Pieces of Her by Karin Slaughter

 I love the way this author writes.  I get totally engrossed and wrapped up in the characters and she always provides a before an after time/sequence, at least in the books I've read by her.

Pieces of Her follows a mother and daughter through their young adult lives.  The adventures they both take are very different, but strangely intertwined.  These two ladies are the focus of the events, but mostly the mother and what she did to alter her circumstances in the future.  That being said, I'm not certain all the events are believable or possible.  I'll let you be the judge when you read it.

Psychological Elements

Stockholm Syndrome - I honestly believe that the mother suffered from this when it came to the relationship with Nick and her father.  They were definitely overbearing and abusive characters and she fell further in love with Nick to get away from her father.  Eventually this lead to one of their demise.  I'll let you read to find out who.

Psychopathology - definitely Nick.  He is so charismatic and able to captivate his audience.  He can convince them of just about anything, including internal and mass destruction.  Eventually everything catches up to him and people start to see through him, but it should have happened well before it actually did (in my opinion).

Social Anxiety - Definitely a concern for the daughter.  She has difficulty getting out into the world and making connections with others.  That is changed drastically throughout the book as she is forced into change.

By the way, the Series on Netflix is NOTHING like the book - read it and watch it, you'll love them both.

The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth

 Pippa and Gabe were starting their life over (again) in a new home on the beach.  Pippa wasn't sure about the house being on a dangerous cliff, though, on account of their two young daughters.  Gabe loved it and so she settled.  Then, as Pippa guessed, their location became dangerous in other ways.  It was a famous suicide spot!  This doesn't deter Gabe though.  A master of persuasion, he is able to talk many wayward beings off the ledge and becomes a town hero.  Until one night, he just couldn't save one!

Spoilers ahead (skip to the next section if you haven't finished reading yet)

On this dark and stormy night, Gabe claims the incident was an accident, but Pippa (having seen some of the interaction from the kitchen window) doesn't seem so sure.  So, she discovers that the victim was none other than the wife of his former boss, Amanda Cameron!  Could that be a coincidence?  Not really.  Amanda was there to confront Gabe and Pippa about something she saw on her husband's (Max) computer.  Only when she mentioned it to Gabe, he wasn't surprised, but he was still worried about what was on the disk Amanda had in her hand.

When Max finds out he's shocked and insists that Amanda would never commit suicide.  He lost his mother and brother to the same and Amanda knew that and was sympathetic.  Besides, they were happy, right?  Until he realizes that Gabe and Pippa were the homeowners of the house on the cliff near where it happened, Max is lost and confused not understanding what could have happened.  He wanted answers.  He also knew that he owed Gabe some answers, too.  All this confusion and all the lies led to his wife's demise, so what could Max do to make it better?

(OK, done spoiling it) My take on the book.

The author chose a great way to convey the desperation in each character as the plot progresses.  You get to read the point of view of Pipp and Amanda (yes, even after death) and truly understand how a wife reacts to their husband's lies.  Relationships and connections are important in this book.  Most of the situations are highly believable; however, I personally did not like Pippa's reaction to Gabe's actions.  Yet, I understood her desire to maintain their home. 

So, about the psychology.

As I am seeking to continue educating and helping others understand the psychological aspects of all the thrillers I read, I have to comment on the psychology of the characters.  In this book, essentially Gabe.  He was misdiagnosed as having ADHD towards the beginning of the book.  This diagnosis helped explain his lack of attention to detail and his inability to maintain a job or stay on task, but it hardly accounted for his reckless behavior and bouts of extreme depression.  

The doctor who misdiagnosed him originally prescribed medication that would reduce the symptoms of ADHD, which was probably a stimulant.  Although it may have helped with his focus and attention to detail, the medication could also have made the manic and depressive symptoms worse.  In fact, it did.  Gabe escalated his risky behavior to downright dangerous.  He hurt himself and others in the process.  When he was properly diagnosed, it was too late to change the past and the consequences of his actions were already underway.

SO, bottom line - I liked this book and highly recommend it.  5 out of 5 "stars."

Next month's book:  Pieces of Her by Karin Slaughter

The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz

 Well, this one was certainly interesting!

Talk about a psychological thriller, but way too much going on here!

So, let's attempt to break it down.

• We have a famous female author that hosts a writer's retreat for females - nothing bizarre here.
• The retreat takes place at her secluded mansion in the middle of nowhere, where there is no internet - ok a little risqué, but they're there to enjoy their time writing, right? Plus, it's just a bunch of women.
• A high demanding word/page count with extreme consequences - or is it?
• Then we have the story of the ghost of the previous owner? - I mean is this actually needed
• Followed by lesbian love dreams - I can't even tell what the author is doing anymore.
• But in order to make this an actual thriller, people die - of course, why not?

So, in my opinion, this book is way off the mark for me.  Go ahead, disagree with me in the comments.  I love a good love story, but this one was just plain lust, and not even in a sensational way.  I was pretty much disgusted by every love scene in this book. No I'm not a homo-phobe.  I just didn't like the way it was presented, nor the characters involved in each of the scenes.

What I feel this book could have done without was the ghost story.  The story was evolving charmingly without the interjected ghost story.  The author did try to tie the stories together towards the end, but I believe she was unsuccessful.  Additionally, I don't think she developed a crucial point from the beginning of the story.  I mean what was with the slut shaming sex scene with the male character in the beginning.  Nothing in the rest of the book explained this shameful and embarrassing scene.  

Well, bottom line - I won't read again.

What do you think?

Join us next time for:  The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth