Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen | YOU ARE NOT ALONE

Plot (via Goodreads):

You probably know someone like Shay Miller.
She wants to find love, but it eludes her.
She wants to be fulfilled, but her job is a dead end.
She wants to belong, but her life is so isolated.

You probably don’t know anyone like the Moore sisters.
They have an unbreakable circle of friends.
They live the most glamorous life.
They always get what they desire.

Shay thinks she wants their life.
But what they really want is hers.

Review:

When I first came across You Are Not Alone and saw the cover, I knew two things: 1) My favorite writing duo is back for another thriller. 2) I don't care what it's about; I need it. When I finally read the synopsis to this one, I was so intrigued and mystified; I really didn't know what it was about and I didn't care, I just knew that I wanted it in my hands and I wanted to go into it as blind as possible. I think with Hendricks and Pekkanen, that is the best way to go into a novel by them - blindly. I know that the novel will be full of twists and turns, feature some diabolically delicious characters to read about, and have a pacing that will make you force yourself to save it for the weekend so you can devour it uninterrupted. And that is exactly what I did. If you've been following me for a while, you now know that I meticulously plan my TBR (to-be-read) pile for each month based on weekly reads (the kind you can read a few pages here and there to finish throughout the week) and the weekend reads (the ones that you know you'll want to binge within one to two sittings. Never have I had a novel by this duo as a weekly read and never will I ever.

This thriller is developed masterfully and one that you know you're going to be captivated by within the first chapter. Now, I don't want to give too much away regarding the story because like I said, you should definitely go into this one blindly, but it had this combination of the 90s thriller movies that we've all grown up loving and this modernized Hitchcock feel that weaves together beautifully and is relentless in its grip. I actually turned my phone off when I was reading this one because I wanted to read it uninterrupted doing my favorite day of the week (Saturday), the day that I devout to 100% relaxing, reading, and resting. Well, I skipped my usual afternoon nap with this one and by the time I was soaking in a hot bubble bath, I found myself so lost in this story that before I knew it, I had read 150 pages in the bathtub and the water was cold. When I say this is the story that you get lost in, I almost am terrified of Hendricks and Pekkanen's ability to hold me hostage with their stories, and I think they get even better with each release.

Now, I loved the story to this one and originally my only drawback ended up being something that by the final chapter I learned to love and that was the characters. Yes, this story definitely holds true to the alternate perspectives that these two talented women are known for, but within those chapters were a ton of secondary characters. At first, I was a little overwhelmed with so many names thrown at me all at once, but as the story processes, you slowly but surely get to know each secondary character as well as the main characters and within time, they all started to register with me as to who's who. Now, originally I felt that there were one or two that were just there and I didn't see them bringing much to the table when it came to the story, but as the novel progressed and the twists and turns began to take me on a terrifying rollercoaster ride, I realized what each one brought to the table, and let me tell you - all of the seats were filled with secrets. So, by the end I really got it. I knew what each person meant to the story and knew why they were such an important part. This was easily one of my favorite thrillers within the past year and one that will stick with me until book number four...and I am always going to be looking forward to whatever these ladies craft up. Witches? Done. Aliens? Sign me up. Hell, they could write about a family of ants in the 1600s and I would devour it in one day.

Special thanks to St. Martins Press for this copy in exchange for my honest review.

Rating: 4.5/5