Her by Harriet Lane
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
Summary: On the face of it, Emma and Nina have very little in common. Isolated and exhausted by early motherhood, Emma finds her confidence is fading fast. Nina—sophisticated, generous, effortlessly in control—seems to have all the answers.
It’s easy to see why Emma is drawn to Nina. But what does Nina see in her?
A seemingly innocent friendship slowly develops into a dangerous game of cat and mouse as Nina eases her way into Emma’s life. Soon, it becomes clear that Nina wants something from the unwitting Emma—something that might just destroy her.
This is the second book I've read by Harriet Lane and I'm finding that the summaries give me high anticipation that isn't much realized when I read the books. I finished this one and had to give it a couple days before writing a review because I was too aggravated. I'm giving the book 3 stars because of the tension that is built and for the most part maintained, making this a definite page turner. I didn't much love the retread of scenes between Emma & Nina after a bit but mostly because Nina remains something of an enigma. I was sure that the reveal of all would be so amazing that all the pieces would fall into place in a big "A-ha!" moment. I was mistaken. I'm not going to spoil the reveal but I will say that I was actually annoyed and found it completely disproportionate to the lengths she went to. It actually turned me off because it opened the door to many things being up for question about both women. That Emma remains clueless through the final scene was almost beyond infuriating. I admit to tossing the book aside completely peeved. Based on my emotional reaction, I gave it another star because I really did like what I'd read and was invested up to the reveal when I feel it all fell apart.
I'll likely give one more book by Harriet Lane a try in the future but I'll make sure I manage my expectations no matter how tantalizing a summary I read.
I won a copy of this from a giveaway (not on Goodreads) in exchange for my honest review.
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