Not My Boy

By: Kelly Simmons

3/5 🔍

Not My Boy follows Hannah and her son Miles, her sister Hillary and her family, and their mother Eva. Having fallen upon tough times, Hannah and Miles move into a house right next to her sister and down the street from her mother. Running from her husband, Hannah is also worried about Miles' behavior. He seems to have a fascination with death. Hannah has tried everything in her power to keep this family secret close to heart. She even moved because Miles was bullied; however, right after the pair move in, a little girl is found dead.

The neighborhood is visibly shaken by this newest discovery. Suspicion is flying rampant. Neighbor is blaming neighbor. Neighbor is blaming stranger. Family is blaming... family. Will a game of point the blame pit formerly inseparable sisters against each other?

I'll start this review by saying that I really enjoyed Simmons writing style. I love when points of views are switched and the past is hinted at for the first portion of the book. Writing it the way she did allowed Simmons to truly create an air of distrust and accusation. Her use of multiple points of view also allows for more information and discoveries to be shared - a luxury we would not have when reading just one character's story.

However, the book itself just fell flat for me. What started as a promising suspense novel ended in a jumbled mess. Despite the fabulous writing style, it still took me about one-third of the book before my interest was truly peaked and I couldn't put it down. Even then, I felt as though I was reading it to get to the end... find out what happened, but not necessarily of interest. When the accusations were flying, the book was actually suspenseful. I was second-guessing everything. Once the mystery began to unfold, I felt myself getting disappointed. It was still suspenseful, but I wasn't pleased with the ending.

Finally, I thought the ending was rushed. Everything that had come into question was quickly answered in the last few pages and wasn't satisfying at all. So much was focused on Miles and I felt like there were no answers regarding that. What was going on with him? Was he healed? It was alluded to, but not stated outright and that leaves me wanting more in a negative way. Even Hannah's past was barely stated after being alluded to for nearly 300 pages! How did she reconcile? How did it help her with me3? What even came of me3 after all the scandals???! I didn't necessarily dislike this book, but I'm not sure I would recommend it...

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