๐๐๐๐
3 word summary: Karens gone wild!
โฐ ๐๐ก๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ: Hollows edge is cray, yโall! So a couple was murdered and Ruby Fletcher was convicted. Sheโs the roommate of protagonist Harper Nash, divorcee, and now Ruby is back after 5 years on an overturned conviction. All the Karens have their eyes out the windows while Ruby saunters in like all is peachy. Harper is caught in the middle. Did Ruby kill their neighbors? Or is there still a sinister killer hiding among the neighbors?
๐ก๐๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก๐ญ๐ฌ: Dude. Remind me not to move into THIS โhood. Everyone is in everyoneโs business and when Ruby returns, itโs like everyone lights up and the abandoned pinball machine of a neighborhood comes alive. This is my 4th Miranda book and what she does well is weave – she weaves characters. She weaves a plot web. The woman must have sore fingers! The first half was focused a lot on Ruby and Harper – your close friend went to prison for killing someone and now sheโs in your house? It made me truly ponder – what would I do?
What I enjoyed most was that this seemed realistic – who wants to live in a house (or near it) where someone was killed? And how fast neighbors turn on one another? Pfft! Iโve heard so many stories of back-stabbing neighbors, (which is probably why this past 2 years weโve seen lots of books about neighbors – we were stuck by emโ thru COVID!)
Protagonist Harper was a bit of a weak lead for my taste, never taking control or even finding a voice; sheโs a character who lets things happen rather than MAKING them happen. But in the same token, I could understand her because I KNOW this person – the Iโm-stuck-in-the-middle person. I wish I could have sprinkled her with more assertiveness.
Recent neighbors-who-make-you-go-hmmm books I also liked: Suburban Dicks, The Hunting Wives, Good Neighbors (Sarah Langdon)
๐๐น๐น ๐บ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐น๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ด๐.๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฝ๐๐ฏ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป.
๐๐๐๐ง๐ซ๐: Mystery/Domestic Fiction
๐๐๐๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ: Oh if you wanna relish is some horrible neighbor muck. Itโs kinda fun!
๐ โโ๏ธ ๐๐จ๐ญ ๐ซ๐๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ: if you canโt tolerate a female protagonist who is too quiet.
Thank you to the author, NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for my advanced copy in exchange for my always-honest review and for making me side-eye some neighbors and making things kinda awkward.
