Review: Don't Believe Her by Nicola Sanders

    

Print Length: 302 pages

Publisher: Blackstone Publishing (September 3, 2024)

From Goodreads.com: My life has never been better. I have a beautiful little girl, and I am engaged to be married to the man I’ve had a crush on since I can remember.

So when Nick, my handsome fiancé, announces that his sister Carla is finally coming home, it’s truly the icing on the cake.

Carla was my best friend growing up until she ran away at sixteen. That was twelve years ago, and no one has seen her since.

Everyone is ecstatic about Carla’s return. But as I spend more time with her, I can't shake the feeling that something isn't right. Her behaviour is a little off, her childhood memories don't align with mine, and she's oddly evasive about her lost years.

But no one will listen to my concerns — not Nick, not Carla’s mother, Marjorie, not even our old friends. They all say I’m imagining things.

But I can tell something is wrong. And before long, I know without a shadow of a doubt…

It’s not her.

                                                         *******************

My Rating: 2.5 stars out of 5

Here is the thing, I liked this book enough to finish it, but man did it give me whiplash (and a bit of a headache). 

First off, if I read the words "presses her fingers against her eyelids" or "I click my tongue" any time within the next fifty years I just might scream. Seriously, those two phrases were overused to the point that I started rolling my eyes every time I saw them. Was there no other phrases the author could have used in place of those two? 

Then we have the characters, who try as I might, I just couldn't like. Maybe I'm just that cynical, but it seemed pretty obvious to me from the minute Carla came back that two characters should not be trusted. It wasn't the way they reacted to Carla, or the way they reacted to Ellie's accusations. It was the way they didn't question a single thing, and how all of the sudden they started to gaslight Ellie and her memories. For someone who is new the the genre, this would have worked (and did as the 4 and 5 star reviews prove), but for me? I was calling their bluffs from the start. I mean it was a textbook case. Alienate the subject. Make her doubt her own mind. Plant seeds of doubt within the community (especially anyone who might believer her or at the very least come to her aide). 

But then, I got to the ending. And at first I thought this book was about to redeem itself. Sure, I knew who the bad guys were, but this was a twist I hadn't anticipated. But then ..... it went off the rails completely. I mean who in their right mind would escape death, then sit there talking, joking, laughing etc for that long of a time? They didn't need to "stage" anything. They could have simply gone to the police with the truth. 

Although, to be fair, I guess I can see why a confession might have been needed considering how incompetent the police seemed to be, both in the past and now. For crying out loud, Ellie had been questioned about diary entries she had written back when she was a TEENAGER about having a crush on Nick. Like ALL TEENAGE GIRLS DON'T WRITE ABOUT THEIR CRUSHES. 

Overall, I can see where this book worked for some people, and why it didn't work for others. I liked the authors writing just enough that I will give them at least one more chance.