GOODREADS | AMAZON | BOOK DEPOSITORY
WHEREVER SHE GOES
Kelley Armstrong
Genre: Mystery
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Pages: 304
Release date: June 25th 2019
“Few crimes are reported as quickly as a snatched kid.”
That’s what the officer tells single mother Aubrey Finch after she reports a kidnapping. So why hasn’t anyone reported the little boy missing? Aubrey knows what she saw: a boy being taken against his will from the park. It doesn’t matter that the mother can’t be found. It doesn’t matter if no one reported it. Aubrey knows he’s missing.
Instead, people question her sanity. Aubrey hears the whispers. She’s a former stay-at-home mom who doesn’t have primary custody of her daughter, so there must be something wrong with her, right? Others may not understand her decision to walk away from her safe life at home, but years of hiding her past – even from the people she loves – were taking their toll, and Aubrey knows she can’t be the mother or wife she envisions until she learns to leave her secrets behind.
When the police refuse to believe her, she realizes that rescuing the boy is up to her alone. But after all the secrets, how far is she willing to go? Even to protect a child.
What have I done?
Wherever She Goes is a fast paced and tense novel with complex characters and an intriguing, if not that fleshed out, plot. There is quite a bit of mystery and suspense surrounding the main character, Aubrey, which leads to a bit of confusion regarding the narrative as the story progresses. The writing is still really engaging and Aubrey’s POV is well done, so this is a quick and entertaining read.
Kelley Armstrong knows how to set up a thrilling mystery. The beginning of the novel is quick to capture your attention. There’s a desperate atmosphere that surrounds Aubrey, which turns into determination as the plot is developed. There aren’t many surprises or twists, but there’s still a lingering tension in each chapter that builds up as Aubrey gets closer and closer to finding out the truth of what happened to the little boy she saw being kidnapped.
This was a good read! Nothing too mind-blowing, but it’s fast paced and engaging enough. The writing is great, as usual with Armstrong, but there’s a bit of a spark missing for me to fully connect to the story. The characters are really well developed and Aubrey’s POV keeps you interested and flipping pages, but the plot is a bit underdeveloped to me, especially as part of it focuses heavily on Aubrey’s past and that’s never really explained in a coherent manner.
The mystery is a bit underwhelming. There aren’t any surprises or plot twists, just the narrative going from point A to B without too much at stake. There is a bit of action, though, but the overall feeling throughout the novel is one of tension. Even the starting conflict of a little boy being kidnapped doesn’t hold much weight as the narrative develops.
I guess the novel has an interesting premise and, while the story is engrossing, the execution feels a bit… off? I feel like this book had a lot of potential, but things sort of fall flat in the end. There isn’t a sense of danger at all, so I personally didn’t feel like there was too much at stake. Just not the book for me, I guess.
Overall, Wherever She Goes is a nice read with good writing and great characters. The premise is intriguing and the fast pace keeps you reading, but the plot could have been a little more fleshed out. The ending is also a bit underwhelming, but it does lend a hopeful tone to Aubrey’s story that makes it a nice conclusion to the book.
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