She Treads Softly: Under Her Skin

Monday, November 11, 2024

Under Her Skin

Under Her Skin by Jessica Huntley
11/27/24; ebook
Inkubator Books

Under Her Skin by Jessica Huntley is a recommended psychological thriller.

Natasha has been struggling to make ends meet since she left home and had her son Max. Now Max, seventeen, has gotten into trouble, the kind of trouble they need to run away from. Their escape is an unexpected inheritance from an aunt she never knew. She has been left a house in the country and a small amount of money. When they arrive at the house, it needs a lot of work, but hopefully she and her son will be safe here. They both find jobs in town and she hires Henry, a local builder who offers his services at a reduced rate.

There is no doubt that Under Her Skin held my complete attention. The narrative is divided into three parts and the plot moves at a fast pace. Not all developments in the plot are explained as well as they could be, but once started, I kept reading right to the end.

At first I was focused on the annoying characters and bad parenting. Max had an attitude and acted like a spoiled teen. Natasha's reaction to him was to cuddle him, excusing and enabling his bad behavior. Once they were away from the city, Natasha continued to make poor choices. She is also off her anxiety meds, cold turkey, and I kept mentally telling her to go to a doctor and get her prescription.

Once Henry started helping and a secret was found during renovations suddenly terrible secrets to keep, threatening behavior, and intimidation comes into play. At this point I had to set disbelief aside as the plot veers way off into a totally different direction. Max seemed to control himself a bit better, while Natasha's personality changes drastically. Thanks to Inkubator Books for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

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John Updike's six rules for reviewing:

1. Try to understand what the author wished to do, and do not blame him for not achieving what he did not attempt.

2. Give him enough direct quotation--at least one extended passage--of the book's prose so the review's reader can form his own impression, can get his own taste.

3. Confirm your description of the book with quotation from the book, if only phrase-long, rather than proceeding by fuzzy precis.

4. Go easy on plot summary, and do not give away the ending.

5. If the book is judged deficient, cite a successful example along the same lines, from the author's oeuvre or elsewhere. Try to understand the failure. Sure it's his and not yours?

To these concrete five might be added a vaguer sixth, having to do with maintaining a chemical purity in the reaction between product and appraiser.....Review the book, not the reputation.... Better to praise and share than blame and ban. The communion between reviewer and his public is based upon the presumption of certain possible joys in reading, and all our discriminations should curve toward that end.