Nguyen debuts with a psychological thriller outlining a Vietnamese American woman’s heartbreaking journey through love, loss, and mental health concerns. Following her mother’s sudden death, Annie “Anh Le” Shaw begins to unravel. She had been managing her OCD, but now it spirals out of control. As she desperately tries to maintain her hold on reality, she also struggles to stay connected to her 14-year-old daughter, Tabitha. Then, Annie wakes up in a hotel next to a dead body, with no memory of how she got there. Kim Mai Guest’s narration of Annie and her family hits all the right notes. Her skillful characterizations allow listeners to easily track the various characters, and she perfectly conveys the weight of Annie’s challenging relationship with her mother and the trauma (related to her mother’s horrific experiences during the Vietnam War) woven into every aspect of her life. The novel’s twists and turns will keep listeners engaged, hopeful that Annie will find a way out of the horrors—both real and imagined—that surround her.
VERDICT A layered psychological thriller examining the complexities of mental illness and healing. For fans of Lisa Jewell or Gillian Flynn.
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