Look In the Mirror by Catherine Steadman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
**3.5-stars**
After Nina’s beloved father passes away, she learns that he left her a property in the British Virgin Islands. A property Nina didn’t even know existed.
She’s thrown for a loop by this information. She felt like they shared everything with each other, but apparently he had been keeping some secrets.
Curious about this hidden side of her Dad’s life, and hoping to find some answers, Nina travels to the BVI to check it out for herself. What she finds couldn’t be further from her what she expected. It seems nothing like her Dad.
An impersonal, uber-modern, waterfront property, all glass and marble. Cold, almost clinical.
How did he even afford it? Something doesn’t add up. Nina is anxious to settle in and poke around. If she’s gonna figure this out, she’s gonna need to dig deep.
Maria is a nanny for the super rich, which often includes staying in exotic resort locations. Her new gig, set in the BVI, should pay enough for it to be her last job.
When her new charges don’t show up at the anticipated time though, she’s told to just settle in and enjoy herself. Though it’s difficult at first, ultimately she does just that. What else is she gonna do while she waits?
As she starts to let her guard down, she begins to notice things that lead her to believe, maybe she shouldn’t. She was given one rule, not to go in the basement, but as her curiosity grows, that starts to feel like an impossibility.
Look In the Mirror is another novel that I had a difficult time rating. I was so into this in the beginning. The intrigue of Nina discovering she inherited a luxury property that she didn’t even know that her father owned. I wanted to know everything about that.
The other perspective, Maria, was also quite compelling, but the story itself managed to go off the rails for me at the end. I just did not care for the direction it ultimately went, and I’m pretty burnt about it, if I’m being honest.
There were some great twists along the way though. I also felt Steadman had a good amount of intensity added to the mysteries of both perspectives.
For me, there was a point where one of the characters gets themselves beyond the circumstance in which we initially found them. It was after that point that it started to lose my interest. It sort of sucked a bit of the intrigue out of it.
With this being said, it was a pretty even split right down the middle for me. The 1st-half was like a strong 4, maybe even a 5, and the 2nd-half was a high 2 or 3. I think 3.5-stars is a fair portrayal of my overall experience with this one.
I do feel like this author always shows great creativity with her plots. She’s not afraid to take risks and I appreciate that. Sometimes her stories hit with me, other times, less so. Nevertheless, I’ll always pick them up.
Thank you to the publisher, Ballantine Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I’m looking forward to seeing what Steadman comes up with next!