📘 I Know You're There
by Susan Allison-Dean
Genre Fiction ◦ Contemporary
Format & Source Print ◦ For review, CLP
Publication 2013
Dates Read March 10 – 13, 2014
Rating ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆
📚 What It's About
I Know You’re There is the story of Jill, a young and caring nurse with a great life ahead of her. She loves her work and life until things take a bad turn. In just a short time, she and her long-term boyfriend cut ties and she gets into a horrific car crash that changes her life. She also discovers tragic family secrets that will shake her to her core. In a bold moment, and not knowing what else to do, she books a spontaneous trip to a faraway island to escape her downward spiraling life. There, she begins to come to terms with what life has thrown her way, and begins to think she can enjoy life once again.
📝 My Review
I Know You’re There is a story with a lot of potential. It was a quick read with a very likeable main character that I immediately empathized with. Her need to save and help people is one that many people can relate to, and I enjoyed the nursing aspect as my sister in law is a nurse herself. You can tell that the author knows her stuff, too. She worked as a nurse.
The beginning of the story shows Jill’s life before the car accident, and her life after. She has to learn to deal with a new normal, and learn to take back control of her life. The second half of the story takes place on an island called Triton, described as “Heaven on Earth.” I really enjoyed the scenery and descriptions of the island life; it reminded me of my honeymoon!
I did have a couple of problems with the book though. I felt that it could have used some heavy editing. There were a lot of awkward sentences and dialogue, as well as a number of grammatical errors. Most noticeably, I observed a number of times where there was a comma used to separate what should have been two complete sentences. These issues made the story feel a bit disjointed.
As I said, I feel the story had a lot of potential with a highly likeable character and a beautiful setting, that perhaps more focus and editing could have helped with. I thought that the outcome of the car accident, wherein a couple died, leaving their baby an orphan, could have made for a fascinating story. The story, however, took a complete twist and focused instead on Jill, her family, and her trip to Triton.
As always, I give this author a lot of props and credit – she’s written a book and she should be very proud of herself! I would certainly give her future works another shot and believe she had some very good ideas that just needed some better editing and focus.
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