[Review] Just Between Us - Rebecca Drake

Summary: Corey and her best friend, Kyra, are inseparable. Corey is the only person who understands Kyra’s high-highs and low-lows. So when Corey’s family moves away from their Alaskan town, she makes Kyra promise to stay strong during the long, dark winters and wait for her return. Except Kyra doesn’t.

Two days before Corey is to visit, Kyra is found floating underneath the ice.

While everyone in Lost Creek deems Kyra’s death a suicide, Corey knows something is wrong. With every hour, her suspicion grows. The town is keeping secrets—chilling secrets. But piecing together the truth about what happened to Kyra may prove as difficult as lighting the sky in an Alaskan winter… (Pub Date: Jan 2, 2018)

Honest review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.

This is the story of four housewives who became friends because of their children. Even though each has her background, they're always gossiping at a café together. One day, Allison notices a bruise on Heather's skin. Her friends don't know, but Allison hides a dark past of abuse, so she recognizes the signals and alerts the others so they can help. But the truth is that you never know what goes on in a marriage.

The story is told in first person, alternating narrators between the four women. I'm not fond of books that start with "This is about four women" or the such, so I can't even remember what got into me to want to read this one. I deeply suspect it was the cover... it's just so beautiful! Nonetheless, I'm sure I don't regret it.

To be honest, I'd rate it 3.5. The plot takes long to show its true colors, the narrative becomes dull at times and the development wasn't a blast. I won't call this predictable because I never knew on what Rebecca Drake would focus, which path she would pick, until she did. Notwithstanding, the moment we learned what she wanted, it wasn't hard to imagine what came next. Still, I kept turning pages, wondering how all that mess would end.

The alternate narration wasn't the best choice in my opinion. There were too many families, husbands, children, and they were never important enough to justify much attention on them. I think it only served to hide the person who survives to narrate the funeral in the prologue, we guess from that one of the four wouldn't die. On the other hand, she could have used other devices for that.

What really surprised me about this book is the puzzle we need to solve. I was very naive when I started it and had no idea Drake had prepared some with so many layers. Just like the four main women, for most of the book, the reader can only react to the events, because anything can happen. I found it exciting the uncertainty of what was the main problem. Was it the abusive husband? The police? The other husbands? Maybe their past?

This wasn't the most exciting thriller I've read, but it was well-written. The kind that gives you pleasure to read because you see you can trust the writer's ability. That's why, even if it didn't blow my mind, I'd recommend it to anyone interested by its summary.

Rating: 4 out of 5.