Title: Imaginary Strangers (Dangerous Strangers #1)
Author: Minka Kent
Publisher: Thomas and Mercer
Pages: 269
My GoodReads Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Camille Prescott is a sociopath. Raised by mother, Lucinda, who has not only never showed her only child any love, but has instead been cruel and neglectful towards her child. The experience has affected Camille adversely, making her incapable of feeling any of the emotions we take for granted.
But
that has not prevented her from winging it. Now married to a handsome surgeon,
Will, Camille, is mother to two lovely children. When her older daughter,
six-year-old Georgie, comes home from school with an imaginary new friend that
seems to exert a lot of influence on the child. What’s worse, this new friend
knows a lot about Camille’s childhool, things she has worked hard to keep
hidden, things that could get her into trouble if they ever emerged into the
light.
Pretty
soon, Camille is wondering. Is the new friend and her awareness of Camille’s
past a coincidence, or is a sinister presence threatening her and her family?
The
book is written in the first-person PoV of Camille.
WHAT I
LIKED: I liked the first chapter, when Camille first escapes from her mother’s
home.
WHAT I
DIDN’T LIKE:
But
thereafter she seemed to lose steam. Adult Camille was so tame compared to
teenage Camille.
I
opted to read this one because of the author’s previous books which I liked.
Unfortunately, this one wasn’t her best.
There
were long conversations about unnecessary bits. There were also some proofing
and grammatical errors. “He chews his inner lip,” we are told. What does that
mean?
Will
was set up as a great catch? He's a handsome surgeon, a loving husband and
father. What's not to like? Yet somehow, I didn't like him.
The
dreaded Lucinda doesn’t show up at all in this book. Instead the adversary is
someone completely different. And that made me feel slightly cheated. It is bad
form to prop someone as the adversary and then for them to not even put in an
appearance. Whether it is a standalone book or a series, we need to see the
characters the author has introduced to us. We spend a great deal of time
disliking Lucinda on Camille’s account, and we never get a chance to discover
what she’s like for ourselves.
WHAT
DIDN’T WORK FOR ME:
Why
isn’t Will’s sister ever named in this book? Not only does she had no presence
in the book, she doesn’t even rate a name.
Also,
why doesn’t Will ever listen to Camille? Why doesn’t Camille ever try to talk
to Will about her past? There are no satisfactory answers to those two
questions, other than making the plot forward.
ALL
SAID AND DONE: I have read better from this author.
(I read this book on NetGalley. Thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley.)
