Anexis Matos

I picked this book up because it was a recommendation from a friend. The main thing that interested me was the writing style. It’s one I’m very familiar with, so I put it on my TBR.

Synopsis

A journalist returns to her small town to care for her uncle. There, she learns of the disappearance of a child a town away. She finds connections to a case where her friend disappeared the same way and her body was found hours later. The journalist is determined to find out the truth about the old case and how it connects with the new one, only to meet resistance from all sides.

Book Information

Genre: Mystery
Category: Adult
Explicit violence: No
Explicit sex: No
Content warnings I noticed: Mentions of child sexual abuse
This is a standalone.

Review

The prose is good. Accessible and easy to read.

The story is told in two different point of views. Each point of view takes place either in the past or the present. Each storyline and point of view gets an equal amount of page time. There is one more point of view, but it only appears in the epilogue.

The pacing is good. It’s a slow-burn mystery I highly enjoyed. Plus, it makes the last 30 percent of the book super worth it.

I’m honestly not sure about themes here. A lot of the book is focused on the mystery and thriller aspect when it comes to the journalist. I normally discuss whether I think themes are explored well or not, but I don’t think I can do that this time.

There’s only one theme I related to and that is the life of living in a small town. While this is not the case for me in the United States, my home in Dominican Republic is in a town where everyone knows everyone. The problem with everyone knowing everyone is that, the moment someone finds out something, it’s very likely that everyone is going to know it. The people in a small town tend to be both supportive and judgmental like everyone else. The only difference is that you have to live with them knowing who they are, who their family is, and where they live.

The characters are interesting. I don’t like or dislike them. They’re fine.

I have mixed feelings about the ending. Part of it is ambiguous. The other part explains what happens back in 1994. It’s fine, but I didn’t necessarily love it.

Conclusion

Overall, this was an enjoyable story. It’s not the best thing I’ve read. It’s definitely not the worse. I rate it four stars.