Pieces of Her

by Karin Slaughter

"The #1 internationally bestselling author returns with a new novel in the vein of her New York Times bestsellers Pretty Girls and The Good Daughter--a story even more electrifying, provocative, and suspenseful than anything she's written before. What if the person you thought you knew best turns out to be someone you never knew at all. Andrea knows everything about her mother, Laura. She knows she's spent her whole life in the small beachside town of Belle Isle; she knows she's never wanted anything more than to live a quiet life as a pillar of the community; she knows she's never kept a secret in her life. Because we all know our mothers, don't we? But all that changes when a trip to the mall explodes into violence and Andrea suddenly sees a completely different side to Laura. Because it turns out that before Laura was Laura, she was someone completely different. For nearly thirty years she's been hiding from her previous identity, lying low in the hope that no one would ever find her. But now she's been exposed, and nothing will ever be the same again. The police want answers and Laura's innocence is on the line, but she won't speak to anyone, including her own daughter. Andrea is on a desperate journey following the breadcrumb trail of her mother's past. And if she can't uncover the secrets hidden there, there may be no future for either one of them"--

"Following the success of The Good Daughter - her fastest-selling Morrow hardcover to date - Karin Slaughter returns with another electrifying standalone thriller exploring the deadly secrets kept between a mother and daughter"--

• ISBN10: 0062430270
• ISBN13: 9780062430274
• Publish Date: 21 August 2018 (first published 31 July 2018)
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: HarperCollins Publishers
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 480
• Language: English

Reviews

[Quirky Cat]

Pieces of Her is one of my latest BOTM choices, mostly because I regretted not grabbing it the previous month! I know this isn't a new release, but I just had to try it. Before you ask, no, I haven't seen the adaptation yet. I'm still unsure if I will – I tend to like my thrillers in novel format (maybe because it lets me control the pace a bit more?).

Like most women, Andrea had assumed she knew everything there was to know about her mother. Her assumption is about to be proven wrong as one event changes her life as she knows it.

A public and violent incident in a mall puts Andrea's mother, Laura, in the spotlight. She should be hailed a hero, but people are looking too closely at her – and that's putting everyone at risk. To save her daughter, she will try and throw some distance between them, only for it to backfire on them both.

“Love doesn't keep you in a constant state of turmoil. It gives you peace.”

Yikes. Pieces of Her is one of those heavy-hitting novels that's hard to look away from. Much like the title implies, I quickly found myself trying to piece together the mystery of Andrea. This proved to be far from a simple task.

This novel is told mainly through two perspectives, twenty-plus years apart. The first perspective is Laura's, as she struggles to deal with all the violence that just rose up in her life – while getting to the bottom of her mother's secrets.

The second perspective is Andrea herself, though it may take some time for that to become clear. Set in 1986, it slowly reveals her backstory, leading readers to the inevitably and surprising conclusion.

I'll admit, there were twists that I didn't see coming in Pieces of Her. Overall I want to say that's a good thing, though there are some pieces (no pun intended) that I wouldn't have minded a change in. Perhaps the adaptation does precisely that? Maybe I will cave and watch it. Time will only tell.

Read more reviews over at Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

[mrs_mander_reads]

This was definitely full of unexpected twists. I enjoyed it.