Unleashed

Author: Cai Emmons

Publisher: Dutton Publishers

Release Date: September 6, 2022

A very strange and unusual book that just didn’t hit home with me.

After they drop their only daughter, Pippa, off at college, Lu and George Barnes must figure out how to have a life with just the two of them. Over the years they have grown apart and now have very little to talk about. George spends most of his time at the local winery he owns while Lu would rather be outside in nature. College life is not what Pippa expected, she has trouble connecting to anyone except her zoology professor. As their relationship grows closer, Lu and George grow farther apart. Across the country women have been disappearing with no explanation and it is soon to approach the Barnes family changing things for them forever.

This book started out as an ordinary tale of families and how things change over time. But about halfway through it got weird, and not in a good way that kept me glued to the page. More of a “this is just plain weird and I’m losing my interest kind of way.” I had a hard time connecting with any of the characters and caring about what they were going through. The relationship and dynamic between Pippa and her parents was annoying, I can see the separation of her going off to college and wanting some space but the way she treated her mom turned me off and made me like her even less. I would have liked to see her grow as a character in different ways. This is the kind of novel that readers who enjoy a mystery of unearthly proportions will devour, but if that is not your type of read pass this one up.

I received a complimentary copy of this title from the publisher.  The views and opinions expressed within are my own.