Sunday, March 21, 2021

Two wrongs by Rebecca Reid

Life is comfortable for Chloe and her husband Rav - they live in a tiny flat saving madly for their first home, but they both have jobs they enjoy and great friends living nearby who they socialise with all the time.  There is some pressure from Rav's family for them to start a family of their own, but Chloe is not so sure she wants a baby of her own just yet.  The gentle monotony of their lives is interrupted when Max reenters their lives.  Going to dinner with Max and meeting his fiancĂ©e is the last thing Chloe wants to do, but she goes anyway and the past suddenly rushes into the present.  Unsettled and angry after the dinner Chloe makes a startling discovery that brings up memories and feelings from fifteen years earlier when Chloe was in college and met the force of nature that is Zadie Lister.

Zadie is everything that Chloe isn't - she's self-assured, wealthy, and gorgeous.  She's not perfect, but it takes time for Chloe to see the cracks and flaws in her friend.  At first all Chloe can see is the sophistication and polish, the confident girl who can walk into any party and make friends and be the centre of attention.  For a relatively sheltered girl who has had to earn her own way, Chloe finds Zadie dazzling and is determined to keep up with her - even though she is risking her own education in the process.  Zadie's family and her boyfriend Max keep saying that Zadie has dark times and that she needs to be careful, but Chloe is loyal to her friend and doesn't quite belief it.  As Chloe gets sucked further and further into the whirlwind of her friend's life she has no idea that they are all heading for a disaster that will have an echo fifteen years later - an echo that could bring her life and everything she knows crashing down around her ears.  How far would you go to find out the truth about your friends?

Two wrongs was a real treat, an excellent example of a book that shifts between the present and the past - bringing you flashes of the past to help you puzzle out the future, little snippets that add dimension and depth to the characters without overwhelming you with details.  Chloe is a very real person, her emotions and reactions bringing her to life, and each jump to the past adds more understanding to why she is acting and responding the way she is - and makes the ongoing story more addictive.  It is easy to see some of the people I went to University with in both Chloe and Zadie - there were people who blossomed at University when they were essentially free of their parents for the first time, and there were also the more worldly students who seemed to attract friends that became 'more' just by being their friends.  I have also known people like Zadie, people who seem to have it all, but have a fragile shell that wobbles, cracks, and sometimes shatters.

Two wrongs was an excellent read, and a fantastic example of the genre - and while my local public library system put it in the crime section, it could also just be seen as a great example of a 'human' story.  A highly recommended read.

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Reviewed by Brilla

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