The Book:
If She Wakes by Erik Therme (Harlow #2)
Published February 20th 2022 by Thecker Books
Date read: February 24, 2021
The Characters:
Tess and her husband Josh
Buy it on Bookshop.org | Amazon
The Plot (from Goodreads):
How do you survive the death of a child?
My name is Tess Parker.
Two days ago, I was in a car accident with my sister-in-law, Torrie. Before she slipped into a coma, she asked my husband and me to care for her four-month-old son, Levi.
Yesterday, a woman claiming to be Torrie’s estranged sister knocked on our door. But Torrie has no siblings . . . or so she said. She and my brother were only together a short time before he left, and Torrie has clearly been keeping secrets.
Today, another of Torrie’s “sisters” has come to town. Both say the other is lying about who they are.
Neither of them is telling the truth.
Both of them want Levi.
Or so she believes.
The Twist:
Brady stole Levi, but it wasn’t him driving the kidnapping. Gordon arranged everything to extort Tess. Gordon was in love with Tess and wanted to force her to run away with him.
As Gordon tried to kidnap her, Brady hit him over the head with a rock. Tess agreed not to turn Brady in and escaped with Levi. Tess sends the police to the tree farm where he was killed, but the police find nothing.
Later, they find Brady with his wrists slit and a suicide note next to him.
The Ending:
Josh and Tess separate. In the epilogue, Tess wakes in the middle of the night to a text saying “Eve and I need your help”.
The Review:
Make sure you first check out my review of If She Dies!
Thanks to @letstalkbookspromo for an audio copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
I listened to this one right on the tail of the first book in the series, If She Dies. While I suppose If She Wakes could be read as a standalone, I think you’d be missing a lot of insight into Tess’s emotions and the backstory with Brady. They’re both very quick reads, so if you’re interested in this one I’d definitely pick up If She Dies first!
I enjoyed this continuation of Tess’s story. While she is certainly an unreliable narrator, she’s easy to sympathize with in the situations she is put in. She is constantly put down by her husband, who wants to move on from their daughter’s death and is annoyed that Tess can’t. In the beginning, the reader can’t really tell if she’s losing it a little or if she’s to be believed and it makes the book enjoyably suspenseful.
There are a lot of suspicious characters that show up as the story progresses, and it was fun to flush out the red herrings. The book takes some unexpected turns, but it sets up the third book perfectly in the end. I will certainly be reading the next book when it comes out.
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