Julie's Review: When the Lights Go Out

Author: Mary Kubica
Series: None
Publication Date: September 4, 2018
Publisher: Park Row
Pages: 336
Obtained: publisher via Netgalley
Genre:  Psychological Thriller
Rating: 3/5
Bottom Line: This one fell short for me
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Library

Summary: Jessie Sloane is on the path to rebuilding her life after years of caring for her ailing mother. She rents a new apartment and applies for college. But when the college informs her that her social security number has raised a red flag, Jessie discovers a shocking detail that causes her to doubt everything she’s ever known. Finding herself suddenly at the center of a bizarre mystery, Jessie tumbles down a rabbit hole, which is only exacerbated by grief and a relentless lack of sleep. As days pass and the insomnia worsens, it plays with Jessie’s mind. Her judgment is blurred, her thoughts are hampered by fatigue. Jessie begins to see things until she can no longer tell the difference between what’s real and what she’s only imagined. Meanwhile, twenty years earlier and two hundred and fifty miles away, another woman’s split-second decision may hold the key to Jessie’s secret past. Has Jessie’s whole life been a lie or have her delusions gotten the best of her? ~amazon.com

Review: When the Lights Go Out is a psychological thriller that will keep you feeling frantic and wondering if you are losing your mind right along with Jessie. Jessie is reeling after the death of her mother and trying to get her life back on track. The biggest issue is that she's not sleeping which is causing her life to be chaotic. Not only that but her application to school has her as dead through the social security system.

This really sends Jessie into a tailspin and causes her mind to race and her to behave erratically. While we are tripping with her, we also learn the story of her mother's past.  Eden's past is just as intriguing as the present hell her daughter is going through.

What Ms. Kubica does extremely well is make you feel for Eden and her path to getting pregnant. I could feel the emotions from both her and her husband. I can only imagine the struggle of going through all the poking and prodding just to see if you can get pregnant. Then add in the IVF treatments and the expense and it's no wonder Eden got lost.

I felt for Jessie and the questions about who she was and how she was going to figure it all out. My only qualm was that I don't think she did enough to try to get some sleep.

If you haven't read Ms. Kubica then I recommend picking something from her backlist first.


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