Confessions on the 7:45 by Lisa Unger
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Thank you to the publisher, Park Row, for providing me with an ARC of Confessions on the 7:45 in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
The Gist
I have seen promotions for Confessions on the 7:45 quite a bit during the last month or so on various social media outlets.
I’m always excited when I get to read an ARC that gets some publicity. Call it a bit of pride. On my wall calendar I noted all the book reviews that are part of the Fall Reads Blog Tour and the closer we got to the deadline for the Confessions on the 7:45 review, the more excited I got to finally read it.
I am always on the look-out for new and exciting thriller/mystery/suspense novels that really grab on to my attention and won’t let go even after I finish the last page.
There has been a change in the umbrella genre of thriller/mystery/suspense novels that always leaves me wanting. I will explain in the following section.
The Details
There are so many primary characters in Confessions on the 7:45. Well, I mean I sound like I’m talking about dozens, which isn’t true. But some of the characters got more attention than others, even though they appeared to have their own little story within this grander story.
I should backtrack. Each chapter is a different character’s point-of-view. They have their own lives and challenges and except for very little, none of them cross paths.
So, the reader gets thrown into a story that starts off with Selena. Personally, I like Selena. I want to know more about her, but the next chapter introduces another character. I like her, too. Her story is also very intriguing. By the next chapter, another character gets introduced. You get the picture.
This happens four or five times. Truth be told, I lost count.
The story jumps from character to character. Each one having their own problems and challenges.
And each one I want to know more about, but I’m so confused and busy trying to keep all these “main” characters from molding into one big blob.
There are jumps in time. Each jump is different for each character. One chapter I thought it’s autumn and the next talks about January…heh? I must have missed something.
It was too much for me to form any sort of connection and dedication to care. That’s very unfortunate, because I think Confessions on the 7:45 has a really strong message. It is a collection of social commentary on the expectations placed on women.
The main characters are all women. All of them struggle to keep their lives from imploding, because of some social construct they were told must be upheld. We see cheating husbands, bosses making advances on their employees and male characters that could be good, but something seems suspicious.
During all of this it is the woman’s responsibility to take care of things, to fix them and to face the consequences.
To a lesser extend we see the absurdity of social media. It doesn’t matter how much you feel like assuming a false identity and getting the hell away, just plaster on that fake smile and post the photo with a hashtag along the lines of #soblessed.
The Verdict
Overall, for me Confessions on the 7:45 was more a social/domestic drama than a suspense or thriller. The author added elements of suspense, but they went astray for me during my attempt to keep all the primary characters from getting mixed up.
Perhaps, for me it was more of a case of mislabeling the novel. I’m giving it an extra star for not shying away from addressing some fundamental social issues.
I think I would suggest Confessions on the 7:45.
About the Author
Lisa Unger is the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of eighteen novels, including CONFESSIONS ON THE 7:45 (Oct. 2020). With millions of readers worldwide and books published in twenty-six languages, Unger is widely regarded as a master of suspense. Her critically acclaimed books have been voted “Best of the Year” or top picks by the Today show, Good Morning America, Entertainment Weekly, Amazon, Indie Bound and others. Her essays have appeared in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, NPR, and Travel+Leisure. She lives on the west coast of Florida with her family.
