Watching Edie

Author: Camilla Way
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release Date: 7/26/16
Version Reviewed: digital ARC via NetGalley
Rating: ★★★★

Edie is the type of girl who makes it look easy. Her beauty and confidence are effortless. Right after moving into town she catches the eye of the hottest guy around, and she's in with the cool crowd hours after starting a new school. She's a talented artist who knows exactly where she wants to go to college and what she wants to do with her life. She's something special.

At least that's how Heather sees Edie. But Heather isn't always tapped into reality. She has a habit of getting stuck in elaborate day dreams where hours can pass without her realizing it. She tends to talk loudly and excessively, and always smells a bit of onions. She's known around town as a weirdo, but Edie doesn't notice or care. At least not at first. Heather is at first shocked Edie would want to be her friend, but as the girls get closer, the friendship evolves into something of an obsession for her. She loves Edie, no doubt, and will go to any lengths to keep her safe-- and close.

Heather and Edie's friendship ends badly. Edie winds up doing something that haunts her for more than a decade. For years, her worst nightmare is running into Heather. She sees her everywhere, in every face in the crowd. Until one day Heather really is at her door.

... they do remain a part of us, those people who have hurt us very deeply, or who we have hurt, never letting go, not entirely. 

Edie's adult life didn't turn out so charmed. At 33, she's working as a waitress, estranged from her mother, pregnant with no father in the picture, and still haunted by her past demons. She struggles as a new mother, and at first it seems like Heather is a godsend who turned up at her flat at the exact right time. But a feeling of unease nags at Edie. What does Heather want with her?

This was a good book. I appreciated that Edie and Heather each played a role as victim and predator. There are no true innocents here. On the downside, I had a hard time connecting with the characters. I also felt the suspense was lacking. What happened between Edie and Heather is tragic, but most of the expected "twists and turns" were rather pedestrian.