He Started It by Samantha Downing

 

Star rating: 3/5

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for this gifted digital copy! 

Summary: 

When Beth was a young girl, she and her three siblings embarked on a road trip with their grandfather. They soon discovered that their grandfather had actually abducted them, and their parents were desperately trying to find them. The events that transpired on the weeks-long road trip still haunt Beth - especially the fact that her older sister Nikki disappeared and was never found. 

Now years later, their grandfather has died and is leaving a very large inheritance to be split between the siblings, with one rule - they must repeat that road trip. As the present-day road trip is paired with memories from the childhood one, we learn exactly what happened between these family members and why their grandfather wanted them to repeat the trip. 

Review:

I really wanted to love this book. I absolutely loved Downing's first book, My Lovely Wife. While there is a lot about this book that is gripping and had me dying to find out what would happen next, overall it just didn't work for me. The book felt gimmicky to me from the start, with Beth as a character being introduced as "not a heroine" because she's too flawed. I actually quite enjoyed Beth as a character, but she confused me about 99% of the time, and not in a good or intriguing way. The story itself was a pretty slow build, then things get exciting and interesting towards the middle, drop off a bit again, and then there are a rapid-firing of twists at the end that kind of just left me thinking, what the heck did I just read? 

That being said, I know there are many who have loved this book, and there is a lot to love about it. It may just not have been my cup of tea. If you enjoyed Downing's first book, I do recommend checking out He Started It!