Rating: 4 Stars
It has been a while since I last read a book by Ms. Graves (that being On the Island) and I admire her ability to draw the reader into the world she creates and for her relatable characters. Her latest book The Girl He Used to Know is no exception to her extraordinary writing talents.
The story is told from two POVs and Annika, pronounced like Monica without the M, is where we begin. She has a chance meeting in a grocery store in Chicago with Jonathon her boyfriend from college. Ten years has passed since they last saw each other and a lot has changed. Jonathon has risen the corporate ladder in an investment banking firm and married then divorced in that time span. While Annika is working her dream job as a librarian.
They start seeing each other again and each character reflects on their shared past. Jonathon tells how he is drawn to this shy, beautiful, intelligent and enigmatic young woman he meets at the University chess club. He relates how he wins her trust and eventual falls in love with her. Annika relates how she has always struggled to fit in and how Jonathon accepts her despite all her quirks. He has been patient and understanding with her need to go slowly and she in turn falls for him.
Annika would love nothing more than to pick up where they left off. Yet, there is a lot of water under the bridge and they will have a lot work ahead of them to be able to move forward. Then just when everything is starting to look up tragedy strikes.
I love character driven stories and this one is just that. The author has given us two great charters and she has slowly unraveled them for us as the story progressed so that we understand them fully. This is truly the best thing about her stories. I can always depend on getting characters to love and route for. I especially liked how the author handled Annika’s character, that was excellent. I don’t want to say too much here because I would give away an essential element of the plot. I just hope you enjoy and appreciate the specialness of the character.
The plot was very well done. I liked that the story was not told in chronical order. It worked better switching from present to past and back again. It created suspense because we know that something happened that drove Jonathon and Annika apart and that dangling carrot kept me intrigued and I needed to know just what happened. Then the wrench in the works in the later quarter of the story heightened the drama. Fabulous!
I recommend this book to readers who love character driven stories especially those that fall into the women’s fiction and romance genre. In addition, this book would make an excellent pick for a book club because of the many social issues presented in the book, i.e. bullying.
I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion.