The Memory Watcher by Minka Kent

Dates Read: February 21, 2023 – February 23, 2023
Date Published: December 31, 2016
Source: Owned paperback

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This book was so much fun!

I love Minka Kent so much. She and Shari Lapena are two of my favorite thriller writers. While some parts of their books are predictable (I read a lot of thrillers though so I always chalk it up to that) there are other parts that usually completely surprise me.

Another big reason this book had me from the beginning was because of the way this book built. I love a good build-up story. One that gives you interesting little bits of information throughout until about three-quarters of the way through and then starts to completely blow your mind. Those are some of my favorite books. This one absolutely did the trick for me.

It’s a lie.
But then again, so is every other facet of my life.

In this story, a young girl gives birth and gives the baby up for adoption as she wants the child to have a better life and feels like she can’t provide that for the child at only 15 years old. Fast forward 10 years later and Autumn, the child’s mother, has found the family that adopted her baby all those years ago. She becomes obsessed with following the mother on social media. She even goes as far as to collect things the mother uses in her day-to-day life. Perfume, blouses, slacks, hair products, jewelry… She even buys her BOYFRIEND things that the mother buys for her husband. Ties, shirts, cologne… She’s obsessed. She just wishes she could be them and be those parents for her daughter.

And if there’s anything I’ve learned in my thirty-six years, it’s that desperate people are incapable of making good decisions.

And THAT is all I’m going to say about the characters and the story. This is one of those books where you really shouldn’t even give a synopsis as the shock value adds so much to the story. There are just so many things that get added in little by little that makes this such an eerie but incredibly enjoyable read. 

If you’re looking for a fast-paced page-turner that you could easily finish in a day, this is a good candidate. Definitely recommend. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The adoption was closed, and we never met Gracie’s biological mother. But I think about her often, to this day, wondering what circumstances brought Gracie into the world. Wondering if Gracie’s mother, too, was special in the same kind of way Gracie is.
I suppose we’ll never know.
And maybe it’s for the best anyway.