REVIEW: Exhibit Alexandra by Natasha Bell
Exhibit Alexandraby Natasha Bell
Crown Publishing
🔥 PUBLISHING 3/13/18 🔥
Huge thank you to Crown Publishing for this copy in return for my honest opinion.
A shocking, original psychological thriller about a mother gone missing and the family she leaves behind, ultimately proving how unknowable even those closest to us can be
Alexandra Southwood is missing. Held in a room against her will, she's forced to imagine how her husband, Marc, and two daughters are coping in the wake of her disappearance. She's shown news clips of Marc, desperately appealing to the public for information on her whereabouts. She tortures herself with visions of her family's devastated new reality. She thinks of what's lost, remembering the beginnings of her romance with Marc and the beautiful family they built together.
Marc's pain is visceral. He thinks of nothing but his wife. He shifts from utter despair to frantic action, and when the police discover Alexandra's bloody belongings by the river, turning their missing-persons case into a murder investigation, he cannot accept that she is lost to him. He embarks on his own journey, through the dark maze of the art world that so gripped his wife, following a trail that leads him to find answers to questions he never meant to ask.
Alexandra Southwood is missing. Held in a room against her will, she's forced to imagine how her husband, Marc, and two daughters are coping in the wake of her disappearance. She's shown news clips of Marc, desperately appealing to the public for information on her whereabouts. She tortures herself with visions of her family's devastated new reality. She thinks of what's lost, remembering the beginnings of her romance with Marc and the beautiful family they built together.
Marc's pain is visceral. He thinks of nothing but his wife. He shifts from utter despair to frantic action, and when the police discover Alexandra's bloody belongings by the river, turning their missing-persons case into a murder investigation, he cannot accept that she is lost to him. He embarks on his own journey, through the dark maze of the art world that so gripped his wife, following a trail that leads him to find answers to questions he never meant to ask.
My Review:
Quite frankly, this is one of the hardest books to review for me because there's SO much I want to say but everything I want to discuss will spoil you, dear reader friends... and I REFUSE to do that.
This book journeys through Alexandra's memories of her history with her husband, building her family, what she believes her family (especially her husband) is going through in the aftermath of her disappearance and her discussions with her captor. Mixed in are letters written to Alexandra from Amelia. Her husband refuses to believe she's dead without a body to confirm it so he digs deep to try and find her. What he finds is more than he had ever bargained for and turns his world completely upside down. A unique view point is that we know from the beginning that Alex is just giving a fictional account of what her husband and family are doing, which made some parts a little bit of a head scratcher.
This is a psychological portrait of Alexandra. I found this to be a bit too slow paced for my liking. I found my interest waning in various parts and would find myself skimming through some sections regarding her husband, Marc. The writing can be a little confusing towards the end, but then starts to make sense as it everything is revealed. And the reveal, for me, just made me mad. It did NOT work for me. Now, I understood what the author did and quite frankly, it's brilliant and not what I expected to happen. However, it's hard for me to like it because of what it turned out to be. I just don't get it... Let me clarify, I understand what happened. This type of subject matter just never made sense to me so it doesn't work for me.
I do believe that there will be a lot of people that WILL like this book. It's definitely gives light to the sacrifices a woman makes as a mother and a wife. How fair is it for a woman to have to give up her dreams and put her own independence aside for her husband and children? How far would a woman go to get that back? If you love that character build with a unique perspective, then this psychological thriller will suit you well.
This book journeys through Alexandra's memories of her history with her husband, building her family, what she believes her family (especially her husband) is going through in the aftermath of her disappearance and her discussions with her captor. Mixed in are letters written to Alexandra from Amelia. Her husband refuses to believe she's dead without a body to confirm it so he digs deep to try and find her. What he finds is more than he had ever bargained for and turns his world completely upside down. A unique view point is that we know from the beginning that Alex is just giving a fictional account of what her husband and family are doing, which made some parts a little bit of a head scratcher.
This is a psychological portrait of Alexandra. I found this to be a bit too slow paced for my liking. I found my interest waning in various parts and would find myself skimming through some sections regarding her husband, Marc. The writing can be a little confusing towards the end, but then starts to make sense as it everything is revealed. And the reveal, for me, just made me mad. It did NOT work for me. Now, I understood what the author did and quite frankly, it's brilliant and not what I expected to happen. However, it's hard for me to like it because of what it turned out to be. I just don't get it... Let me clarify, I understand what happened. This type of subject matter just never made sense to me so it doesn't work for me.
I do believe that there will be a lot of people that WILL like this book. It's definitely gives light to the sacrifices a woman makes as a mother and a wife. How fair is it for a woman to have to give up her dreams and put her own independence aside for her husband and children? How far would a woman go to get that back? If you love that character build with a unique perspective, then this psychological thriller will suit you well.
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