After 30 years of marriage, Donna’s husband Edward has dropped her off at Shadow Garden. But he’s stopped taking her phone calls, and she hasn’t heard from her daughter Penelope either. Edward must be keeping Penelope away from her, but why? We follow Donna as she struggles to piece exactly what is going on.
So, Donna is a fairly unreliable narrator. She doesn’t want to talk about things, including how she broke her hip, right from the start. We’re given minor pieces of information, but in a very convoluted way, and we can’t really trust that what she is saying is accurate. I found the story a bit dull at times because a lot of what you’re reading is repetitive day-to-day things that don’t move the story forward. Sometimes there was a level of detail on things that absolutely did not matter. It made getting through some parts of the book a chore.
But the underlying storyline, once you get past the fluff, is good. Penelope and Edward aren’t really developed characters, but we occasionally see Penelope’s POV, and Edward gets his own POV later on in the story (which I found a weird addition, but much more reliable than Donna’s). The time and point of view switching were easy to follow, and it gave a more complete picture. While I suspected what I guess is a twist very early on, it didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the book. While overall this wasn’t my most favorite book, I think some readers will enjoy it. Thank you, Berkley, for sending this along.
Read this review on Amazon, Goodreads, and Bookbub.
Shadow Garden is available on Amazon for $11.99
Rae's Reading Lounge 