Book: The Last Mrs. Parrish
Author: Liv Constantine
Pages: 405
Publisher: Harper Collins
Read On: Kindle
How Long it Took Me To Read: 2 days
Plot Summary: Amber Patterson is tired of being a nobody: an invisible woman who melts into the background. She deserves more. She deserves a life of wealth, luxury and leisure.
Daphne Parrish is the golden girl of Bishops Harbor, Connecticut. With her model looks, her picture-perfect mansion and her millionaire husband, Jackson, she has everything Amber wants.
Amber’s envy could eat her alive—if she didn't have a plan. Before long, she has become Daphne’s closest friend, and is catching the eye of Jackson. But a skeleton from her past could destroy everything, and if discovered, Amber’s well-laid plan may end in disaster.
General Thoughts: I have been reading quite a few thrillers this past month but for some reason or the other they were all more or less duds. OK, if not outright duds most of them were just not doing it for me. So when I picked up this book I did so with a lot of trepidation and hoping that this would be a psychological thriller that I ended up loving.
Luckily for me, this one was just the ticket!
I had been meaning to read this book for ages but it sounded a lot like The Wife Between Us and I wasn't sure if I wanted to read two such similar books.
They are slightly, very slightly similar but this one is a whole other ball game.
Things I Liked:
1. This book had me hooked! I didn't want to put it down. And it's not like there was constantly things happening that kept me on the edge of the seat, I was just curious to see where this tale was headed. I was pulled into this world from the get go.
2. This book is primarily told from two perspectives. Amber and Daphne. And I enjoyed both of these voices and seeing the world, sometimes same events from their views. I honestly didn't prefer one voice over another, this rarely happens in books told in this style. So kudos to the writer for managing pull this off.
3. Amber- oh where do I even begin?! She is horrible. Simply the worst kind of person and so full of hate and loathing. The way she is constantly envious of the rich and how freaking entitled she is just made my blood boil. And not just the rich and affluent, she is horrible to pretty much everyone. She doesn't have a single nice thing to say about anyone in her life. She is one of the worst human beings I've come across (in fiction) in a long, long time and she is someone who will stay with me for a long time to come. She is devious, manipulating and the kind of character you want to reach inside a book and slap silly. YET...she is incredibly interesting to spend time with. I hated her for sure but I still wanted to keep reading her section of the book. The writers (the book is written by two sisters under a pen name) have done a great job crafting a truly memorable character. She is a piece of work! But man she is clever and patient and some part of me wanted to give her a standing ovation! But for most part I just wanted her to fall off a cliff.
4. Daphne- when the book shifted into her perspective, I was ready for the pace to slow down and frankly for the book to become a little slow. But it didn't. Daphne is an equally strong character, who has endured so much and yet manages to hold on to her humanity and grace. I really liked her and was rooting for her.
5. Books about abuse and marital violence are hard to read but this one, though gut wrenching in parts and really scary was eye opening at the same time. Abuse is never a binary or simple phenomena. Not all abuse leaves a physical mark. The toll emotional and psychological abuse takes is sometimes staggering. The abuse Daphne undergoes will scare the daylights out of you, it certainly unnerved me. To marry someone you love to have them metamorphosize into something unrecognisable must be terrifying. Jackson Parrish is a monster and all the things he does to control and torture his spouse will leave you cold.
6. The book has a few nifty twists and turns.
7. I really liked the writing and the world building in this book. The world of the extremely wealthy is always fun to read about.
8. I liked the the kids in this book are not just background characters devoid of any real personality. Both the girls are well etched out and add to the story.
Things I Didn't Like:
I really did enjoy this book immensely, but I will say that the main, big twist is fairly obvious. You see it coming a mile away.
And there is no real big mystery. Apart from the skeleton in Amber's closet, no other thing was a huge mystery.
Rating: 4/5
This was such a engaging and immersive read. Perfect for a rainy afternoon or late night.
And I absolutely loved the ending, it was very, very satisfying.
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