Don’t You Cry Published by Mira on May 17th 2016
Pages: 320
Format: Hardcover
Goodreads
In downtown Chicago, a young woman named Esther Vaughan disappears from her apartment without a trace. A haunting letter addressed to My Dearest is found among her possessions, leaving her friend and roommate Quinn Collins to wonder where Esther is and whether or not she’s the person Quinn thought she knew.
Meanwhile, in a small Michigan harbor town an hour outside Chicago, a mysterious woman appears in the quiet coffee shop where eighteen-year-old Alex Gallo works as a dishwasher. He is immediately drawn to her charm and beauty, but what starts as an innocent crush quickly spirals into something far more dark and sinister than he ever expected.
As Quinn searches for answers about Esther, and Alex is drawn further under Pearl’s spell, master of suspense Mary Kubica takes readers on a taut and twisted thrill ride that builds to a stunning conclusion and shows that no matter how fast and far we run, the past always catches up with us in the end.
I had seen Mary Krubica’s book, The Good Girl, when it first came out and made myself a note to read it since it looked like a pretty good book. Unfortunately, I never made my way back to picking up a copy of that book, but when I saw this book, Don’t You Cry, I was really excited to read it since I missed out on the first one. I also loved the fact that one of my favorite authors, Lisa Scottoline, liked the book too, so it was off to a good start for me!
As the story starts out, readers learn about Quinn Collins, who is a young woman in her early twenties living in Chicago. After a night of partying, she discovers her roommate, Esther, missing and the window in her bedroom is wide open leading to the fire escape. Esther has apparently “gone missing”. (Side note: I always hate that phrase – “gone missing” as if “missing” is a place or something, but it’s true in this case, Esther is absolutely missing and has gone somewhere.)
Once readers have gotten Quinn’s story, we then learn about Alex Gallo, who is a teenager abandoned by his mother at a very young age, and whose father is an alcoholic. Alex works as a dishwasher in a diner in Michigan just trying to keep a roof over his and his dad’s head. One day Alex is at the restaurant and he sees a beautiful, but seemingly strange, girl who spends hours looking out the window. Alex develops an obsession with the girl and begins to follow her around. He even names her Pearl in his own head.
Ms. Krubica shares this story in alternating chapters, by both Quinn and Alex. The scenes are written in such a way you feel like you are there. I will confess that I found myself trying to connect the dots between these two characters – to try and figure out how they were connected, but it was impossible to do until nearly the end of the novel. I was actually tempted to read every other chapter, just to get the full “Quinn story” before learning the whole “Alex story” but I was afraid the stories would merge and I would miss it. But don’t worry, the two stories do come together near the end of Don’t You Cry and I seriously loved the twists, turns and misleading information that got me to the end of this book.
Interestingly, the author writes in such a way as readers cannot determine who is a good person or who is a bad person, or who is sane or insane, for that matter, and it is this type of writing that really keeps the plot moving forward as readers try to figure everything out. I wouldn’t say that the book is one of those “edge of your seat” books, but it was definitely a page turner for me while I was trying to tie things together and discover the truth to the story. As everyone knows, I don’t write spoilers, so this is all you will get from me about this book – and I’m not even going to talk about the letter.
What I will say is that if you are looking for a great read that is well written and keeps moving, I’d suggest you check out Don’t You Cry. I’m definitely going back to read The Good Girl and Pretty Baby, but I’ll have to do it quick since I hear Ms. Krubica has another book coming out in the summer of 2017!
Mary Kubica is the New York Times bestselling author of THE GOOD GIRL and PRETTY BABY. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, in History and American Literature. She lives outside of Chicago with her husband and two children and enjoys photography, gardening and caring for the animals at a local shelter.
You can find her on her Official Website HERE. You can also catch her on Facebook and Twitter!
I received a complimentary hardbound copy of this book from the publishers and BookSparks in exchange for this post, which is my honest review and unbiased opinion.
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