Editorial note: I received a copy of It’s Not Her in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.
It’s Not Her by Mary Kubica is a chilling thriller about the events leading up to and the aftermath of a horrific crime.
Whew, I haven’t read a thriller like this in quite a while. Lately, the thrillers I’ve read have covered heavy topics, but this one really leaned into the dark and disturbing. I really had no idea what would happen next.
It’s a quick read, too, so it’s a good one in between some longer, heavier reads. But it’s definitely pretty downright scary at times. I read it late at night and even had some trouble falling asleep as I reran the story’s events in my mind.
I’ve read several of Mary Kubica’s novels, including The Other Mrs., and Just the Nicest Couple. She writes domestic thrillers very well, and the characters always feel real and richly drawn. She takes quite a bit of care to make sure all the seeds she plants have a reason.
This is like one of those extremely disturbing Dateline episodes where you can’t stop watching. And coupled with the setting in a secluded lake resort, it added so much tension too.
What’s the Story About
Two families take a vacation at a secluded lake resort. While it’s peaceful, there’s also something unnerving about the area.
But the vacation turns into a nightmare when Courtney Gray’s discovers her brother and sister-in-law dead in their lakeside cottage. Her niece, Reese, is missing. Her nephew Wyatt is asleep upstairs—unharmed.
The police investigate what happened, and Courtney soon learns that this town is holding many secrets, which might provide the answer to what happened that terrible night.
Two Timelines
The reader follows the story via two timelines: one in the present, in Courtney’s point of view, as she grapples with the tragedy, wondering where Reese could be, and how he is responsible for the murders. The other timeline follows Reese in the days leading up to the tragic night.
I really like the two-timeline format for stories in this genre, as it does provide much context and even clues to what happened. But we always have to remember there could be an unreliable narrator at play, too, so it keeps us on our toes.
Both Courtney and Reese felt like real people to me, which made this story even more chilling. I felt we got a full picture of them, along with the rest of the family members, which made certain story beats make sense.
The Setting
A vacation to a secluded cabin resort sounds nice, but whew, the isolation aspect of it does make the imagination wander. So I see why the kind of settings work for thrillers and murder mysteries. Essentially, the protagonist gets trapped in the area, and there’s a claustrophobic aspect to it as well.
Many people in the town are hiding secrets, and when Courtney finds out that there was a missing girl’s case that was never solved, she becomes even more determined to find out where Reese is so that she doesn’t become one of those cases as well.
But then the question is, did Reese have involvement in the tragic events, or is she innocent? You have to read to find out.
Verdict
There’s a lot to analyze and debate with the story, but I keep it spoiler-free, so I don’t want to go into too much detail. I found It’s Not Her to be a well-done and classic thriller that kept me guessing until the very end. I can tell the story was thought out, and it all flowed together very well.
And book clubs will have plenty to discuss as well. Check out my book club questions here.
