He loves you. He’d do anything for you. But you don’t even know him.
Jenny hasn’t had an easy life – no job and no money, with a sick mother and an abusive ex-stepfather. Not that anybody cares, she’s from the wrong side of town.
David has taken care of Jenny ever since they were at school together. He knows how special she is, how much she needs his support. David has a lot of love to give.
Jenny and David aren’t in a relationship. They aren’t even friends.
Jenny thinks she’s free to do what she wants, see who she likes. What does David think? Well, you’ll have to find out.
Review
There’s something wrong with David. That much is clear from the minute he comes into the scene. Before then, readers are introduced to Jenny and her best friend, Freddie. The two are close with Freddie helping Jenny deal with some difficulties in her life. Through the opening chapters, we also find out that Jenny is a blogger. She uses her personal blog to share her challenges with the online community.
The tension in the story escalated the minute David entered into their lives. I knew there was something dark about him. However, I couldn’t have predicted just how dark and twisted. As far as the characters go, I really like Freddie. He is the kind of friend that everyone should have. I enjoyed his narrations and he made me smile a couple of times especially with his irritating ringtone.
At first, the story is narrated through alternating POVs mainly between Jenny and Freddie and we get to know David through the two. I enjoyed these narrations. However, I found myself struggling a little bit when the entire timeline and narrators shifted to the past. I know this was important in order for the character’s background stories to be provided. However, it almost felt like the beginning of an entirely new story. This threw me off a bit and I struggled to remember where we had left off in the previous narrative set in the present. I usually don’t mind alternating timelines but I guess I prefer when the two run concurrently(alternating chapters) so that it doesn’t feel like two different stories.
I wouldn’t describe the reveals/twists in the book as shocking because I was able to predict the twist just from title and the blurb. Vick’s previous title, Bad Little Girl shocked me but in this case, I was expecting the twist. Nonetheless, I like how the author built the tension heading into the twist. He crafted unlikable, twisted characters and with the escalating tension, the train wreck was inevitable. I knew what was coming but I still couldn’t stop turning the pages.
Despite the few issues that I had especially with the shifting timelines, I liked this book and will definitely look out for Vick’s next title.
A Haven for Book Lovers 
It sucks that the the past thing presented a different story. Aw, I hope you enjoy your next read more.
Thanks Nikola. The change didn’t work for me. The story was interesting but I wish the timelines were presented in a different manner.
I get what you mean, I think I’d like it to alternate too instead of only starting in the present and looping back to the present at the end. Nice review.. let’s hope she changes the technique in her third book!
Exactly, I felt like the change interrupted the flow. Tension had really escalated in the present and then suddenly, we were back to the past. I struggled with her. She had used a different narrative style in her first book so hopefully, she will change back with the next one. However, I think I am in the minority here. I have read a couple of reviews and none seemed to have an issue with the style 🙂
I’m glad you enjoyed it despite the few niggles. I like surprises, so I’d keep this one for a day I need a read my brain can take without thinking much!
Thanks Meggy. I did enjoy it in the end and I think I would have liked it even more if the narrative style was different. I hope that you will like the book if you get a chance to read it 🙂
Timeline shifting like that can be confusing. It takes a skilled writer to handle that well. But it sounds like this was entertaining anyway.
It really was. I like Vick’s writing but in this case, the shifting didn’t work for me because it made the story feel a bit disjointed.