AD/PR → This is a brand collaboration. While I have been compensated my opinions are mine and always true to my experience. ♥ Bee
Thrillers are not usually something that I reach for immediately, but I like to read them every now and again especially when I’m trying to get out of a reading slump or if I haven’t read anything in a long time.
The Other Emily captured my attention immediately from the blurb. I mean, how is it possible that a woman who went missing 10 years ago reappears and looks exactly the same, but has a different name? I was very keen to find out, and that was the driving force for me to read this.
And overall, I really enjoyed this book. Koontz wastes no time getting into the plot whilst still giving enough background information to know what’s going on without feeling lost. I can sometimes lose track of what’s happening in a thriller if I don’t read it all in one go, but I didn’t have that problem with The Other Emily. It keeps you confused in the way it is supposed to and informed in the way that you should be.
I especially enjoyed the sections that focus on the serial killer. I don’t know what that says about me, but I found the book ‘un-put-down-able’ when David was interviewing the serial killer and exploring his house.
As I was reading the book knowing I was going to review it, I was taking the things I wasn’t keen on, and actually a lot of the criticisms were ironed out and explained by the ending. For example, I found Maddison a pretty unbelievable character, and thought her quickly progressing relationship with David to be really weird and unnatural, but by the ending I realised that it’s supposed to feel like that. Koontz does a really good job of making you feel like something is really ‘off’ throughout the book and keeps you guessing as to what happened with Emily and who Maddison is. I changed my mind about what the ending would be about five times throughout, and let me tell you, I did not expect that ending from a mile off.
The Other Emily promises a twist, and a twist you get! However, the only problem is that I personally didn’t like the ending at all. I haven’t read any other of Dean Koontz, so I’m not sure if the style of ending is typical of his work, but I felt like the ending could have been a lot smarter. The ending felt a little ridiculous and unbelievable, and making it science-fiction felt misplaced and, for lack of a better word, lazy. I honestly don’t know what ending I wanted or how Koontz would explain Emily not ageing… but this wasn’t it.
This also isn’t a book to read if you are very character driven, as I didn’t connect with any of the characters at all, and I didn’t like any of them either. However, for someone who is usually very character driven, this didn’t phase me as I was so intrigued as to what would happen in the end.
There were also times where I felt the writing got into the realm of being a bit pretentious and over-explanatory. Like, I really don’t care about the exact size of the knives David picks!
For me, The Other Emily was a lot like the 2009 film ‘The Knowing’, I really enjoyed it up until the last half an hour. I enjoyed the majority of it a lot, it just didn’t end how I wanted it to.
This book will be a great read for those who enjoy a science fiction twist to a thriller. It will keep you guessing all the way through and will definitely keep you on your toes. Despite it’s flaws, there was no point in the book where I wanted to stop reading – I was always compelled to turn the page.
3.5
