Kristin (Always With a Book)'s Reviews > Five Strangers

Thank you Scarlet Suspense / Netgalley for the gifted copy.

I willingly admit this is one of those books where the cover and summary totally grabbed my attention. Fortunately, the story delivered and I ended up really enjoying what ends up being quite a twisty, thrilling read for sure!

This book has one of the most darkest, brutal openings I’ve read in a while and from there, I was totally hooked. I loved that the story is told from two perspectives, Jen who witnesses the murder-suicide along with four other people, and Bex who is Jen’s friend. Right away, I got the feeling there was something unreliable about both our narrators but I just couldn’t quite put my finger on what and I loved that I wasn’t sure who I could trust more.

This book explores so many interesting topics, mental health and obsession being at the forefront, but gaslighting and being able to trust what we really see were also explored. It’s definitely more of a slower-burn, but I found myself completely glued to the pages as I just needed to know where it was all headed, and while I did have my theories, and was partly correct, I was still caught off-guard with the final reveal. This one really did take some turns I did not see coming.

This is the first book I’ve read by E.V. Adamson, who is pseudonym for Andrew Wilson. As I really enjoyed his writing, I will certainly be checking out book under both names!


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