ARC Review: Open your eyes by Paula Daly

3.5/5 stars 

I am in a huge mood for thrillers/suspense/mystery books! So when I saw the description for this book I was more than intrigued. Open Your Eyes has everything you want in a good thriller - pace, suspense and a good dose of daily life. It was also an extremely fast read. But it also falls short on many other things. 

The main character, Jane, is compelling and I sympathized with her a lot, but she's also not very bright. There were some things she did in regards to her family and kids that left me thinking "no way a mother would ever act like that". 

I also had trouble connecting to the age of kids, her daughter was supposedly 3 years old, but in the book she was left to act as if she was at least 5. I just thought that it was a big disconnect in that sense and therefore the novel didn't feel authentic and real life like. 

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The first 10% of the book were also very, well not good. The writing felt childish and the dialog ridiculous - I almost gave it up. But I'm so glad that I didn't, because from then on I couldn't put it down.

​The plot was limpy at times as well - there were some things put in there that didn't have any significance whatsoever to the main story, and while sometimes a secondary story line works - it just didn't in here. But only because in a thriller I want every little detail to matter, every little noose to come unraveled - and when I get led on by secondary plot lines I just get fidgety because I just want to know how the story will end! 

Despite that Open Your Eyes was still a compelling, quick and quite thrilling read. I felt fear at times and I was a bit surprised at the outcome of the mystery, but I definitely wasn't wowed. I'm happy I picked it up, but I wouldn't re-read it or anything. 

Big thanks to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for a digital advanced reader copy  provided for a review. All opinions are my own, honest and come from the heart.