🚀 The Book in 3 Sentences

A detective, who has a striking resemblance to a fresh murder victim, goes undercover as the murder victim, living with the victim’s roommates, who are told that their dear friend has miraculously recovered from the attack after a week in the hospital. The book is about the undercover detective’s relationships with the roommates – all of whom are suspects – as she gets to know them, as well as her “real life” relationships, which have been put on hold while she’s deep undercover. I found it to be an engaging, suspenseful, and emotionally relatable read with an unexpected ending.

🎨 Impressions

This book has many similarities to The Secret History by Donna Tartt. I always wish Tartt would write another novel, so it was fun to pick this one up and find it so dark & cozy in that familiar way.

I only come across a few books a year that are so good that I stay up way past bed time to keep reading them; and this book had a few moments like that. It’s a thick project of a book, and for that reason I probably won’t rush into binge-reading the rest of French’s work, although her other books are definitely going on my “beach read” list.

👀 How I Discovered It

My friend Drew recommended it to me!

🙋 Who Should Read It?

I think most people would enjoy this book! The themes that stuck out to me in this book were around the idea of community & belonging, chosen family, and personal identity. But I also learned a little bit (and reading the book spurred outside research) about 20th century Irish history & cultural inheritance, which was cool.