Solid Slow Burn Mystery Will Be Jarring For Some. While never a fan of content/ trigger warnings printed in books (I prefer them on the author’s website or in reviews like this, either way separate from the book at hand and easily findable with a modicum of research), let me say up front that if you have severe issues with child sexual abuse or child neglect… this may not be the best book for you. Same with violence against women generally, addiction, stripping, etc.
That dispensed with, this was a remarkable tale of generations of women trying to leave a dying small rural town… and failing miserably, only for the cycle to repeat with their own daughters ad nauseum. It is a slow burn missing woman tale where we do get both the current timeline of one of the women being missing and the older timeline of what her life was up to the very moment she became missing. Both parts of the tale carry the same dull, dismal, depressing stylings throughout, even as both sets of women actively rebel against their situations and try their damnedest to be the women that break the cycle.
For anyone who has ever spent time in a run down house or trailer, you know this life quite well. You’ve probably lived a version of it – hopefully *without* the abuse, though this is admittedly far more common than it should be in such situations. Which makes the story that much more “real”… and yet also that much more depressing, to a point, as many read fiction as a way to *escape* their current “real” world bonds.
The time switches could be a bit jarring – they are labeled, but the label is somewhat easily missed – and the inconclusive ending, with several questions still lingering, could put some off. Personally, I felt this particular ending made the tale that much more “real” and worked for the story told to that point, particularly in the final build up to the reveal. So it is absolutely a “your mileage may vary”, and unless you are just 100% opposed to such endings… do yourself a favor and read this book and see what you think of it yourself.
Overall truly a great and all-too-real (sadly) story, and very well told. Very much recommended. With the warnings noted in this review.
This review of Safe and Sound by Laura McHugh was originally written on April 13, 2024.
