it's always the husband

Spoiler Alert: You shouldn't trust him.

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A gripping thriller, this story of three female friends and the events leading up to one of their murders was most definitely a page-turner. The sexy and elusive Kate, the charming and secretive Aubrey, and the hardworking and ambitious Jenny had little in common when they first met years ago as freshmen in college. Despite their differences however, the three forge a life-long bond -- or at least until one of them mysteriously dies in their thirties. Equally suspenseful and detailed, this is a story that keeps readers on their toes. Told in a nonlinear fashion, the story flashes back between scenes of the three main characters in college and their present married lives. This changing timeline not only offered a glaring contrast between their youth and eventual unhappiness, but also extremely telling insight about the relationships of the protagonists. I appreciated how the story took on an incredibly in-depth and complex attitude when talking about female friendships. Although the plot was perhaps a bit exaggerated, and the stakes were quite high as it dealt with a murder, I did find the details of each woman and her bond with another to be incredibly believable and even at times relatable. Each woman vehemently loved and hated the other -- this was developed over time with the help of a number of well-thought out factors that drew the reader farther in. Whether money, boys, loyalty, or family was the issue, Kate, Aubrey, and Jenny each had a reason to relate to one another -- but also each had a reason to despise one another. While the murder mystery was quite intriguing, and perhaps a parallel can be drawn between this story and works of say Gillian Flynn or Paula Hawkins, I was more interested in the story of the women's time in college and their loss of innocence. Perhaps I was more drawn to this aspect as it was more relatable to me, or perhaps I liked to read about the three interesting women and how they acted as a unit, and not as grown, married women living far from one another. As the pieces of the puzzle were slowly put together for the reader in the past, the main timeline plot comes full circle and the mystery is finally solved. Although I admit that I found the big reveal a bit anticlimactic, and was hoping for greater satisfaction, I still found the story incredibly well-written and entertaining. It's crazy to think about the secrets our loved ones keep hidden and the measures we will go to to be accepted. Hate is not the opposite of love -- fear is, and when one has secrets, one is always afraid.

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Favorite Quotes: “Aubrey became a reader early so she wouldn’t feel alone in her apartment at night.” ~~ “In the long run, people who did evil got what they deserved, and everything worked out for the best.” ~~ “Can you remain unmoving until the right action arises on its own?” ~~ “Jenny always had a plan, you had to give her that. She forced the world to conform to her expectations, where Kate wallowed in her disappointments, and Aubrey, let’s face it, never dared to expect anything at all.” ~~“Somebody dies, and it changes the lives of those left behind, forever.”