Review : Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes
Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes
Pages : 397
Genre : Mystery
Stand Alone
My Rating : 4/5
What it’s about :
Four years ago, Catherine fell in love. As soon as they met, she could hardly resist Lee’s spell.
Four years ago, Catherine’s love story went wrong. Very, very wrong.
Barely escaping with her life, she changed her name and her appearance. Her traumatic brush with death has changed her, ans she is incessantly verifying the locks, counting things, never trusting anyone.
And then, for better and for worst, things start changing again…
Into the Darkest Corner is definitely a page turner. While the story itself is quite predictable, it is the psychological aspect of it that sets the tone and makes it a gripping read. It would be hard not to feel for Catherine (now Cathy) and her traumatic experience, and the marks it left on her, not only physically but also psychologically.
The book alternates scenes from before Catherine met Lee and now, four years later. Catherine from the past is a joyful young woman who thinks she can finally settle into a quieter lifestyle after years of partying. Cathy from the present couldn’t be more different; nervous, anxious, she has no friends and is living (if you can call this living) with a serious case of obsessive-compulsive disorder. The author did a wonderful job of setting two different tones for the two different times. It was easy for me to pick up the book and know which of Cathy or Catherine I was reading. I also have to applaud her description of Cathy’s disorder, which was spot-on. I’ve mentioned it before, that I do have a small case of OCD, and while it has never been close to being this bad, I could absolutely relate to Cathy’s compulsions. Not every author gets it right, but I really did feel that Haynes did.
I also appreciated that the author didn’t shy away from describing the most violent aspects of Catherine and Lee’s relationship. Not that I do enjoy these scenes, but I feel that describing them harshly makes them less of a “spectacle” and confronts me, the reader, to the cold reality of the scenes. Yes, it is hard to read. But it does makes you realize the importance of what happened.
There is one thing that did bothered me with the story, and it is Catherine’s friends. I get it, not all of her friends were good friends; but it seemed a bit too easy when, after meeting Lee for maybe 3 or 4 times, they absolutely believe him when he tells them that Catherine is having a breakdown and is hurting herself. And by believing him, I mean it; they don’t ask Catherine whether it is true or not, they just assume it is and tell her to get help. Because Lee isn’t a bad guy and he would never do this. I do know that this often happens, and that people assume that the victim of sexual or physical abuse is lying. It’s not the idea of it that bothered me, but the way it was executed; there needed to be more evidence that all of her friends were bad friends, or that Lee had seen them more than a few times. It felt a bit forced into the story.
This being said, I really enjoyed Into the Darkest Corner. It reminded me of when I read Before I go to Sleep – and sure enough, Watson endorsed this book, describing it as “Intense, gripping and utterly unputdownable. A stunning debut.” And I couldn’t agree more!
This sounds really good to me! I’m at a point in my life where predictable isn’t a bad thing. It’s good to know the author got OCD right!
I read this as well and had the exact same thoughts as you. Even if Lee is an absolute charmer – and I think the author needed to have more scenes with him interacting with her friends – I don’t understand why her friends would automatically assume she was hurting herself. I see bruises I tend to think abusive…
What Cathy had to go through every single day though just to function – fascinating
This book sounds totally gripping, and I loved the way you handled the review. I do like a good dark story sometimes, and it sounds like this one is something I would enjoy. I have friends who have OCD, and to see it portrayed in a sensitive and realistic light is something that I think is very important. I am adding this one to my wishlist to buy very soon. Fantastic review today, Kay!
I read this one too and completely agree with you! I thought that although it had some elements that made it a bit predictable, the depth to which Haynes explored the psychological rammifications of what Cathy went through really elevated the novel and set it apart from other thrillers. I definitely stayed up way past my bedtime when I was reading this one because I was too scared to stop reading!