Jar of Hearts by Jennifer Hillier

Jar of Hearts by Jennifer Hillier– 311 pages

Book Blurb:

When she was sixteen years old, Angela Wong—one of the most popular girls in school—disappeared without a trace. Nobody ever suspected that her best friend, Georgina Shaw, now an executive and rising star at her Seattle pharmaceutical company, was involved in any way. Certainly not Kaiser Brody, who was close with both girls back in high school.
But fourteen years later, Angela Wong’s remains are discovered in the woods near Geo’s childhood home. And Kaiser—now a detective with Seattle PD—finally learns the truth: Angela was a victim of Calvin James. The same Calvin James who murdered at least three other women.
To the authorities, Calvin is a serial killer. But to Geo, he’s something else entirely. Back in high school, Calvin was Geo’s first love. Turbulent and often volatile, their relationship bordered on obsession from the moment they met right up until the night Angela was killed.

My Review: 3.5 stars

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Jar of Hearts is a book that I picked solely on the title because I adore a song with the same title by Christina Perri. Silly reason for sure, but worth it all the same. I never would have picked up such a twisted and absolutely terrifying book.

Fans of real thrillers that can handle graphic scenes will adore this book. For me, those scenes were hard to get through so it was good that the story line about friendship kept me completely invested. Learning how these friends disconnected, reconnected and unraveled the mystery of how Angela died was the driving force.

The saying that the past never really leaves you is where this book starts, and it really hooks you in. Each of the main characters is well-developed and Hillier does a fine job of unleashing more about them at pivotal moments. Geo’s time in jail was written so realistically that at times I had to slam the book shut. The secrets that bubble to the surface and the twists this book took are not for the faint hearted. Some are only surprising while others are just plain disturbing.

Everything from murder, serial killers, secrets, adoption, friendship, young love, obsession, abuse and betrayal are in these pages. If you want something darker than the run of the mill psychological thriller, you must buy this today!

Quotes I liked:

Living a life that isn’t meant for you is its own version of hell.” 

-“The past is always with you, whether you choose to think about it or not, whether you take responsibility for it or not. You carry the past with you because it transforms you. You can try to bury it and pretend it never happened, but that doesn’t work.” 

-“Whoever said lying was hard was so, so wrong. Lying was easy. Lying was like a hot knife slicing through room-temperature butter. Lying was a bunch of words strung together in a pretty sentence designed to make the other person feel like everything was fine. Telling the truth, however, was impossible.”