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It’s Not Her by Mary Kubica – Review | Overhyped or Worth the Read?

If you’ve seen It’s Not Her by Mary Kubica all over Bookstagram and are wondering if it’s worth the hype, here’s my honest, spoiler-free review. I went into this one with really high expectations. When a thriller is everywhere, I expect something that completely pulls me in and keeps me hooked. Unfortunately, that wasn’t quite my experience. This It’s Not Her book review is a bit of a mixed one for me. There were definitely elements I enjoyed, especially the multiple POV structure. I usually love when thrillers are told from different perspectives, and here it was done well. It added depth to the story and kept things moving. However, I really struggled with the teenage perspective. It just didn’t fully work for me and made it harder to stay engaged with the story overall. As a psychological thriller, It’s Not Her had all the right ingredients, but the twists didn’t land the way I expected. There were enough hints throughout that I could see parts of the reveal coming, so it didn’t fe...
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Review: The Vanishing Place by Zoë Rankin — A strong debut that lost its way in the edit

I went into The Vanishing Place by Zoë Rankin with high hopes and for a while, it really delivered. The concept? Fantastic. The writing? Solid. The atmosphere? Tense and gripping. For the first half, I was certain I had a new 5-star thriller in my hands.


We start with two timelines: the present, where we follow the main character navigating her trauma, and the past, which gradually reveals what she’s been through. It’s a structure I love… simple but effective, especially when the emotional threads begin to tie together.


But then… at around 70% in, a third timeline suddenly appears. Not just a flashback or one new character, but a whole group of them. It was jarring. I found myself rereading pages just to keep track, while also thinking, “I know what’s going on! Why wasn’t this introduced earlier?”


That new section takes up a good chunk of the book (about 20%), and while it explains something crucial, it ends up draining the tension from the main story. It felt like a late addition, something that could’ve been brilliant if it had been integrated gradually throughout instead of dropped in all at once.


It’s such a shame, because everything else really worked for me: the tone, the pacing, the emotional weight of Anya’s story. The writing shows promise, and I’d definitely pick up whatever Zoë Rankin writes next.


So while this one wasn’t quite the 5-star read I hoped for, I still think it’s a strong debut… just one that could’ve used a firmer editorial hand.


⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.


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