The story is told from two POVs. The main POV is Sara, a law student who is convinced, based on her past actions, that she was the intended murder target. The second POV is the murder victim, also named Sarah, who describes her backstory for the reader.
After the initial crime, the tension seemed to dissipate, and the story became more confusing than suspenseful with extraneous details that made the story feel disjointed and lacking direction. I wish there was more attention given to the ride-share mix-up, which was a great premise, but instead we focus on Sara's life - her poor decisions and immaturity.
The premise and the inclusion of social themes of sexism, class and expectations were the strongest elements of this book for me. This was the author's debut suspense novel (she has previously written lighter fare under her real name Sonya Lalli) and it was a good first foray into a new genre. But although it has a dark plot with a few red herrings, it never felt suspenseful to me and wasn't a story that compelled me to pick it up.
Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to HarperCollins Canada for my complimentary advanced digital copy that was provided in exchange for my honest review.
My Rating: 3 stars
Author: S.C. Lalli
Genre: Suspense, Canadian
Type and Source: eBook from publisher via NetGalley
Publisher: HarperAvenue
First Published: August 2, 2022
Book Description from GoodReads: Two women named Sara each get into a rideshare. . . but only one makes it home alive. Which Sara was the real target?
Law student Saraswati “Sara” Bhaduri holds down two jobs in order to make her way through school, but it’s still a struggle. She’s had to do things to pay the bills that most people wouldn’t expect from “a nice Indian girl.” It seems like an ordinary busy Tuesday night at the local dive bar until her boss demands Sara deal with a drunk girl in the bathroom.
The two become fast friends. Why? Because they both have the same name. And despite their different circumstances, the two connect. When they both order rideshares home, they tumble in the back of the cars and head out into the night.
But when Sara awakes in her rideshare, she finds she's on the wrong side of town—the rich side—and she realizes: she and Sarah took the wrong cars home.
With no money, Sara walks back to her apartment on the shady side of town only to discover police lights flashing and a body crumpled on her doorstep: Sarah.
Was Sarah Ellis or Sara Bhaduri the target? And why would anyone want either of them dead?
In this smart, twisty novel about ambition, wealth, and dangerous longing, the layers are peeled back on two young women desperate to break out of the expectations placed on them, with devastating results.
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