Not What She Seems by Yasmin Angoe ~ a Review

by Susan Roberts

She left home as the local pariah at twenty-two, but when a family tragedy brings her back, she must confront her tortured past―and a new danger in town that no one seems to understand but her.

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. A free book was provided for an honest review.

August 2024; Thomas & Mercer; 978-1662508332
audio, ebook, print (396 pages); psychological thriller 

This book is psychological suspense and there were parts that were very nail-biting.  The big secrets weren't revealed until the end.  I had guessed part of how it would end but there are several shocking secrets that I didn't see coming.  The characters are well-written -- flaws and all.  In fact, the main character at first seems to be spending a lot of time doing things that make her even more of an outcast and it took me a while to understand why she was acting the way she was.  This book has suspense, murder, a bit of romance, and a family that has to learn to trust each other again.

Jac had left her hometown in Brook Haven, South Carolina years before, vowing to never live in the small town again.  A family tragedy sends her home - but not before she ruins her life in Washington beyond repair.

When she arrives home, it doesn't take long before the residents start talking about her and telling other people that she'd left home after killing her father and is a real troublemaker.  She knows that she's being judged by the town but has to be there because her beloved grandfather is in the hospital.  

When she meets a new person in town - Faye who is engaged to the mayor and soon-to-be step-mom to her long-time friend -  she takes an immediate dislike to her.   The more she gets to know her - the more she feels that she is not who she claims to be.  The town loves Faye and all of her philanthropic ways but Jac feels that she is much different than the way the town perceives her.  But as Jac continues to dig, she stumbles on dangerous truths that hit too close to home. What she finds out puts her and her family in jeopardy.  Are some secrets better left buried?  Will Jac continue to try to uncover the secrets or stop to keep her family safe?

I thought that the book started out a bit slow but the pace really picked up after about 50 pages.  At that point, I began to like the main character and her family and the suspenseful plot kept me quickly turning pages to see how it would end.  Yasmin Angoe is a new author for me and I look forward to her future books.

Buy Not What She Seems at Amazon

Susan Roberts grew up in Michigan but loves the laid-back life at her home in the Piedmont area of North Carolina where she is two hours from the beach to the east and the mountains in the west.  She reads almost anything but her favorite genres are Southern Fiction and Historical Fiction.   

 

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