An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen, 5 Stars

I loved The Wife Between Us. Like, really loved it. And it was a New York Times best-seller–can’t argue with that, huh? So when I saw that Hendricks and Pekkanen had teamed up for another book–An Anonymous Girl, it shot straight to the top of my TBR list. Sometimes I just brace myself for a second book to not be quite as amazing as the first. But that was not the case this time.

Of course, Pekkanen is a best-selling author in her own right and Hendricks was the amazing editor who helped bring many of those best-sellers to life. So it does make sense their books are so balanced an amazing. But I think this post might be similar to my last post just gushing about them.

So let’s get on to the review then?

From the Publisher:

Seeking women ages 18–32 to participate in a study on ethics and morality. Generous compensation. Anonymity guaranteed.
When Jessica Farris signs up for a psychology study conducted by the mysterious Dr. Shields, she thinks all she’ll have to do is answer a few questions, collect her money, and leave. But as the questions grow more and more intense and invasive and the sessions become outings where Jess is told what to wear and how to act, she begins to feel as though Dr. Shields may know what she’s thinking…and what she’s hiding. As Jess’s paranoia grows, it becomes clear that she can no longer trust what in her life is real, and what is one of Dr. Shields’ manipulative experiments. Caught in a web of deceit and jealousy, Jess quickly learns that some obsessions can be deadly.
From the authors of the blockbuster bestseller The Wife Between Us comes an electrifying new novel about doubt, passion, and just how much you can trust someone.

My Review:

When we first meet Jessica, she’s a struggling make-up artist living in New York City, struggling to build her career while fighting guilt about the family she has left behind. She had some good gigs in the theater world, but that fell apart. And now she’s just scraping by living in a tiny apartment.

So when she gets a chance to be a subject in a very well-paying study through the University some of her clients attend, she jumps at the opportunity, even if she has to fudge things a bit to get there. What she doesn’t realize is that sometimes, these opportunities pay well because they really aren’t worth it. But she’s so desperate she jumps head in.

When we meet the professor running the survey, Dr. Shields, things still seem a little too good to be true. And they are. But it takes Jessica a while to figure that out and then it might just be too late.

The story flips back and forth between Jessica and Dr. Shield’s perspective and the reader is able to slowly piece together what is actually going on. I found Jessica to be highly relatable, Dr. Shields, less so. But when you have lots of money and security, it’s easy to be as crazy as you want to be.

I really couldn’t put this one down. But even as I was maniacally flipping pages, I wanted to savor it more. That’s the best kind of book in my opinion. You can’t wait to read more, but you’re sad when it’s over.

This one is out January 9, 2019 and you have to pick up a copy. It’s that good!

Special thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced e-galley of the book in exchange for my honest review.

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