After her mother dies, Una is trying to get her life back on track. She stumbles upon a job as a live-in helper to elderly Elspeth McKenzie. While the job itself isn’t exactly what Una had in mind, her room & board is covered, and she’s making enough month to start saving for her dream trip. While Elspeth dotes on Una, Elspeth’s daughter Kathryn is cold and dismissive of the girls her mother hires. To make Una even more uncomfortable she soon learns that not one but the past two girls in Elspeth’s employment have both died. The first in a hit in run accident in front of the McKenzie home and while the second girl is thought to have ‘run off’, she’s quickly identified as a victum of foul play. As Una digs deeper into the what happened to the two girls, she may find herself in just as much danger as the previous girls.
I’ve been a bit burnt out on psychological thrillers, because unfortunately they tend to become so similar to others, which really puts a damper on the ‘big reveals’, for me at least; but I really enjoyed Just Like the Other Girls.
Filled with just enough twists and red herrings, Douglas is able to pull you right into the story. While Una’s is our main POV we get, we also get to see what’s happening from a handful of other characters. I won’t say who they are because I think it’ll really add some mystery to the story to not know all our narrators.
I don’t want to say too much more, because the risk for spoilers is high. This is definitely a page turning psychological thriller, that has some genuinely shocking and well executed twists. I highly recommend picking up a copy if you love a good thriller.
Just Like Other Girls is out now. Huge thank you to Harper Books for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion. If you liked this review please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my instagram @speakingof_books.
