The Imaginary Friend

Welp! I thought this would be a slam dunk for me and that I would love it! The synopsis states ” A must-read for fans of John Marrs and Jason Rekulak.” Nope. I enjoy both of their books and no, just no, this was not for me. That is not to say it is not for other readers; it is – unfortunately it was not for me.

This book has triggers galore. I don’t want to say what as I do not want to give away any spoilers but know going in; this is not going to be an easy read. It is also a slow burn. I am not a slow burn kinda gal. I struggle with them, and I struggled with the slowness in this book. I kept picking up other books to read while reading this one. That is never a good sign. Even when things began to become clear and take shape, this was still too slow for my taste.

What is good about this book is the mood. It is creepy, brimming with unease, dread and heavy on atmosphere. Pennie and Eve are alone in a house that once took in foster children until they aged out of the system. It is not a happy home nor a home that will give one the warm and fuzzies. But it is home, and Eve vows to take care of her younger sister, Pennie. They are all alone except for Pennie’s imaginary friend!! The tone of the book had me feeling as if something bad was going to happen at any second.

Things do become clear closer to the end when the reveals begin to happen, but that was not enough to save this book for me. I wanted to keep reading to see how it ended. While this book did not work for me, it did work for other readers, so please read their reviews as well. I thought I would love this one, but the slowness did not work for me.

Thank you to Boldwood Books and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.