I really wanted to like this book, and yes, I gave it 3 out of five stars.  I don’t tend to mind too much when I’m reading a book with two timelines.  I like getting the insight from the previous events that lead to the current events.  But it just took so long for this book to actually have anything happen.

One positive – some of the quotes.  Such as:

• “Pity fades with age, hate is lost and found, but guilt can last a lifetime.”
• “Sometimes we have to let go of what we had in order to hold on to what we’ve got.”
• “Love is as instinctive as breathing, but we don’t have to give it away.  Like our breath, we can hold onto it if we choose to.  But not forever.  Because then it starts to hurt.”

For those who have read or listened to Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None,” you will absolutely recognize what’s going on in this book.  Almost immediately.  Which means you know that with each hour, someone else is going to meet a grisly end.  I blame the synopsis of the book for giving me that heads up.

The thing is, I can’t remember disliking every single one of the characters in Christie’s book nearly as much as I disliked these characters.  Even the main one.  She seemed annoying basically the entire time – in both timelines.  I hated her parents for being the self-involved people they were.  I was deeply irritated by both of the older sisters, the oldest being willing to look away as the middle sister harassed and mistreated the youngest.  The boy they all loved for his weakness

But most of all, the twist at the end was just… annoying.  So annoying!  The author may have tried to keep the secret of the twist, but it did not work for me.  I mean, on page 12, she wrote, “If I had the chance to iron out the creases in my life before it ended, which ones would I choose to smooth over?”

Just… COME ON!

I’ve read reviews that say that Alice Feeney can do no wrong.  For me, I’m not sure that I’ll pick her back up any time soon.