Coming Soon: May 1, 2022
Strangers We Know is an evenly paced mystery about family secrets, murder, and a young woman’s journey towards self-discovery.
Another book by this author, Lies We Bury, has been on my TBR for a little bit now so I was pretty excited to my metaphorical hands on this one.
Unfortunately, while this wasn’t a bad read, it wasn’t for me either.
I do think the author has a lot of promise and I hope you’ll give her and this book a chance.
Happy Reading!
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Strangers We Know by Elle Marr
Publication date: May 1, 2022
Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Crime fiction
Pages: 280
Standalone
First line: Blood doesn’t lie, or so the saying goes.
Adopted at only a few days old, Ivy grew up happy and loved, content in the family that chose to want her.
Then a mysterious illness forces her hand, prompting her to submit a blood sample into a genetics site, hoping to find a relative with some answers in their family history.
Ivy couldn’t have known the pandora’s box she’d just opened would, indeed, lead her to answers.
But the truth, and family, can be a dangerous thing.
Three and a Half Stars
I know many will enjoy Strangers We Know.
It really does have a lot of great elements and suspicious characters to keep you intrigued but.. Me? I was just kind of bored. Maybe I’ve been spoiled by mysteries, maybe I’ve become too picky with them, it could have even been my mood.. Who knows? I do know that it took me over a week of pussy-footing around to finish this.
POV’s
Three: Ivy Hon. Tatum Caine. And Samson.
Characters:
Ivy Hon: I felt like Ivy was the most likable character throughout, which is a huge win for the author because it seems like there are fewer and fewer protagonists that you don’t want to just smack upside the head.
Ivy has some unknown health issues that leave her incapacitated for days and without her family’s history, no one’s been able to determine just what the cause is.. This genetics matching site is a Hail Mary of sorts. And it works. A little too well, perhaps.
Next thing we know she’s tracked down by a Special Agent Ballo with the FBI. Does she know her birth family? Has she been in contact with them? What does she know about them? She’s initially confused by his questions and his presence, after all, why would the FBI care? Well.. Turns out her blood held a little bit more than a connection to where she came from.
This is where the story really begins.
While Ivy may not have made the best choices (often.. repeatedly..) she was a decent character. I would have liked to see more personal growth over time but, really, some of it was kind of entertaining. Certain scenes became the kind of cliche horror movie moments you yell at the screen for. “What are you doing!?” “There’s a killer and this is your bright idea!?” “Are you crazy!? Just run already!”
You’ll see.
Special Agent Ballo: This guy rubbed me the wrong way from the very beginning.. so it’s fortunate that his role in things is practically non-existent until we near the end of the book. That’s probably a tiny spoiler but, trust me, it won’t matter.
Tatum Cain: Ivy’s birth mother. We see glimpses of Tatum in the past, which I’ve grown to enjoy in mysteries, but I almost feel as if those parts could be removed and the story wouldn’t have suffered.
And a book should always suffer from any such loss, otherwise, why is it there?
Lottie: The blood cousin she’s matched with on the genetics site. She’s a happy and cheerful sort (for the most part) and she does her best to welcome Ivy into the family.
I don’t want to say much more and chance ruining some of the mystery of it all but, I will say this, this was different. Somewhat predictable, with a slower pace, and slightly forgettable characters.. but different.
By the end of the book I was both grateful it was over and disappointed that there wasn’t more to it.
It’s always a letdown when the potential for greatness is there but it doesn’t deliver.
Quotes:
“We finish our coffee while I wonder if Uncle Phillip is a werewolf, or what other reason Lottie might have for excusing a grown man’s bad behavior.”
“Anxiety swirls in my stomach. Dread. Plus a bite of fear and the sense that I’m about to disturb a still pool of water—to transform its surface into a sea of rippling consequences.”
“My lifelong lack of direction never seemed like a true handicap until now, when I need certain skills I don’t have—patience; the ability to think of the bigger picture; self-preservation skills, apparently.”
Would I recommend Strangers We Know? Yes.
The writing is good, the pace pulls you along, and the mystery keeps you there..
This book may not have been for me but it just might be for you.
Thanks so much for stopping by and reading my review!
Stay safe out there!
Have you read this or anything else by this author?
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