much away as I would hate to counteract my advice, but I'll give a little information on each section and how I thought it kept the novel flowing.

Part one is more of a mystery aspect and psychological thriller as we really get a good look into this family and their history told from the eyes of the father. We get some information that as a reader, you definitely want to keep in the back of your mind before enjoying more of this one, but I loved how Edvardsson weaved this story together featuring what was happening in the present time, but also giving the reader a backstory on this family and their past. It's really refreshing to see how each character views themselves as well as the others involved in the story, especially with a chilling domestic tale like this one.

Part two is definitely ramped up when it comes to the suspense and almost reads in a more panicked way as told from the perspective of the teenage daughter accused of murder. What I liked about this was that I felt that Edvardsson really captured the mind of a teenage girl really well and kind of ramped of the drama and the suspense with this one in a believable pace while also building the story in a masterful way. This part was definitely my favorite aspect of the story as I loved reading about the character who was killed and his relationship with the daughter and how things progressed. This was handled really well as the author built this character instead of just allowing him to be a victim with no voice. Right when things got to the meat of the story, we quickly transition into the final section of the novel and I was not ready for what was in store.

The concluding part of this novel is told from the mother's perspective and reads like a legal thriller, which was really enjoyable as well as she is an attorney. While it may be a minor detail, I thought this was a brilliant choice on the authors part as it made sense given her character, but also left her vulnerable as it's not just another case, this is a crime that hits really close to home. I loved being able to see the case in the courtroom through her eyes and the fine line she walks between her expertise in being an attorney as well as a mother. We definitely get more detail into what happened that night and it concluded in a wonderfully written way that still had the feel of the psychological thriller aspect as well as the suspense, but was woven together thunderously with the legal aspect.

The novel then has one minor and short chapter that explains what really happened that night and while the reader has the pieces to the puzzle and knows what happened, it was so fantastic to see it play out on the page and left me in shock and dumbfounded with the finale sentence. This is definitely the kind of novel that will give you a major book hangover and take you on one hell of a ride. Reader beware, this is not an easy read and it is not one you'll be able to put down once you dedicate so much as a few minutes of your time to it.

Special thanks to Celadon Books for this copy in exchange for my honest review.

Rating: 4/5