What lies between us by John Marrs

 


I read this immediately after Keep it in the family. The plot revolves around Maggie and Nina, a mother daughter duo who live an extremely complicated life. Maggie is chained in the attic by Nina as punishment for things that Nina can't forgive or forget. Maggie goes along with her punishment as she believes them to fit her crimes. Their house holds as many secrets as their lives, and neither is willing to give up.

This book should come with a few trigger warnings - mental health issues, drug abuse, pregnancy and abortion and post natal depression. 

Maggie, after seperating from husband, has to look after the teenage daughter by herself. In her mind, she does the right things to keep her daughter safe. Nina, on the other hand blames her mother for the separation and hates her. She is extremely promiscuous and abusing drugs at 14. She gets pregnant, has an abortion and has extremely early menopause.

It's quite a lot that this mother and daughter have done to each other. You hate them both. There are no two ways about it, they're both awful. I never understood Nina's relationship with her dad - did she love him or hate him? I know that I hated all the characters in this book.

Mental health was not treated with the maturity and delicacy that's needed. All medicines were provided by Maggie based on what she thought was right and was never caught. While she's imprisoned in her own home, not a single neighbour ever thought anything was strange with Nina's behaviour. It seems like everyone was sleepwalking through their roles in this book.

The conclusion was strange. I both, did and didn't understand it at all. Maggie chooses to finally bring a conclusion to the hatred and the insanity of both their lives. Nina, well, she probably feels anger that her mom could be relieved of her suffering before she could completely atone or Nina could decide for herself.

Not all books by the same author can be great and this is the case here too. Will I stop reading John Marrs's other books? No. Another one and then I'll decide.

I give it 2.5/5

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Keep it in the Family by John Marrs

Image
After a long break, I picked up this book which was in my TBR for a while now. By a while, I mean, almost 2 months since I saw heaps of posts about the famous / infamous Chapter 39. For everyone who has read this book, did you know there are people who have actually tattooed Chapter 39 on their body? Well. A young expectant couple, Mia and Finn, try to convert an old house into their dream home and end up finding a secret message. Mia, disturbed by the message, tries to explore more and learns that her potential dream home was a house of extreme horrors. She distances herself from Finn and as she progresses with her search, the very foundation of her relationships are shaken. Secrets emerge and nobody is who they seem to be. The conclusion is so horrifying, you want to reach into the book and show it to Mia because she still remains unaware. I took my time with this book, and when I reached the end, I had to go back and read a few chapters again. This book is crazy. The one thing it wi...
Read more

The Summer Children by Dot Hutchison - Book 3 of the Collector's series

Image
  Young children are being left on Mercedes Ramirez's doorstep with a teddy bear. They've been told that she will keep them safe. The frequency increases and children are left around town at random. The common aspect - most of these children have been abused and damaged for life. Mercedes knows what that means and has dedicated her life to help children, no matter what. The question looming large is, at which moment does rescuing a child do more harm than good? This book reads from the POV of Mercedes Ramirez. She has a history which is known to Vic and Eddison, the two people she is closest to. When it repeats itself in the form of hundreds of children, there is only so much she can do, but she does it nonetheless. An Angel is killing off abusive parents and forcing children to watch so they know they are safe. She then makes sure they are found by Mercedes. This books is an improvement over the 2nd in the series. I could read it and kept me engaged. Although, I must add, I kn...
Read more

The Roses of May by Dot Hutchison - Book 2 of the Collector's series

Image
  Priya Sravasti lost her sister Chavi to a mad man who kills young girls and surrounds them with flowers. But that's not all. He now wants Priya to be his and follows her across continents reminding her of his presence by sending her the exact flowers surrounding the 16 girls he killed. The Quantico three - Victor Hanoverian, Brandon Eddison and Mercedes Ramirez, race to find him, but will they in time? The book reads from the POV of Priya and is focused on Eddison, like the first book was focused on Hanoverian. Inara and Bliss, the butterflies, the Gardener and his son make appearances in this book too. Priya is fierce, but her mother Deshani is a furnace. These women are incredibly sharp and smart and Eddison is their family. The story is familiar. It doesn't read well though. I found the language and the phrasing a bit tedious to get through. It was hard to keep reading because it got a bit boring but I wanted to know who the killer was so I kept reading. The author present...
Read more