Review - 'Anatomy of an Alibi' by Ashley Elston

I like twists and turns as much as the next thriller-loving gal. I mean, who wouldn't want to be surprised and stunned and stupefied to within an inch of their life? But in order for the twists to deliver, they have to make sense within the story and its characters. And unfortunately, that didn't really happen here.

Initially, Anatomy of an Alibi seemed off to a good start. We are introduced to Camille and Aubrey, one trying to get out of her marriage and the other impersonating her to give her the alibi she needs to achieve her goal. But then as the story progressed and the twists started piling on, it became ever more convoluted and absurd, and before I knew it, I was tuning out.

The problem is that the story lacked believable and fleshed out characters to anchor all the mayhem. Everyone in here came across as flat and nondescript, there to further the plot along but not much else. When every character is bland and everything they do and say is generic, it's hard to get into the story.

And the sheer number of characters was bewildering. As more and more of them were introduced, I could feel my eyebrows migrating towards my hairline. By the time Aubrey's four roommates came into the picture, each of whom was clearly put there to serve a very specific purpose, I just couldn't take it seriously anymore.

I kept waiting for the moment when I would buy into the story and really care—about the characters, about the plotlines, about the twists—but it just never happened. I'm pretty sure if I had quit the story midway and never found out the conclusion, I wouldn't even have shrugged. When everything is random and all the characters interchangeable, what does it really matter what happens to one when it could've easily happened to another?

And if I'm being honest, I wasn't wild about the writing either. I noticed it in First Lie Wins (Ashley Elston's adult debut), but the superior story there covered for that deficiency. Here, it was on full display. The author favors present tense, which can add a sense of immediacy to the tale, but with the downside that it can also make the writing feel simplistic and forced.

I went into this with high expectations. Ashley Elston's previous book was a standout thriller that delivered both a unique storyline and all the thrills. So to have this one fall short is particularly disappointing.

That all sounds super negative, but it wasn't that bad of a read. It certainly goes by fast enough if you're looking to wile away a few hours. But it prioritizes its twists over everything else, and at the end of the day, it's just hard to come away feeling satisfied with a story like that.

Readaroo Rating: 3 stars