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Book Review: I See You by Clare Mackintosh.




Book: I See You 

Author: Clare Mackintosh 

Pages: 386 

Read On: Kindle 

How Long it Took Me To Read: 1 day 

Publisher: Sphere 

Plot Summary: When Zoe Walker sees her photo in the classifieds section of a London newspaper, she is determined to find out why it's there. There's no explanation: just a website, a grainy image and a phone number. She takes it home to her family, who are convinced it's just someone who looks like Zoe. 

But the next day the advert shows a photo of a different woman, and another the day after that.

Is it a mistake? A coincidence? Or is someone keeping track of every move they make? 

General Thoughts: I had this book sitting in my wishlist for the longest time! I finally got it last week and read it late into the night (morning more like!) soon after. 

Things I Liked: 

1. I really enjoyed the writing and story telling style of the author. 

2. The story is told in 2 voices/perspectives. One from Zoe- who finds her picture in the seedy section of the papers and Kelly- a cop investigating this perplexing case. I enjoyed both these voices equally and liked what they each brought to the story. 

3. The case itself, the basic premise is pretty darn fascinating. I was hooked from the minute Zoe discovers her picture in the papers. Why is it there? Is it even her? Or is this a doppelgänger? You just  can't stop wondering and guessing and turning pages. 

4. I really liked Zoe. She is not your typical protagonist. She is middle-aged, the mother of two grown up children, working in a dead end and slightly soul crushing job and in a relationship that while makes her happy, makes her son unhappy. She comes across as a very real and relatable character.
I also liked how doggedly determined Zoe was in trying to figure out why there are pictures of a different woman in the seedy adverts section of the paper every single day. Zoe is the only one who does not give up and keeps calling Kelly to keep her updated. I love that she does not give up on the mystery and does not let her guard down no matter how everyone tries to reassure her that these ads are probably nothing.

5. I also liked Kelly and her backstory. She evolves through this book- from an diligent but sidelined Transit Cop to actually getting involved in solving the case of the mysterious ads. She was another determined character who took the time to listen to Zoe and believe her when she said that there was something sinister going on with these photos.

6. The real culprit's identity is a nice little twist. You almost see it coming but it still takes you by surprise!

Things I Didn't Like:
1. Nothing major but there were some so obvious red herrings in this book! It was so obvious that those characters were not the real culprit.

2. This book could've benefited from sharper editing. Towards the 60% mark, the book starts dragging with nothing of note really happening. Some of those portions could've been parsed down.


Rating: 4/5 
Highly recommend this book! 


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