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The Fall of Lisa Bellow by Susan Perabo
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was an extremely memorable thriller that took me by surprise, because it's something that was unlike anything that I’ve read before. The thing that I enjoyed most is the psychological study of human beings and the interaction and nuances in relationships between parent and child and how that in turn affects the worldview of all of the characters. Character study, if I can call it that is one of the most fascinating things that can be explored in any novels, and so I really appreciated what the author did here.

We follow Meredith, a young child who has experienced a traumatic kidnapping incident, where she was left behind. This changes the core of her being, and messes with her head as well as her mother's and those around here. This book deals with the aftermath and survival guilt after Lisa Bellow's disappearance, as well as with flashbacks from earlier times describing what Lisa was really like.

I've read a couple of stories like this, where something happens to a someones that the MC hated, and then after something big happens they suddenly become obsessed with everything about them. When in reality, they maybe took five minutes to talk to them in their whole lifetime, so it sometimes seems pointless to be so concerned about the outcome of their fate. This book was by far the best example that I could recommend to people about this concept.

I really felt like I could relate to thirteen-year old Meredith, even though I’ve never attended public middle school, and even though I’ve never had to face a struggle like this. The author just makes you want to empathize and connect with both the main characters .

If I'm honest, although I adore multiple POVs books, they are rarely done right. I was so glad that each of the character's were so distinct and unique, so that I could easily differentiate between our family cast. The transition was seamless, because from the tone I immediately knew that a shift had occurred.

My only bump in the road was at the beginning of Book 2, because I personally extremely confused at what was doing on. At first I thought that this dual plot thing was unique before I figured it out at the very end. Even though there was no clear resolution at the ending, I still felt satisfied. I can understand how this might bother some people, that there is no clear "yes" or "no" answer. In fact I didn't even realize that fact under I looked back on this unputdownable book.

**Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own

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