Rose is living a humdrum life as there is hardly anything consequential happening in her life. Till the day she comes across a newly published book ‘written’ by an author who despite being a mega influencer on social media, has not done any credible writing till this day. That book catapults Rose’s entire existence into a whole different direction, specifically to that direction which Rose has traumatically avoided to look for so many years in the past.
We soon learn that the book is in question is nothing else but an old diary of Rose written and maintained by her while she was a teenager. That teenager Rose was trying hard to fit in with the crowd, had issues with anxiety and body positivity. So, she got a morale boost when her teacher guided her to journal her thoughts by maintaining a digital diary. That led to Rose narrating a rose-tinted, often fantasized version of her reality with little or no connection to actual events in her then life.
That fantasy crashed dramatically when Rose came face-to-face with a tragically violent death. It was a total shock to her system, so much so that her brain developed a version of reality where Rose started considering herself responsible for that death. She went as far as branding herself a murderer and decided to hide away in a ramshackle existence for the next decade or so.
However, she has to face the truth when Emily forces her hand and compels her to come clean. But why Emily is forcing her to do that? And what is the actual reality behind the unsolved murder? Is Rose actually responsible for any disaster as she thinks to be? To get answers to all of these questions, I will suggest you to read this book ASAP.
The story is absolutely fascinating and it holds our attention till the end due to the author’s writing prowess. The journal entries and Rose’s teenage warped mental state adds such an intriguing quality to the entire premise that makes the final unravelling of the truth interesting. All the characters are aptly developed to match the rhythm of the premise, especially Emily whose shallow personality and unwanted splurges capture the essence of influencer lifestyle perfectly.
Highly recommended as your next read. Please add this your TBR pronto.
*This post is based on the ARC copy provided by NetGalley.