We Were Never Here #BookReview

Andrea Bartz | pub: 2021 | 320 pp

We Were Never Here is a story about friends Kristen and Emily, traveling the world enjoying themselves. The book opens with Kristen having killed a man in their room. Kristen says it was in self defense but Emily is having a hard time believing her since the same thing happened last year while they were traveling! What begins is an unwinding of who these two really are and who they pretend to be.

The unraveling starts after Kristen kills the second young man. She claims he was trying to assault her, so to avoid the police and #accountability, they get rid of the body and hightail it back to the States. Emily decides this is a good time to try and get to know Kristen’s background. Good thing, because Kristen shows up at Emily’s door, announcing she going to stay awhile, intruding, on Emily and her new boyfriend.

As Emily digs into Kristens past, she finds out about another young woman that disappeared around Kristen. Also ramping up the drama, on the other side of the world, the police have found the body of the young man Kristen murdered. He happens to be the son of some rich American family, and they are offering $1m dollars reward to find his killer. Good for them! The police have a lead and a sketch…and it’s giving only a matter of time before they catch up to the duo.

Cons: Y’all know when I do ‘cons’ first, it’s because I wasn’t in love, right? Listen, I love a good single white female plot like the next, but this was beyond predictable. I mean, we open knowing who the killer is and we pretty much end knowing little more. That little open ended loop-di-loop at the end did not deter me. Homegirl thought she ate. She did not.

Pros: Again – the whole dysfunctional female relationship trope is cute. The story is suspenseful – will the police catch up with Kristen before she ruins everything Emily touches? As Emily learns the truth about her friend, how far will she be willing to go to save herself?

The writing was fine and it was a great attempt at twisty thriller, it was just predictable, and again – that open ended thing at the end – was not enough to save it. I kinda get the feeling the author ripped femecide stories from the headlines, and smashed them into a mediocre, stalker, wannabe bestie trope. Eh, 2.5 stars.

PS.: Gen X’er here, y’all get the Single White Female reference, or nah? 🤔😏 It was a movie, released in the very early ‘90’s, based on a book, released even earlier. Google it. Or not. ❤️😘