An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen
4 out of 5 Magical Coffee Cups
From Goodreads.com
Seeking women ages 18 – 32 to participate in a study on ethics and morality. Generous compensation. Anonymity guaranteed.
When Jessica Farris signs up for a psychology study conducted by the mysterious Dr. Shields, she thinks all she’ll have to do is answer a few questions, collect her money, and leave. But as the questions grow more and more intense and invasive and the sessions become outings where Jess is told what to wear and how to act, she begins to feel as though Dr. Shields may know what she’s thinking…and what she’s hiding. As Jess’s paranoia grows, it becomes clear that she can no longer trust what in her life is real, and what is one of Dr. Shields’ manipulative experiments. Caught in a web of deceit and jealousy, Jess quickly learns that some obsessions can be deadly.
I grabbed this one because I loved ‘The Wife Between Us’.
Told from two points of view.
Dr. Shields starts off rather enigmatic. Why is this study being conducted? Why were these questions chosen? Why so secretive? Why is Jess being asked to do all of these odd things? Also, Dr. Shields POV is sometimes hard to push through. It is written in the form of clinical notes, and I felt it to be a bit dry at times.
On to our test subject Jess. Jess is a makeup artist who sneaks her way into a study to make some quick cash. I enjoyed her chapters; she was a little all over the place as she was expected to do more and more for Dr. Shields’s odd study. Part of me couldn’t believe she was wiling to do some of these things, but at the same time I wanted to check my local college to see if there were any paid surveys to sign up for. I mean, answer a few questions and make some money. Why not? Well, that is how I started off thinking with this book. By the end of the book, I decided to let that idea go.
This book took me a little longer to get into than usual. When I read ‘The Wife Between Us’, I was so invested. I needed to find answers! I was desperate for details, any and all details! I found myself interested in this book but not obsessed. In the end, I would say this book was good, but not outstanding. Maybe I should have had a more open mind when reading this one instead of expecting a repeat of the other book.
Even though I didn’t love this book as much as I did their first book, I still plan to read more books by these same authors. So, I shall be adding ‘You Are Not Alone’ to my TBR pile!
Literary Coffee 