Book Review for Someone Else’s Life by Lyn Liao Butler

 Someone Else’s Life by Lyn Liao Butler 

Genre:  Mystery Thriller, Psychological Thriller

Publication: February 1st 2023 by Thomas & Mercer

 

Taken from Goodreads:  A new life in paradise should have healed her wounds. But for a woman struggling to hold on to her family and her sanity, one stormy night could change everything.

Blow by blow, Annie Lin’s life crumbles. Her dance studio goes bankrupt. Her mother and beloved dog are gone the same year. Then a terrible accident leaves her young son traumatized.

It’s time for a change.

Palm trees, mai tais, peace and quiet―Annie should be at ease, safe in her new Kauai home with her husband and son. She hopes proximity to her family can provide them all with a sense of belonging and calm. But soon items from her past start turning up―her dog’s collar, a bracelet that disappeared years ago―and she has the unnerving sensation she’s being watched. Reality begins to fracture, and Annie’s panic attacks return. When, during a brewing storm, a woman appears on her doorstep looking for shelter, Annie is relieved to have the company and feels an unexplainable bond with her visitor.

As the night progresses, Annie realizes the woman is no stranger. Their lives are inextricably intertwined―and Annie might just lose everything.

 

My Thoughts:  Annie is living in a mom’s hell.   Her son is traumatized, she loses her mother, she loses her pet, and loses her career…all in a short timeframe.  Thinking life would be better if she moved closer to her family, they move to Hawaii.  Then a storm comes, the storm of a lifetime leaving her home alone until a stranger comes to her door looking for shelter from the storm.  

 

That woman, she gave me chills from the very first knock.  I knew that something was not right with her but I could not put my finger on it.  This woman, she knows things that she should not, she comments on things she should not know about, and she was just creepy.  I wanted Annie to figure out who she was and get rid of her.   The entire book is these two women, stuck in Annie’s house, sharing life stories.  

 

I think I should have felt sympathy for Annie and her life but I just never got there.   I wanted to feel bad for her but she was just a sad character.    She should have followed her gut, she should have gotten help, she should have opened up to her husband… all that is easy for me to say but I have not had any of her troubles in my life.  

Someone Else’s Life is a psychological thriller.  Lyn Liao Butler is a new to me author and I will be looking for more from her. 

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Meet Lyn Lia Butler (Taken from her website):  Lyn Liao Butler, author of upmarket fiction, thrillers, and romcoms, was born in Taiwan and moved to the States when she was seven. Before becoming an author, she was a professional ballet and modern dancer, and is still a personal trainer, fitness instructor, and yoga instructor. She is an avid animal lover and fosters dogs as well as volunteers with rescues.

When she is not torturing clients or talking to imaginary characters, Lyn enjoys spending time with her FDNY husband, their son (the happiest little boy in the world), their three stubborn dachshunds (Lokie, Mochi, Cash, and Pinot in heaven), sewing for her Etsy shop, and trying crazy yoga poses on a stand-up paddleboard. So far, she has not fallen into the water yet.