Thank you, St Martin’s Press, for the gifted copy of Can’t Look Away {partner}
Genre: Fiction
Format: 📖🎧
Pub Date: 6.14.2022
Star Rating: ☆☆☆
Summary:
“In 2013, twenty-three-year old Molly Diamond is a barista, dreaming of becoming a writer. One night at a concert in East Williamsburg, she locks eyes with the lead singer, Jake Danner, and can’t look away. Molly and Jake fall quickly and deeply in love, especially after he writes a hit song about her that puts his band on the map.
Nearly a decade later, Molly has given up writing and is living in Flynn Cove, Connecticut with her young daughter and her husband Hunter—who is decidedly not Jake Danner. Their life looks picture-perfect, but Molly is lonely; she feels out of place with the other women in their wealthy suburb, and is struggling to conceive their second child. When Sabrina, a newcomer in town, walks into the yoga studio where Molly teaches and confesses her own fertility struggles, Molly believes she’s finally found a friend.
But Sabrina has her own reasons for moving to Flynn Cove and befriending Molly. And as Sabrina’s secrets are slowly unspooled, her connection to Molly becomes clearer––as do secrets of Molly’s own, which she’s worked hard to keep buried.
Meanwhile, a new version of Jake’s hit song is on the radio, forcing Molly to confront her past and ask the ultimate questions: What happens when life turns out nothing like we thought it would, when we were young and dreaming big? Does growing up mean choosing with your head, rather than your heart? And do we ever truly get over our first love?”
My Thoughts:
“I’ll never know, and neither will you of the life you don’t choose.”
Y’all, I was in desperate need of a thriller. But this was not a thriller, not even close, in my opinion. Can’t Look Away was more of a twisted love story? I don’t know; the potential was there, and maybe if I hadn’t gone into thinking it was a thriller, I would feel differently.
I was surprised by one aspect of the book, but I predicted the ending quickly once that twist was revealed. So, it felt like a letdown.
I didn’t care for the women in the book; they were gossipy, unsupportive, and manipulative. At one point in the story, two women gossip about another woman’s infertility struggles. I know this was meant to make the character unlikeable, but it did so much more than that; it made me lose interest in the book.
Speaking of infertility, Can’t Look Away is packed with references to miscarriages, and there is one fairly graphic depiction of a character having a miscarriage. So, please, go into this book and tread lightly if it is something that might impact you.
Also, please remember to take my review with a grain of salt. This is only one opinion of the book and I know other people have enjoyed it, so I encourage you to pick up a copy of Can’t Look Away and it give it a try. I loved Carola Lovering’s last book, Too Good To Be True, so I look forward to reading what she writes next.
BOOK INFO
Format: 310 pages, Hardback
Published: June 2022 by St Martin’s Press
ISBN 9781250271396 (ISBN10: 1250271398)
Free review copy provided by publisher, St Martin’s Press , in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and in no way influenced.
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