The synopsis of this one really grabbed me, and it had a high Goodreads rating, so I was really excited to dive in. Sadly, I’m in the minority here because I was left feeling extremely underwhelmed when all was said and done.

The book focuses primarily on Meredith McCall, a psychiatrist who suddenly finds herself lost and adrift after a devastating accident took the lives of her hockey player husband and two other innocent people, leaving Meredith fighting to retain her professional practice. When she crosses paths with Gabriel Wright, a man who seems to have it all together despite their shared tragedy, Meredith becomes obsessed with unraveling his secrets. What is it about Gabriel that is so captivating? How has he been able to move on after suffering a significant loss of his own? And why is Meredith so drawn to him?

As fate would have it, Gabriel becomes a patient in Meredith’s psychiatric practice. The ethical dilemma is glaring – should she treat someone with whom she has a personal connection – even if he doesn’t remember who she is? But Meredith’s curiosity gets the better of her, and she delves deeper into Gabriel’s psyche and, eventually, his life, blurring the lines between professional and personal. As her life continues to spiral out of control, she finds herself drawn further into Gabriel’s world, unable to escape the grip he has on her.

I went into this one hoping for a captivating read that would blow my socks off, but as it stands, I ended up feeling very annoyed and underwhelmed. As Meredith’s descent into darkness unfolds, we start out wondering just how far she will go to uncover the truth about Gabriel and herself. The book does dive into themes of grief, obsession, and the blurred lines between right and wrong, but I stopped caring about 1/3 of the way into the book. There were zero surprises along the way, and the only character I connected with was Meredith’s psychiatrist. He was the only one who spoke any sort of sense. Still, even he wasn’t enough to save this one for me. None of these people were well – everyone was stalking everyone, and I couldn’t find any redeeming qualities in any of them.

I went into this one expecting a psychological thriller that would dive into the dark and twisted minds of complex characters, but that’s not what I got. In the end, I got a book full of annoying characters and a plot full of expected twists and tired clichès. I found it adequate at best.