Under My Skin by Lisa Unger

Under My Skin by Lisa Unger – 360 pages

Book Blurb:

It’s been a year since Poppy’s husband, Jack, was brutally murdered during his morning run through Manhattan’s Riverside Park. In the immediate aftermath, Poppy spiraled into an oblivion of grief, disappearing for several days only to turn up ragged and confused wearing a tight red dress she didn’t recognize. What happened to Poppy during those lost days? And more importantly, what happened to Jack? The case was never solved, and Poppy has finally begun to move on. But those lost days have never stopped haunting her. Poppy starts having nightmares and blackouts–there are periods of time she can’t remember, and she’s unable to tell the difference between what is real and what she’s imagining. When she begins to sense that someone is following her, Poppy is plunged into a game of cat and mouse, determined to unravel the mystery around her husband’s death. But can she handle the truth about what really happened? 

My Review: 4 stars- Guest Review

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Under My Skin is an extremely well written, engrossing, dark psychological thriller that drew me in from the beginning. The book is told from Poppy’s perspective, as she navigates a life of chaos and confusion following the murder of her husband. The story jumps around, and is told in the present, the past, and through dreams, delusions, and memories that feel purposefully disjointed at times. The reader is continually questioning what is reality, memories, or dreams. The book speeds a long at a dizzying pace, and I  felt the confusion, fear, and anxiety that Poppy was feeling, which may have been an intentional device on the part of the author.   

At the beginning of the book I was unsure of what was happening. The author did an effective job of causing the reader to feel the anxiety that the female protagonist is experiencing. Throughout the book, the reader learns about “hypnagogia”, which is the state between sleep and consciousness. The world of photojournalism is also brilliantly described, and illustrates how Poppy views her reality. Themes of love, grief, loss, trauma, friendship, domestic abuse, and the paranormal also occur throughout this novel.  The author includes many profound observations about our society’s overuse of social media as a substitute for human interaction.

I was very engrossed as Poppy tries to find out the truth about her husband’s death. The author includes a cast of sharply drawn, mysterious characters that kept me guessing about their motives. I particularly enjoyed the character of Detective Grayson, whose dependable personality brought stability and some clarity to Poppy’s confusion.  Although there was some repetition throughout the book, and the story slowed down somewhat near the end, the suspense kept me turning the pages.

This is the first book I have read by Unger, and I now plan on checking out her other novels. If you are a fan of intense psychological thrillers and don’t mind some ambiguity, this book will appeal to you. Reviewed by Guest Fairy Ronna.

Quotes I liked:

I wonder if anyone notices that I am a ghost in my life.”

-“Everyone wants you to think their relationship is perfect. But nothing’s perfect, no matter what they post on Facebook.”

-“Everyone’s photographing themselves or someone else, texting, or scrolling through feeds. When did we stop seeing with our eyes?”

-“Somewhere along the line, we step behind a veil, create one façade for the world and live another life inside. The modern world lets us create avatars of ourselves, post a curated version of our lives for everyone to see. Supposedly this keeps us connected. But maybe, just maybe, it keeps us apart, keeps the world at arm’s length, only allowing people to see what we want them to see.”

-“It’s rare that someone doesn’t have a device clutched in his hand, isn’t staring at a screen all the time, relationships scrolling out in bubbles, text disembodied from voice and body, language pared down to barest meaning and so, far less meaningful than actual conversation.”