Friday, August 20, 2021

Review: The Woman on the Beach by Julia Roberts

The Woman on the Beach
by Julia Roberts

Publisher: Bookouture
Pages: 255
Format: eARC
Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  I was so sure I saw Sophie on the beach that day. But it couldn’t be her. Sophie’s dead…

Ever since we locked fingers and swore to be best friends at school, Sophie was there for me. When she married my brother, I followed her down the aisle as her bridesmaid, thrilled that we were becoming family. We laughed together and cried together. We shared everything. At least I thought we did.

And then she was gone. The terrible accident that took her life devastated me, and though everyone else has moved on, I can’t. She was so quiet, those last few months. I keep thinking there is something I don’t know…

Now I’m standing on the beach we visited when we were younger and there’s a woman with long blond hair a few metres away, playing with a dog in the sunshine. She turns, and I see Sophie. Heart racing, I struggle to my feet, but before I can reach her she’s vanished, leaving only footprints in the sand.

It can’t be Sophie… Can it? And do I want to know what she was running from, if the answer means I can no longer trust the people I love?


Kritters Thoughts:  Three best friends have gone through a lot of life together until two of them are visiting each other and in a tragic accident one is killed.  The other two have never recovered from the loss and it has affected all of the decisions they made since, until one is on a vacation and swears she sees the one that was presumed dead and then things spiral.  

For me this book was good, but there was one small part that took it down a notch for me.  I liked that the author had the main plot point in the synopsis come early and there was so much more book to be had after the discovery.  The part for me that I really didn't love was the resolution and while I will try to talk about it without spoiling, be warned!  When some of the secrets are revealed towards the end, it was the other character's reactions that felt too nice and forgiving - they went from "holy shit" to oh ok its fine too fast for me.  I would have preferred more pages and more conflict, reminded me of a Brady Bunch tv show!

Because my quibble happened near the end, it made me rethink how I felt about the whole story.  BUT Liv as a main character was great to follow.  She reacted more along the way I would and I was along for the ride with her and it was her that made me keep reading even when I wasn't so sure about the Sophie of the story.  

This was my first Julia Roberts read and while I had a small thing that I didn't love, I would absolutely read more both of the backlist and upcoming to decide my thoughts on the author as a whole - never make a decision on an author based on only one book!   


Rating: enjoyable, but didn't leave me wanting more

Ebook 2021 Challenge: 101 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Bookouture.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.


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