Because You're Mine

Author: Rea Frey
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Type: e-book
Source: NetGalley
Publisher: St Martin's Griffin
First Published: August 6, 2019
Opening Lines: "She is going to die. She doesn't know it yet. She knows she should be sleeping.  She knows she shouldn't have come out here in the middle of the night. She knows she should have skipped the wine."

Book Description from GoodReads: Single mother Lee has the daily routine down to a science: shower in six minutes. Cut food into perfect squares. Never leave her on-the-spectrum son Mason in someone else’s care. She’ll do anything—anything—to keep his carefully constructed world from falling apart. Do anything to keep him safe.

But when her best friend Grace convinces her she needs a small break from motherhood to recharge her batteries, Lee gives in to a weekend trip. Surely a long weekend away from home won’t hurt?
Noah, Mason’s handsome, bright, charismatic tutor—the first man in ages Lee’s even noticed—is more than happy to stay with him.

Forty-eight hours later, someone is dead.

But not all is as it seems. Noah may be more than who he claims to be. Grace has a secret—one that will destroy Lee. Lee has secrets of her own that she will do anything to keep hidden. As the dominoes begin to fall and the past comes to light, perhaps it's no mystery someone is gone after all…

Because You're Mine is a breathtaking novel of domestic drama and suspense.

My Rating: 3 stars

My Review: I enjoyed Rea Frey's debut novel Not Her Daughter last August while on holiday and was excited to see that she's back with her sophomore novel, Because You're Mine. 

This novel boldly begins with the author sharing an emotional and deeply personal note - an experience which influenced this story surrounding a young autistic boy. But even with that emotional beginning, Because You're Mine didn't pack quite the punch I was expecting. 

First, there's a lot going on - some big issues, multiple POVs, different timelines and a sometimes confusing convergence of a few genres (Is it contemporary fiction, women's fiction or suspense?) giving this reader the feeling that this book was trying to be too many things at once. Readers are baited along with characters revealing in a whispered "Shhh, I have a secret!" kind of way as the smaller twists were set up. These twists were obvious to me early on, but I give Frey credit for her final, big twist. That one I didn't see coming. It was a doozy but its revelation was abrupt followed quickly by the ending. An epilogue to wrap things up would have been nice.

I'm left feeling a little torn about this book. Overall, I'd say it's a good sophomore novel that was a quick read that addresses some bigger issues and ended with a solid final twist, but it just misses its mark with a lack of depth to its characters and its slightly disjointed execution. Good but not wow for this reader. 


Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to St Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.