*I received a free copy of Don't You Cry from via Netgalley. This has in no way influenced my voluntary review, which is honest and unbiased *
Don't You Cry on 17 May 2016 Pages: 320
In downtown Chicago, a young woman named Esther Vaughan disappears from her apartment without a trace. A haunting letter addressed to My Dearest is found among her possessions, leaving her friend and roommate Quinn Collins to wonder where Esther is and whether or not she's the person Quinn thought she knew.
Meanwhile, in a small Michigan harbor town an hour outside Chicago, a mysterious woman appears in the quiet coffee shop where eighteen-year-old Alex Gallo works as a dishwasher. He is immediately drawn to her charm and beauty, but what starts as an innocent crush quickly spirals into something far more dark and sinister than he ever expected.
As Quinn searches for answers about Esther, and Alex is drawn further under Pearl's spell, master of suspense Mary Kubica takes readers on a taut and twisted thrill ride that builds to a stunning conclusion and shows that no matter how fast and far we run, the past always catches up with us in the end.
Don’t You Cry is a deliciously creepy, mysterious tale, where the plot only fully unfolds at the very end of the story.
At first, I had a little bit of trouble getting into the story of Don’t You Cry (and for the whole time, I had Axl Rose singing in my mind…) because it was quite slow, and one of the narrators was a little… hmm how should I say it?… dense. She was not only a bit socially awkward, she was very immature and unsure of herself. She did grow on me, though, and as the story moved forward, I came to like her and her strange ways.
Don’t You Cry had two narrators, and neither of them was really the main character, and I found that to be refreshing. It is difficult to explain what happened in the story without giving the plot and the mystery away. Especially because there are two main plots, and the way they come to a peak at almost the same time made it a solid mystery, and the psychological thriller aspect of it really messed with my head! Esther disappeared from her room probably during the night between Saturday and Sunday, and her roommate didn’t even know. Until later. And then, she first thought Esther was going about her day as usual. But Esther didn’t come home. And there were no notes. And she didn’t show up for work. And there were some really strange things in her room.
Then, in a small town off Lake Michigan, there is another narrator, a young boy who had a bright future he didn’t seize. He stayed behind to take care of his father, and he had a very vivid imagination. Which made his narration very unreliable. And quite strange. And extremely compelling at the same time. So yeah, Don’t You Cry was very mysterious, with narrators who didn’t know the whole story – and neither did I – until the very end of the book. I enjoyed the story, and thinking back on it, I still get that eerie, weird feeling. So if you enjoy mysteries, you should pick it up!
“Traffic,” I say, and she sniggers. On her ring finger is a wedding band, given to her by her late husband, Mr. Priddy. There’s speculation that her incessant nagging was the cause of his death. Whether or not it’s true, I can only assume.
Pops spends his dates at the tavern in town, getting loaded and talking about how my mother left him and me when I was five years old. It’s supposed to be a sympathy trigger, but instead he ends up looking like a patsy. Pops ends up crying and scaring the ladies away one by one, like old cars lined in a row for target practice. He has no clue why he’s still alone.
Thought if it wasn’t for the homeliness of the walkup corridor, I wouldn’t quite appreciate the hominess of Esther and my space. Snug and comfy, cozy and warm.
Deliciously mysterious, weirdly eerie, Don't You Cry kept the suspense til the end Share on XReading this book contributed to these challenges:
About Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms
Linda is an English as foreign language teacher and has a Master's degree in English Language and Literature. She's an avid reader, blogger, compulsive one-clicker and a genre omnivore. Ever since she learnt how to read she has been seen with a book or two in her hands everywhere she goes.
Twitter: ailynk
it would be difficult to have axl rose singing when you are reading a thriller.. thrillers usually have a slow start
Well, he was singing ‘Don’t You Cry’ so it was all good, Ailyn 😉
Twitter: ailynk
if this book ever becomes a movie, it might be worth suggesting it to the publisher. XD
Well you have me curious, wifey! I like unreliable narrators and I like a book that keeps me in suspense to the very end as well. I’ll put this one on my TBR for someday. Oh, and I’m hearing Axl in my head now. Thanks! 😉
Happy Tuesday! **LOVE & HUGS**
It was well done, and I liked that it unfolded the way it did, even if I found it a bit slow in the beginning. And of course, you’re very welcome 😉
{{{HUGS}}}
Twitter: xxertz
I’m happy you ended up liking this and so thankful for the heads up on the narrator and the pace. I read The Good Girl and wasn’t thrilled about the story, but enjoyed the writing (and the twist) enough to be curious about this one. I should be getting it from library soon ? great review!
The story worked really well for me, and I thought that even with the slow pace in the beginning, it kind of made sense… because of the narrator and all 😀
Twitter: Kissinbluekaren
Mary Kubica is one of my favorite authors. I enjoyed this story, for all the reasons you mentioned, but I had an issue with the characters maturity. I guess it was just me. I also gave it four stars. Great review!
LOL Karen, I think Esther’s roommate being dense is also a show of lack of maturity in some ways? I enjoyed the story, too, and I really liked that we were given so little to go on during the unfolding of the mystery 🙂
Twitter: bmreviewsohmy
I have this book and really need to give it a try. 🙂
I hope you’ll enjoy it, too, Stormi!
When I finished the book Lexxie, I did actually like it. While reading it though, I found it dragged a bit and I kind of had to force myself to read it. But when I saw how it all came together, I appreciated the story.
I found it to be a bit strange, too, Trish, but I enjoyed it while reading as well 🙂 I’m glad you ended up thinking it was all worth it in the end, too!
the dense narrator would prob bother me, depends on how it goes. But I am curious about the little boy. Glad you were able to still enjoy it despite.
It was actually kind of fun to read such unreliable narrators, Lily. I don’t always enjoy that, mind you, but I did with this story.
Twitter: talksupeblog
OMG I was totally singing Guns N Roses too! Lol
I love this style of storytelling. It keeps you reading just so you can get to the bottom of the story more than anything!
If we ever manage to meet, I’m pretty sure we’ll spend quite a bit of time singing to each other rather than speaking, Braine *grins*
I’ve been eyeing this up at work a lot so I’m glad to here it is good. I’ll probably pick it up at some point now :p
Ooh… I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I did, Lauren!