Publisher: Simon & Schuster / Simon & Schuster Audio
Published: February 15, 2022
Source: Print – ARC E-copy via Netgalley / ALC via Simon & Schuster Audio
Summary:
A young woman and her husband travel around Europe to celebrate their first year of marriage – a year that the woman has no memory of – in this searing novel of intimacy and deceit.
The year is 1996 – a time before cell phones, status updates, and location tags – when you could still travel to a remote corner of the world and disappear. This is where we meet Gina and Duncan, a young couple madly in love, traveling around Europe on a romantic adventure. It’s a time both thrilling and dizzying for Gina, whose memories are hazy following a head injury – and the growing sense that the man at her side is keeping secrets from her.
Just what is Duncan hiding and how far will he go to keep their pasts at bay? As the pair hops borders across Europe, their former lives threatening to catch up with them while the truth grows more elusive, we witness how love can lead us astray and what it means to lose oneself in love.
The End of Getting Lost is a tightrope act of deception and an elegant exploration of love and marriage – as well as our cherished illusions of both. With notes of Patricia Highsmith, Caroline Kepnes, and Lauren Groff, Robin Kirman has spun a delicious tale of deceit, redemption, and the fight to keep love alive – no matter the costs.
My thoughts:
There are certain tropes within the psychological suspense genre that I cannot seem to get enough of and one is most definitely the amnesia trope. I love a good memory loss story and this one may seem like all others but trust me when I say it most definitely is not.
I think what I loved most about this book is that the amnesia story is just part of what makes this story so good. Also woven into it is a deep dive into love and marriage and how things aren’t quite what they appear to be at surface level. This book gets takes a look at obsession and secrets and how at first glance you might think all is well and good, but once you crack that shell open, you see all the fault lines.
I loved that I really didn’t know what was going to happen next with these characters. Not only is the story told from both their perspectives, but it also moves back and forth in time, allowing us to really get a sense of who they are. It soon becomes apparent however that not all is as it seems because both Gina and Duncan are keeping secrets from the other and as the story progresses, there is this sense of dread that looms. The story unfolds slowly and keeps you captivated as you realize that neither Gina nor Duncan has the full story of all the different events.
This book has some twists I didn’t even see coming and that to me is always a good sign. While it’s a slow-burn, it does move quick and it keeps you engaged and thinking, which I always love. I definitely recommend this one.
Audio thoughts:
I listened to this one and thought the narrators did a fantastic job! Michael David Axtell and Alex Allwine really brought their A-game to this narration, infusing just the right amount of tension and manipulation into their voices as needed. I was so involved in this audio that I ended up listening to it in a day – I just couldn’t put it down!
