BEHIND HER EYES
Sarah Pinborough
BLURB
Louise is a single mom, a secretary, stuck in a modern-day rut. On a rare night out, she meets a man in a bar and sparks fly. Though he leaves after they kiss, she’s thrilled she finally connected with someone.
When Louise arrives at work on Monday, she meets her new boss, David. The man from the bar. The very married man from the bar…who says the kiss was a terrible mistake, but who still can’t keep his eyes off Louise.
And then Louise bumps into Adele, who’s new to town and in need of a friend. But she also just happens to be married to David. And if you think you know where this story is going, think again, because Behind Her Eyes is like no other book you’ve read before.
David and Adele look like the picture-perfect husband and wife. But then why is David so controlling? And why is Adele so scared of him?
As Louise is drawn into David and Adele’s orbit, she uncovers more puzzling questions than answers. The only thing that is crystal clear is that something in this marriage is very, very wrong. But Louise can’t guess how wrong—and how far a person might go to protect their marriage’s secrets.
In Behind Her Eyes, Sarah Pinborough has written a novel that takes the modern day love triangle and not only turns it on its head, but completely reinvents it in a way that will leave readers reeling.
“Deserves its own warning label…Avoid any contact with the growing buzz concerning the novel’s ingenious, to-die-for twist.” —BookPage
*4.5 stars*…Sickeningly delicious storytelling!
Boom. That ending. That “WTF-That-Ending” heard ‘round the world, or at least, the social media book-reading community.
It feels like this author just said, “Know what? Screw this, I’m doin’ it”, and then went for it.
Seriously. She WENT for it.
It’s been a while since I’ve been legitimately shocked as a reader, and I don’t care how much this ending can be reduced down to utter nonsense, I’m embracing the hell out of it and you can’t stop me.
Because the fact is, when I swiped those last few virtual pages, my tired eyes narrowed, my offended guts twisted, my face took on a just-sucked-lemon contortion, and my lips curled into a tight little opening that spewed a whispered what the fuck? declaration. And there is was.
Sarah Pinborough’s writing is strong, and she paints a picture well without having to tell us the colors she’s using. There were no holes in this plot, no loose ends left untied. Everything made sense, even when it somehow didn’t. The perspectives shifted between characters, and the narratives sometimes switched from first and third person at random. It’s as though this story unveils itself from every angle possible, and yet still it goes and throws me off my feet.
I know some readers couldn’t get past some of the farfetched scenarios in this one, and I get it. I really do. I’m not one who readily ingests an over-the-top idea if there’s not enough conviction behind it. In fact, I typically hate when I’m forced to suspend too much belief for an idea to “work”. But this story was clever enough to become an exception.
I can’t tell you details of the plot because I am your friend and I won’t ruin it for you. But I can tell you this: Soften your critical eye (if possible) when going into this one, so you can just enjoy the journey. Because it really is one hell of a ride…
