The Elizas by Sara Shepard

Cover Art Courtesy of Atria Books

As a Pretty Little Liars superfan, I'm always drawn to Sara Shepard's books. The mystery and intrigue in all her plotlines always have me hooked, and her new adult thriller The Elizas was no different. I want to put a trigger warning for mental illness and suicide on this book before I jump into the review.

When Eliza Fontaine is pulled from a pool, her parents and doctors think it's a suicide attempt after an evening of drinking too much. She does have a history of them, after all, both evenings of excessive drinking and suicide attempts. But Eliza swears someone pushed her in. When no one takes her seriously, Eliza decides to investigate her case herself, set on proving that this was not a suicide attempt. But other things are happening to Eliza as well. She's zoning out, not remembering major life details, and acting erratic. Her first novel is set to be published soon, but when her family finds out about it and reads the story, they plead Eliza to stop the publication. But why?

This book is half Eliza plot, and half excerpts from Eliza's novel, The Dots, so this almost seems like two stories in one. The Dots follows Dot, a young girl plagued with seizures, and her aunt Dorothy. When The Dots starts to turn dark, Eliza begins to uncover some of that missing information in her life that may connect the fictional Dot and Eliza herself more than she initially thought.

This may be one of the hardest book reviews I've ever had to write, simply because the book was such a trip! Also, the way the two plots paralleled it's hard to say too much without spoiling anything. There are a lot of WAIT WHAT moments, in both the Eliza and Dot storylines. It read very quickly, as you bounce between The Dots excerpts and Eliza's own narrative. I absolutely adored Eliza as a character. Her penchant for the morbid and curious reminded me a lot of myself. Her chaotic thoughts were so well written that it was impossible not to get into Eliza's head and feel the same panic and paranoia she experienced.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

Thanks so much to Atria Books for a digital ARC of this great book! The Elizas by Sara Shepard releases TOMORROW, April 17th, so be sure to pick up a copy!