Alright, let’s get into it.

The fact that Birdy is Harrison’s ex-wife is genuinely mind-boggling. And not in the good way. None of their previous interactions drop a single clue about this connection. I get it, they met in front of Sergeant Luke so they had to put up appearances, but I cannot fathom such sloppy police work that they don’t know the background of their most viable suspect. That’s not a character choice, that’s a plot hole. I honestly can’t get over how massive this reveal is and how there’s zero groundwork laid for it.

But it doesn’t stop there. She’s also the mother of the kid she abandoned. She also believed she was the one who knocked her over. And she ended up selling her house to her ex-husband without knowing. Every one of these on its own would be a stretch. All of them together? It’s a lot.

And then, as if that wasn’t enough, the sergeant’s wife turns out to be the real killer. Just one more twist thrown in for good measure. By that point I was running out of capacity to be shocked and was just… processing.

And here’s what really frustrates me - there was a moment that could have been a clue, but the book actively uses it to mislead you. Eden is surprised when Gabriella doesn’t call her mom. But why would she be surprised? She’s not Gabriella’s biological mother, and she shipped her off to the asylum. Why would Eden even expect that? Her surprise only makes sense if she genuinely believes she’s the mother - so naturally, we as readers believe it too. That could have been the perfect breadcrumb to plant doubt, but instead it does the exact opposite. It reinforces the wrong assumption. That’s not clever misdirection, that’s the author working against her own twist.

The characters themselves are well developed, I’ll give the book that. There’s real backstory to them, and you understand why they make the choices they do. That depth is what kept me invested even when the plot was doing backflips without a safety net.

My biggest disappointment is the Thanatos plotline. A company that predicts your date of death? That’s a fascinating premise. It was hyped up as this big deal throughout the book, and then it just… doesn’t matter. It barely contributes anything to the resolution. Same with the mystery of old lady Bird coming back to life. It’s presented as this eerie piece of local lore, but no explanation is ever provided. It’s just a rural legend with no backing that goes nowhere. Both felt like Chekhov’s guns that never fired.