Book Review: The Shadow Writer

Aspiring author Graye Templeton will do anything to escape the horrific childhood crime that haunts her. After a life lived in shadows, she’s accepted a new job as protégé to Laura West, influential book blogger and wife of an acclaimed novelist. Laura’s connections could make Graye’s publishing dreams a reality. But there’s more to Laura than meets the eye.

Behind the veneer of a charmed life, Laura’s marriage is collapsing. Her once-lauded husband is descending into alcoholism and ruin and bringing Laura nearer to the edge.

As the two women form a bond that seems meant to be, long-buried secrets claw their way into the present, and the line between friendship and obsession begins to blur, forcing each to decide where her loyalties lie. Running from the past is a dangerous game, and the loser could end up dead.

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of The Shadow Writer by TLC Book Tours for review, but this in no way affected my final rating.

The Good

I enjoyed the pace of this book and the fact that it kept me guessing for quite some time. It was fun to watch the story unfold and wonder just how much of an unreliable narrator Graye was. I feel like Eliza Maxwell didn’t hold back on some of the dark, disturbing details that shaped both Graye and Laura in the past and present.

It was also fun to read about a successful book blogger and reviewer, because all us bloggers want to make it big too, right??

The Bad

I feel like Graye’s character went from awkward and meek to… not? Rather suddenly. I realize now that maybe it was intentional, because she isn’t the most stable of characters, but it was kind of weird that it wasn’t more gradual; I thought I missed something when she moved to Texas and was immediately a different person. She was also much too melodramatic about a certain thing that happens toward the end, taking it as the worst thing in the world and as an insult from Laura, when I didn’t see it that way at all. I just didn’t connect with Graye, or any of the characters really, so everything that happened felt more like I was watching it from afar rather than being on the ground floor with them.

I also think there were way too many POVs. I’m not sure if that’s more of a personal preference, but once an author introduces more than two or three key POVs, it feels excessive to me. I think better storytelling could have eliminated the unnecessary ones from this book, such as the nun’s.

The Verdict

I wish I had enjoyed this one more but, if you can’t tell from my relatively short review, it wasn’t a very memorable book to me. It did keep me engaged at the time of reading, though, and I didn’t necessarily dislike the story itself, so I’d say this chalks up to an average thriller.

Rating: ★★★
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Publication Date: May 1, 2019
Page Count: 348