Review: The Elizas by Sara Shepard @sarabooks @AtriaBooks

The Elizas on April 17, 2018
Genres: Suspense
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“The dysfunctional, unreliable heroines of Girl on a Train and The Woman in the Window have a new sister-in-arms: Eliza Fontaine, protagonist of this adult novel by the author of the YA juggernaut Pretty Little Liars.”
—Newsday

“A book you won’t be able to leave sitting on the nightstand for long.”
—Harper’s BAZAAR


When debut novelist Eliza Fontaine is found at the bottom of a hotel pool, her family at first assumes that it’s just another failed suicide attempt. But Eliza swears she was pushed, and her rescuer is the only witness.

Desperate to find out who attacked her, Eliza takes it upon herself to investigate. But as the publication date for her novel draws closer, Eliza finds more questions than answers. Like why are her editor, agent, and family mixing up events from her novel with events from her life? Her novel is completely fictional, isn’t it?

The deeper Eliza goes into her investigation while struggling with memory loss, the closer her life starts to resemble her novel until the line between reality and fiction starts to blur and she can no longer tell where her protagonist’s life ends and hers begins.


One fateful night everything changes, ending up in the bottom of a pool with no recollection of how. The Elizas by Sara Shephard  unravels or ravels, depending on your point of view. Everyone thinks Eliza Fontaine tried to end her life, but as memories surface in pieces, she is adamant that that is not the case.

An unreliable narrator makes for an interesting read, never knowing what is truth and what are false memories, as does the plot being about a book within a book. Alternating between Eliza’s present, and excerpts from her upcoming book Dots. She’s quirky, and sometimes all over the place.
A psychological suspense with plenty and twists and turns made for an enjoyable read. The ending was good, not exactly what I saw coming, and that I loved.


“A story blending Hitchcock, S.J. Watson, and Ruth Ware.”
—Entertainment Weekly

“Buckle up Pretty Little Liars fans, because author Sara Shepard is here with her first adult novel, and it is sizzling.”
—Bustle

“An eerie tale of manipulation, inception, and betrayal that will leave readers questioning their own memories—and reality.”
—Jamie Blynn, Us Weekly

“This is spring-break reading at its finest.”
—Town & Country

“Highly recommended for fans of eventually justified ‘paranoid woman’ characters who descend in a direct line from Charlotte Brontë to Ruth Ware.”
—Booklist

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