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Only Child by Anna
Snoekstra
Publisher: Mira Books
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Publication Date: September 20th, 2016
Rating: 4.5/5
This is one of those books that the less
you know before reading, the better it is! So I’ll try to review it without
giving much away…
In 2003, Rebecca Winters, a
sixteen-year-old went missing. Eleven years later, in 2014, a girl dodging a
shoplifting arrest decides to take her place. The “new” Rebecca does her best
to assume Rebecca’s old life. She learns to fit in with the family and Bec’s
old best friend, Lizzie. The plot is told from the viewpoints of Rebecca in
2003 and fake Rebecca in 2014.
This book sucked me in from the first
chapter and kept me guessing until the end. Although some parts were a bit
predictable/unbelievable, this is an incredibly solid debut novel. I’ll
definitely be checking out the author’s new books. I did have a few issues with
it…The biggest is how the tone changed at the end and didn’t match the rest of
the book. Throughout the whole novel the book does not delve into graphic gore;
it focuses more so on being a psychological thriller. However, towards the end
there are a few scenes that are rather graphic and not good for the
faint-at-heart, or animal lovers (like me!). Although crucial to the plot, they
just didn’t seem like they fit with the overall tone of the novel. That being
said, I can deal with a couple of scenes that felt off in exchange for a
thrilling, quick, read. It was very fast-paced and you can definitely read it
in one sitting. After reflecting on the ending, all my other issues disappeared
after finishing the book. Without giving anything away, all my qualms
definitely made sense keeping the ending in mind. I would definitely recommend this
book!