Saffyre Maddox carries the pain of something terrible that happened to her when she was ten. She finds comforts in the shadows, in the darkness. Watching the man she thought would help her, learning the secrets he keeps. Owen Pick is hiding in the shadows too, he has never had a girlfriend, he hasn’t even got any friends, nobody cares. But on Valentine’s night Saffyre goes missing and suddenly the finger of blame is pointed at Owen, everybody is watching him and holding him responsible for the dissapearance.
This is another cracking good read from Jewell. She has a knack of taking several characters, exploring their stories, and then cleverly linking them all. We are introduced to Saffyre, a girl who is hiding painful trauma from her past, pretending to her family and school that she is alright. Owen is a man living a life without much meaning, trapped in the spare room of his aunt, and frustrated in his loneliness. We also have Cate, who to the outside world, appears to have a comfortable life, her husband Roan is a successful therapist and two adolescent children. The tenuous link which connects them all becomes more obvious as the novel progresses.
The novel addresses many issues, and the main characters go through of process of change which has a major impact of their future selves. Lisa Jewel is skilled in building characters that are likeable and for the reader, believable. There is a sinister twist at the end which actually surprised me.