"My Favorite Terrible Thing"

My Favorite Terrible Thing by Madeleine Henry

Amazon First Reads

Pages: 289 Genre: mystery

Rating: 4 Stars

Kindle Highlights

Nina Travers is a private investigator who wants her big break. Sure, she's had successful cases, but nothing has put her on the map yet. Until the mother of famous author Claire Ross reaches out. Claire went missing on her wedding day, to the shock of everyone. After her epic romance book took off, no one would believe she'd disappear on what should have been the happiest day of her life. Everyone has their theories, from her family and fiancé to old friends and overly-zealous fans, but no one has approached the case like Nina will. This case is sure to be all she ever wanted, but it won't be at all what she expects.

I liked this book a lot. It was such a creative and unique take on a mystery with an unreliable narrator that I found addictive.

I can't say much because I think it's best to go in blind, but Nina was incredibly well-written. There were a lot of twists and reveals that helped recontextualize so much of what had happened prior. Everything had a good base and nothing felt too random. Nina's narrative voice was also brilliant.

It might be nit-picky, but I think this book would've benefitted from a definitive "Part One" and "Part Two." There is a shift midway through the book that changes the tone in such a shocking way that it almost felt like an entirely new book. I loved it, but I see why others didn't — it's definitely not the direction you're expecting. I think having a more clear divide might've helped ground readers more.

There's a lot more I could say about the book, but it would pretty much all be considered spoilers. Ultimately, I get why people didn't love the ending. If you're looking for a simple and straightforward story, this is probably not the book you want to pick up. But if you're willing to go into with an open mind and get more of an uncomfortable and tense thriller, I think you'll enjoy it.

While it may have been different than what I was expecting, I thought the book did what it was trying to do really well.