BOOK: The Twilight Wife by A. J. Banner

The Twilight Wife by A. J. Banner, 272 pages

review copy from Simon & Schuster Canada

Sometimes I have conflicting issues with amnesia stories. It can be an easy trope for authors to have information with held from the reader. This can conflict with my enjoyment of suspenseful thrillers. Luckily, both work well in this book. Actually, as amnesia stories go, this is one of the better ones.

Because it is hard to know how much to describe in a thriller, synopsis from Amazon:

Thirty-four-year-old marine biologist Kyra Winthrop remembers nothing about the diving accident that left her with a complex form of memory loss. With only brief flashes of the last few years of her life, her world has narrowed to a few close friendships on the island where she lives with her devoted husband, Jacob.

But all is not what it seems. Kyra begins to have visions—or are they memories?—of a rocky marriage, broken promises, and cryptic relationships with the island residents, whom she believes to be her friends.

Narrating the story in first person from Kyra's point of view really amped up the suspense since the reader only knows what Kyra finds out. As some snatches of memory return but with no context, Kyra begins to question what might be going on, and what might have happened. Then, she has to judge the answers she gets because she doesn't know who to really trust. 

As a reader, the amnesia issue means I am on guard all the time, knowing that there is some big reveal going to happen. It can be stressful to read a book like that, because I am looking for clues all the time and suspecting everyone! At times I'd be thinking No Kyra, that doesn't seem right! As you can see, I got invested in the plot and was happy with the speed at which things happened. I will say I was surprised with the ending and enjoyed the read, which went very quickly. The suspense and character development kept me on the edge of my reading seat.