Ghosted by Rosie Walsh
Written by Ashley Kelmore, Posted in Reviews
Finished: 2 August 2019
BINGO:
Summer Read
Best for:
Fans of the Liane Moriarty school or interwoven stories with a serious mystery at the center.
In a nutshell:
Sarah and Eddie spent an amazing week together before he left for a quick holiday. She hasn’t heard from him since, even though they basically declared their love for each other. Is he just a jerk, or is there something else going on?
Worth quoting:
N/A
Why I chose it:
Wandered into a bookshop looking for Nine Perfect Strangers, but it’s still in hardback so way too big for travel. This cover reminded me of Moriarty’s style, then I read the back and thought ‘yup, this is perfect to read on the lake this summer.’
Review:
Whew, after two serious non-fiction books in a row I needed this. It isn’t exactly light reading, but it was quick and enthralling and I quite literally did not want to put it down. (Seriously, I was annoyed when I had to set it aside so I could shower this morning.) I started it yesterday late in the day and finished it over lunch today. I wanted to know how it ended, but I also enjoyed the path author Walsh took to get us there.
The book is broken into three parts, and most of it is told from the perspective of our protagonist Sarah. We learn early on that she’s lost her sister at a young age, and she carries that loss with her into adulthood, where it factors into major life choices like leaving the UK for the US and her career path. She meets Eddie on a visit home to the UK but doesn’t yet tell him the details of her childhood.
Then, he’s gone. They promise to meet up after his trip to Spain but she doesn’t hear from him again after they part ways. He doesn’t respond to texts or voicemail and hasn’t checked in on social media (but also hasn’t blocked her), leading Sarah to think, given how intense their week together was, that something has gone horribly wrong.
To tell you anything more would take away from your enjoyment of this book. But please trust me when I say that there are some turns you see coming and some turns you don’t. And I’ll be honest in that the ending wasn’t the one I would have picked but I think it still works well (hence the five star review).
Really my biggest issue with the whole book is the part where Sarah realizes she didn’t ask Eddie how he was going to vote on the Brexit Referendum (the book starts in the summer of 2016). If there was any chance he was going to vote Leave, I’d say that ghosting was really a blessing.
Keep it / Pass to a Friend / Donate it / Toss it:
Donate it – leaving it at this lake house so the next guests can enjoy it.