I loved this book because of the riveting psychological suspense and the cat-and-mouse game between the two sisters, all the way up until the climax which seemed perfunctory to me. Aunt Charlotte, in particular, was an enigma and should have been explored in more depth. The bears and the ravens - not too believable. I think I'm going to lower my rating now that I'm reading my own review. Not as good as "The Marsh King's Daughter." ( )

I loved this book! I really enjoyed the author's previous novel, The Marsh King's Daughter, so I was really excited to get the chance to read this book. Unfortunately, when this book was released, I was in the process of moving so I couldn't get to it right away but I never forgot about it and made sure to work it in just as soon as I could. I was hooked by this story right away and had a very hard time putting it down. This book was just as good as I had hoped it would be.

Rachel has spent the past fifteen years in a mental institution. Nobody believes her but she knows that she killed her mother and deserves to live this limited existence. Then she gets some new information that leaves her doubting everything she thought she knew. She decides to check herself out of the institution and go back to her family home to see what she can remember from all those years ago.

This story is told from two different points of view. Rachel's point of view is set in the present day with some flashbacks to her memories from when she was growing up. We also get to see things from Jenny's point of view which is set in the past starting with Diana is very young. Jenny is the mother of both Rachel and Diana. We see how much of a challenge Diana is and how hard her parents work to keep her calm and under control. I really felt for Jenny and wasn't sure what decisions I would make if I were put in her situation. Eventually, these two timelines come together and things get really intense.

I was completely taken with this story. I wanted to see what Diana would do and how her parents would handle the situation. I couldn't imagine living with someone so unpredictable and dangerous at times. I was equally invested in Rachel's story. I felt just how desperate she was to figure out what really happened to her parents. This story was violent at times, including injuries to animals and children, so it may not be for everyone but I thought it was an excellent read.

I thought that the two narrators, Kristen Sieh and Andy Arndt, did a phenomenal job with this audiobook. I thought that the two voices worked very well together in this book and that each narrator did a great job in bringing the characters to life. I thought that they added a lot of excitement and emotion to the story and that their narration added to my overall enjoyment of the book.

I would recommend this book to others. I thought that this was a fantastic book that kept me guessing throughout the story and worrying about what would happen to the characters next. I kept my headphones glued to my ears with this book and look forward to reading more of Karen Dionne's work soon.

I received a digital review copy of this book from G.P. Putnam's Sons via Edelweiss and borrowed a copy of the audiobook from my local library. ( )

This was a quick read, although a bit uneven. The motivations of Aunt Charlotte are not explored, and Rachel's 15 years in an insane asylum seem like a stretch - especially as she is never told a very key piece of information, that is only revealed to her by a young journalist. ( )

Rachel believes that she remembers exactly what happened the day her parents were shot & justifies the last fifteen years.
Rachel’s mother, Jenny tells us what happened as it happened.
Is returning to the place that Rachel once ran from going to help her discover what really happened?

An absolutely absorbing, artfully-paced thriller that I couldn’t stop thinking about, couldn’t put down and held me on the edge from the beginning. ( )

Rachel believes that she remembers exactly what happened the day her parents were shot & justifies the last fifteen years.
Rachel’s mother, Jenny tells us what happened as it happened.
Is returning to the place that Rachel once ran from going to help her discover what really happened?

An absolutely absorbing, artfully-paced thriller that I couldn’t stop thinking about, couldn’t put down and held me on the edge from the beginning. ( )