I predict that I won’t remember I read this book in a few years… so it’s really going to be like this book was never here (rimshot).
This book initially had a whiff of Single White Female, a la the 1992 movie starring Bridget Fonda and Jennifer Jason Leigh, wherein a female friend starts to take their friendship a little too seriously, in an “if I can’t have you no one can” sort of way.
Emily and Kristen are besties ride or dies who don’t really ride with anyone else (red flag) and when their Cambodian vacation goes awry with a sexual assault and self-defense murder or said assaulter, Kristen is quick to action while Emily struggles in the moment and continues to struggle to pick up the pieces of her life in the aftermath. At the same time, Kristen is supportive and doesn’t even seem impacted by this situation (red flag). Flash forward to their next international trip to Chile which also has a harrowing end and Emily begins to wonder if it’s a coincidence and peek under the hood of her friendship with Kristen.
At first, I was intrigued because it seemed to flip the script on what you might expect from that plotline, which is interesting, but then it takes that flipped script, sets it on fire, and throws the ashes out the window, and those ashes also jump a shark. I was left head scratching as to why she couldn’t pump the breaks (heh, that’s funny if you’ve read the book) and stop unveiling twist after preposterous twist while leaving red herrings strewn about. In summation, this book is a LOT.
Ultimately, this is a cautionary tale of female friendship and the absolute worst that can happen when you let a toxic friendship spiral out of control. (And a reminder that therapy is awesome and you should listen to your gut and trust yourself).
Boiled down to its inner workings I think the core of the story could make for an interesting Lifetime movie but as a novel I found it to be obvious and overdramatic and not very enjoyable.