Let Her Be
Will is an aspiring novelist obsessed with his ex-girlfriend’s social media. Her posts depict a blissful new rural life with a perfect man, but Will is convinced there is a dark side—mostly because no one has seen her in person for nearly a year. When he drags a skeptical friend into his investigation, the line between concern and stalking blurs, raising the question of who is actually in danger.
- Will - Aspiring novelist
- Anisa - Will’s ex-girlfriend
- Emily - Friend of Will and Anisa
- Parker - Anisa’s new boyfriend
- Claire - Will’s sister, deceased
- Will attempts suicide but Anisa finds him and calls 911.
- Anisa is living with Parker outside the city and posts on her blog daily, but no one has seen her in a year.
- Will starts to worry that Anisa is recycling old pictures and that she might be in trouble.
- Emily admits she is worried about Anisa too, so she and Will go looking for her.
- When they cannot find her, they go stay the night at Will's family cabin.
- Emily tells Will that the night he tried to kill himself, Anisa ignored all his calls. Emily was the one who found him and called 911, not Anisa.
- Emily admits she knows Anisa is in Portland and that she is in love with Will.
- She lied to get him away from the city, thinking that clearing his mind would help him get over Anisa.
- Will is angry that Emily lied to him, reinforcing his belief that all the women in his life lie.
- Sometime later: Will sells his novel to a publisher.
- According to Emily’s post on Instagram, she is out of the country on a writers retreat.
The premise of this book was interesting, but the actual story did not align very well with the blurb at all. Going into it expecting one thing and getting something completely different made the whole book feel slow. It also ended up being a lot darker and more depressing than I anticipated, which was jarring since the description did not really prepare the reader for that kind of heavy vibe. If you want to know what I mean by dark, be sure to check the trigger warnings before you start reading.
The ending was another major sticking point. I usually do not mind a bit of an ambiguous storyline, but this one left way too many questions unanswered. There were several characters whose fates were left totally unclear, and that crosses the line from a clever open ending to just feeling frustrating. It is an okay read if you go in knowing it is a dark, slow burn, but the lack of closure and the misleading blurb kept it from rating higher.
- Suicide attempt
- Domestic violence
- Death
Publisher: Amazon Original Stories
ASIN: B08BTZT8HS
Publication Date: July 30, 2020
Note: Details are for the original edition. Other formats, editions, and audiobook versions may be available.
