I thought I liked this book for a while, and then I didn’t. It was interesting and evenly paced. But I found the central premise and Jessica’s arc frustrating. This is the kind of myopic thinking that got us the Halle Berry Catwoman film (no shade to Berry). Just because women are involved doesn’t mean the story has to revolve around motherhood, being a mother, worrying about being a mother, sacrificing to be a mother. Nor does the plot have to focus on cosmetics and women striving towards artificial standards of beauty. It’s just so cliché. I was expecting better of this story. Like surely we can rise above these banalities. 

I was also irritated by Jessica needing to be rescued or things conveniently fixing themselves. That’s not good writing and it does Jessica no favours as a detective or superhero. 

I initially enjoyed this a lot more. But by the end I couldn’t believe how vapid it all turned out to be.

I mean, spoiler alert, but the Dorian Gray girls — what happened to them? Are they old and gray and wrinkled beyond measure? Like what’s their journey to recovery. Don’t just leave that part out and focus on the girl who escaped and was taken care of. Jeez. Also, brushing aside the many many murders of Black men and other little children — really? We’re ignoring that too. Sigh, this book.