So one thing about when I am sick. I tend to sit in bed, read, and then nap, wake up, read, nap, and then so on and so on. Today I took some time to start cleaning up my e-reader for 2026 and then saw that I apparently read this short story two weeks ago. I have zero memory of it. I re-read it today in between other books (this is only over 50 pages) and honestly, I think I just forgot about it because it’s not super memorable. The story is going for suspense for a while there, and then just kind of gives up in the end.
The Sublet follows Anne who is a ghostwriter who is stuck trying to write a novel of her own. She then is given an offer to ghostwrite an up and coming health/wellness influencer named Melody Wells. Before Anne knows it, Melody leaks into every facet of her life and even gives her a tip on a three bedroom sublet that Anne and her family would love. And Anne does love it, at first. Then questions arise about the prior owner, and what if anything, Melody is hiding.
I think this was supposed to be a send-up of influencer culture, but it just fell flat in the end to me. Anne was just a mess throughout the story, you find out why for some of it, but even that had me going, well this makes no sense. And honestly, Hendricks seems to be going for a dark ending at one point, but then it just doesn’t happen.
