Review By Gabrielle
Travel to beautiful, isolated West Cork in Rachel Ryan’s Someone You Trust.
Favourite Quote:
Creeaaaak.
Amy woke with a start. Her bedside lamp was still on. Her book was lying on her chest.
In the corridor, she heard soft movement. Like footsteps.
Right outside her door.
She raised her head, suddenly very awake and alert. Was that Liam skulking around out there? She stayed still, listening intently.
Goodreads Synopsis:
Amy jumps at the opportunity when she’s offered a nannying job in picturesque West Cork. The assignment is for the friendly and welcoming Carroll family, whose stunning house is situated on a stretch of remote and rugged coastline overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. It’s the perfect chance for Amy to escape the suffocating city and the man who made her life hell.
With two adorable children to oversee, a pair of generous employers, and more freedom than she’s enjoyed in years, everything seems wonderful. So why can’t Amy shake a creeping sense of unease? Perhaps it’s the husband’s erratic behavior. Or the fact that she was never told about the reclusive teenage son whose bedroom is next to hers. Or maybe it’s the strange messages that somebody has been painting around the local village.
Quickly, it becomes clear that all is not well in the Carroll marriage, nor in their idyllic rural community. Whispered secrets and strange occurrences fill the breathtaking scenery with menace and, as the days pass, Amy learns that the refuge she has sought just might be the most dangerous place of all.
This one was a bit of a miss for me I’m afraid. I found the ending too predictable for my taste, and I should mention that my bar is pretty low in that department. I am not one of those people that try to figure out whodunnit, because I enjoy the surprise. Don’t fear friends, there is still plenty to enjoy about this book so I’ll focus on the positives for the rest of this review.
The setting. Rachel does a great job of creating the setting of West Cork. I could clearly picture its beauty, but I could also clearly feel its isolation. I really liked how she took this beautiful place and made it seem menacing from another perspective. The setting really ramps up the tension in the book.
Amy is a tough character to write about without giving too much away. Pretty early on we get the sense that Amy has chosen to come to West Cork in order to escape something in her past, but we don’t learn until much later in the book what exactly. Through flashback chapters, we get little bits of her story. I thought this was a useful device because without them it would have been very difficult to get to know Amy. She is very closed off and doesn’t reveal a lot about herself to others. I really enjoyed the secondary character Catherine, a lady from the village Amy meets and becomes friends with. She lent a lightness that softens the edges of the story in a much needed way.
Finally, when we do learn about Amy’s past, I really liked how Rachel handled the issue. We get a really interesting perspective on a big issue that I really appreciated. Unfortunately, I can’t reveal anymore than that without wrecking the story for you!
Someone You Trust would be a good choice for folks who enjoy their thrillers more on the psychological side.
Thank you, Simon & Schuster Canada for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
