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A review by parklandmom
The Face of the Earth by Deborah Raney
4.0
Stars: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ (4/5 stars)
Read: January 2024
Format: Kindle e-Book
Challenge Prompt: CNL’s #21 of 50 - “featuring law enforcement” - police detectives helped with the missing person case
Book #8 for 2024: Having a loved one go missing must be one of the most difficult traumas to ever endure. There are nothing but questions and horrible, wild imaginings. The story had me immersed in the shock and pain of it all from the perspective of the husband, the adult children, and her best friend.
Naturally, spending a lot of time with someone can lead to feelings. There is so much rawness and inter-dependency there. Mitch even says it is like he could hardly distinguish his wife from her best friend after a while.
Yet I still felt uncomfortable with the waffling by the best friend between being worried for her friend and having deep feelings for her best friend’s husband amidst all the trauma. I found her to be a contradiction and that frustrated me greatly. She did redeem herself at one point but then I felt she reverted right back. It felt manipulative to me. I admittedly didn’t like her that much.
While I can’t understand the incredible difficulty of that situation, it just felt dishonouring to even consider starting a relationship when someone is missing. Regardless of whether a person is missing, has left of their own accord, or has died, the healthy response is to take some time to grieve or work through the situation. It sometimes felt like she would prefer that her friend be gone so she could have her husband. It was just weird and uncomfortable for me.
The story was compelling though and I did enjoy most of it. The ending seemed a little strange after the journey but sometimes the obvious answer is the least expected.
Read: January 2024
Format: Kindle e-Book
Challenge Prompt: CNL’s #21 of 50 - “featuring law enforcement” - police detectives helped with the missing person case
Book #8 for 2024: Having a loved one go missing must be one of the most difficult traumas to ever endure. There are nothing but questions and horrible, wild imaginings. The story had me immersed in the shock and pain of it all from the perspective of the husband, the adult children, and her best friend.
Naturally, spending a lot of time with someone can lead to feelings. There is so much rawness and inter-dependency there. Mitch even says it is like he could hardly distinguish his wife from her best friend after a while.
Yet I still felt uncomfortable with the waffling by the best friend between being worried for her friend and having deep feelings for her best friend’s husband amidst all the trauma. I found her to be a contradiction and that frustrated me greatly. She did redeem herself at one point but then I felt she reverted right back. It felt manipulative to me. I admittedly didn’t like her that much.
While I can’t understand the incredible difficulty of that situation, it just felt dishonouring to even consider starting a relationship when someone is missing. Regardless of whether a person is missing, has left of their own accord, or has died, the healthy response is to take some time to grieve or work through the situation. It sometimes felt like she would prefer that her friend be gone so she could have her husband. It was just weird and uncomfortable for me.
The story was compelling though and I did enjoy most of it. The ending seemed a little strange after the journey but sometimes the obvious answer is the least expected.