Why is everyone talking about the ending of Sarah Pinborough's Behind Her Eyes?
Louise is a single mom, a secretary, stuck in a modern-day rut. On a rare night out, she meets a man in a bar and sparks fly. Though he leaves after they kiss, she’s thrilled she finally connected with someone.
When Louise arrives at work on Monday, she meets her new boss, David. The man from the bar. The very married man from the bar…who says the kiss was a terrible mistake but who still can’t keep his eyes off Louise.
And then Louise bumps into Adele, who’s new to town and in need of a friend, but she also just happens to be married to David. David and Adele look like the picture-perfect husband and wife, but then why is David so controlling, and why is Adele so scared of him?
As Louise is drawn into David and Adele’s orbit, she uncovers more puzzling questions than answers. The only thing that is crystal clear is that something in this marriage is very, very wrong, but Louise can’t guess how wrong―and how far a person might go to protect their marriage’s secrets.
The marketing of the ‘big giant twist you’ll never see coming’ actually ruined this book for me. I spent more time trying to guess it than actually enjoying the book. Taking that anticipation out of the mix, I can’t really say I did enjoy the book. I thought Louise was a lot of an idiot and I spent most of the time willing her not to do whatever she was doing. David had very little characterization and was more blah than a believable love interest. And Adele… unsympathetic, though in the grand scheme of things I suppose she was meant to be.
As for that big giant twist, well, I enjoyed this book more when it was called ‘Stranger with my Face‘, so I predicted most of it almost immediately and it was a random very early thought where I hoped it wasn’t going to be something stupid like it being <spoiler> and of course it was.
The problem with all of these books trying to be Gone Girl is that they lack the original author’s skill at characterization and plot. And so they spend so much time hiding the twist that they forget that we’re here for the journey not the ending.
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