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This is a gripping and chilling novel that was so engrossing I finished it one sitting. Elizabeth Kay weaves a story so tense you can’t put the down for fear of restarting the book in a dark place. Told through the eyes of Jane, we learn how she and her best friend Marnie become the very best of friends and grow to have a friendship found only in story books. From a childhood spent so close their own teachers mixed up their names to sharing their first apartment together, Jane and Marnie were inseparable. But all of that changed when Marnie married Charlie, a man that Jane instantly despised. You can’t tell your best friend that her husband is a boring, demeaning, jerk of a man. Instead, you lie and tell you her he’s fantastic. When those lies begin to add up, Jane finds herself in a position found only in her worst nightmares.

As Jane tells her story, whose identity we only learn at the very end, we learn how their friendship became so close. We learn how Jane’s childhood was far from idyllic, and how Marnie’s childhood was equally troubled. It’s through Jane’s memories that we see the incredibly slow build-up to obsession, one lie at a time. Throughout all of this, Jane remains a sympathetic character, and that is almost the more terrifying than the reasons behind her lies.

If you’re into dark, twisty thrillers, this is perfect for you. Jane tells her entire story to an unknown listener and I couldn’t wait to find out their identity. I nearly through it out the window at about 97% so be prepared-the ending is rough, but readable. I really enjoyed the London setting and the descriptions of the dinners that Marnie and Jane share. In many of these psychological thrillers, it’s pretty obvious from the beginning that our narrator is going to be unreliable and troubled. Jane truly gives off the vibe of devoted friend who only becomes more unstable after a series of extremely tragic events.