Only Ever Her (Spoiler-Free)

Thank you to TLC Book Tours for sending me a free copy of Only Ever Her by Marybeth Mayhew Whalen to read and review! Read on for my spoiler-free thoughts.

Genre

Fiction, Mystery

Intended Audience

Anyone who digs mysteries—especially of the small town-big secrets variety

Overview (From Back of Book)

“Annie Taft’s wedding is four days away, and it will be one of the grandest anyone can remember in her small South Carolina town. Preparations are in order. Friends and family are gathering in anticipation. Everything is going according to plan. Except that Annie herself has vanished. Did she have second thoughts?

Or has something much worse happened to the bride-to-be?

As the days pass, the list of suspects in her disappearance grows. Could it be the recently released man a young Annie misidentified as her mother’s killer? Could it be someone even closer to her?

While her loved ones frantically try to track her down, they’re forced to grapple with their own secrets—secrets with the power to reframe entire relationships, leaving each to wonder how well they really knew Annie and how well they know themselves.”

Setting

Ludlow, South Carolina

Characters

Only Ever Her is told from the POVs of five different characters, affording the audience a chance to get to know them each both from their own introspective views as well as the ways in which they perceive each other and the events that unfold around them. 

What I Liked

Expounding on the characters a little, there were interesting parallels drawn between the characters and their relationships that became increasingly evident as the story progressed and I enjoyed those insights.

I also had a fun time trying to piece the puzzle together and was, yet again, reminded that I should really read more mysteries. 

What I Liked a Little Less

I thought things got off to a slow start and, as a result, it took me a while to really get into the plot and even the writing—both of which picked up and grew on me eventually, but it definitely took a while. There were also a few instances where things felt repetitive, especially in the first 1/3 of the book. Generally, a little repetition never hurt anyone, but I did get pulled out of the story every now and then.

I also had to suspend my disbelief for one or two aspects of the story, which I won’t discuss, because I don’t want to inadvertently spoil anything for anyone. However, I will say that I did some research into age requirements and trials (I couldn’t leave well enough alone), and one of my two main questions was answered.

Score

Only Ever Her gets 3/5 stars. The story and (most of) the characters grew on me as I continued reading, but I didn’t love it as much as I hoped I would.