It feels extremely weird to say that 2020 is already halfway through.
That’s right…we’re officially six months into the year, which means we’ve read half of our book list! I’m pretty proud of ya for hanging in there!
Have no idea what I’m talking about? Check out this post before continuing.
In June we read Someone We Know by Shari Lapena.
This was the first book I’d read by this author, but I definitely don’t think it’ll be the last!
SPOILERS AHEAD!
DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER UNLESS YOU’VE FINISHED THE BOOK!
Haven’t read the book yet? Grab it here.
Maybe you don’t know your neighbors as well as you thought you did . . .
“This is a very difficult letter to write. I hope you will not hate us too much. . . My son broke into your home recently while you were out.”
In a quiet, leafy suburb in upstate New York, a teenager has been sneaking into houses–and into the owners’ computers as well–learning their secrets, and maybe sharing some of them, too.
Who is he, and what might he have uncovered? After two anonymous letters are received, whispers start to circulate, and suspicion mounts. And when a woman down the street is found murdered, the tension reaches the breaking point. Who killed her? Who knows more than they’re telling? And how far will all these very nice people go to protect their own secrets?
In this neighborhood, it’s not just the husbands and wives who play games. Here, everyone in the family has something to hide . . .
You never really know what people are capable of.
I kind of had a hard time getting into this book, but pushed ahead nonetheless. Eventually, my interest became stronger, and eventually, I found myself playing detective and attempting to figure out who’d done it. I feel like I was sort of on the right track with nailing down the suspect, but I did not see the motive coming at all.
Did you find the motive surprising, or predictable?
Let’s dive right into some character discussion.
Because I’m a mom, I definitely felt a connection to Olivia in the beginning. I think it’s pretty common for parents to feel a certain responsibility for their child’s actions, but clearly only to a certain extent. Now, granted, my children are very young, so I’ve never found myself in a situation like Olivia did. But I’m not entirely sure that I would have responded in the same manner as she.
Olivia is mortified by her son, Raleigh, breaking into neighbors’ houses. Do you think the apology letters were a bad or good idea? What would you have done?
One of my favorite themes in psychological thrillers is the idea that we never truly know someone. Do you think that’s the case in real life? Do you think that people are as complicated and layered as they are in fiction?
I like this theme because personally, I think people are actually more complicated in real life, than they are written as in fiction. So many things happen to us throughout our lives, and find ourselves in different places acting as different people. Think about it: you move to a new city for college, and nobody knows who you are. You don’t have the baggage of high school, or growing up in a small hometown. Now, people view you entirely differently than others elsewhere still do. Which one of those people are you really? In my opinion, you’re always going to be viewed as someone else depending on the situation you’re in. What are your thoughts?
And finally, would you read another title by this author?
What were your overall thoughts on the novel? Let me know in the comments!
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