Pieces of Her by Karin Slaughter

What if the person you thought you knew best turns out to be someone you never knew at all . . . ?

Andrea knows everything about her mother, Laura. She knows she’s spent her whole life in the small beachside town of Belle Isle; she knows she’s never wanted anything more than to live a quiet life as a pillar of the community; she knows she’s never kept a secret in her life. Because we all know our mothers, don’t we?

But all that changes when a trip to the mall explodes into violence and Andrea suddenly sees a completely different side to Laura. Because it turns out that before Laura was Laura, she was someone completely different. For nearly thirty years she’s been hiding from her previous identity, lying low in the hope that no one would ever find her. But now she’s been exposed, and nothing will ever be the same again.

The police want answers and Laura’s innocence is on the line, but she won’t speak to anyone, including her own daughter. Andrea is on a desperate journey following the breadcrumb trail of her mother’s past. And if she can’t uncover the secrets hidden there, there may be no future for either one of them. . . .

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I can’t believe I’m giving such a low rating to a Karin Slaughter novel, but honestly it just wasn’t a great read. It was dull all around!

The opening scene really grabbed my attention. Andrea and Laura were living their lives and then boom – a shooting at a mall and everything changes. Andrea sees a new side of her mother that she never knew existed.

The novel switches between past and present. Laura (mother) was the narrator in the past and Andrea (daughter) in the present. I couldn’t stand Andrea – so boring. For 31 years old, she was just so childish and never really spoke. My husband nicknamed her mopey. I did like past Laura, but I just couldn’t connect with her story line. It seemed so over the top and unrealistic.

The 2 stories did end up connecting, but I wasn’t a fan. I was expecting something crazy to happen and it never did. It always disappointing when you go into a novel with such high hopes and the novel doesn’t deliver.

I’m also confused on why Laura never told Andrea the truth. I can understand sheltering your child, but if that child (now an adult) is in danger, you may want to sit her down and tell her the truth.

2 calculators out of a potential 5. There are so many better Karin Slaughter novels out there – check out Pretty Girls or The Other Daughter!

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