Hello everyone and welcome to a brand new edition of Lil Red’s Book Club! In a spoiler free setting, as always, we are going to be discussing a thriller by Alex Finlay called The Anniversary. Although I wouldn’t call this book great, it was pretty good and the twisty cat and mouse plot was intriguing. My main qualm wasn’t so much with the contents of the book itself, rather with the at times, disjointed writing style of Alex Finlay. We’ll get to that more after the synopsis, though! Before we begin our chat about The Anniversary, I will be placing a trigger warning for graphic violence, disturbing content, sexual and physical assault, and combat in war. You ready? Let’s go:

High schoolers Jules and Quinn have seemingly nothing in common. Jules is beautiful, popular, and the star of the school. Quinn, on the other hand, is solitary, introverted, and prefers the company of books to people. However, these polar opposites formed a bond by semi-flirting their way through study hall before returning back to their normal crowds or lack thereof. While their interests are far from the same, the night of May first 1992 will forge their paths together for years to come to solve the mystery of what happened that fateful night and all of the tragedies to follow.

On May first, Quinn was sent to a juvenile detention center for almost killing a kid in a fight. On May first, Jules was kidnapped by the May Day Killer but he let her live. Life was never the same since. While Quinn was incarcerated, his mother was murdered and his brother’s health began to fail. With nowhere else to go upon his release, Quinn joined the army. As Quinn serves his country, Jules is serving looks and has a blossoming career as a young model. Her life might look glamorous on the outside but on the inside, Jules is almost always in the haze of a drug or alcohol induced stupor to shield herself from the memories of her narrow escape.

The May Day Killer was never found after Jules’ abduction and he continues to strike every year like clockwork. Some girls are spared, some are never seen from again. The FBI is desperate to close this case and Jules and two other May Day survivors begin to assist by trying to remember every detail from their encounter with the serial killer. Meanwhile, Quinn is working a case of his own. Before her murder, his mom uncovered something hinky going on at the factory she worked at. The day she was going to spill was the day of her death. His mom’s findings are meaningless to Quinn and leave him with more questions than answers. Little does he know, his mom’s murder and the May Day Killer are more connected than anyone thought possible. Will Jules and Quinn crack the cases to their own trauma? Or will a serial killer continue to walk free? Read The Anniversary to find out!

I am very much a fan of a good wild goose chase between a killer and the victims and The Anniversary really scratched that itch. The plot for The Anniversary was juicy to say the least and it kept me turning the pages. In fact, I finished it in three sittings. To a point, I enjoyed the story and the characters both major and minor. The biggest turn off of this book all came down to the way it was written. The Anniversary was marked through the passage of time with chunks of the book taking place one year or up to ten years later. This pieced together approach was somewhat confusing because so much could happen within that time frame! Once the next year took place, you basically had to remeet the characters with where they were at instead of where they have been which only left me wanting more. More information, more cohesion. More something to make this book feel like a completed work rather than a second or third draft.

Although I truly didn’t care for the way this book was set up, it doesn’t take away from the fact that it was still a slightly above average thriller. The grand reveals were shocking, it was fun to play detective along with the FBI, and it was almost like reading an episode of Law & Order: SVU. I will say that I felt like Jules’ character was a bit one dimensional but that was made up for in spades with Quinn. I don’t think it’s possible for him to not tug at your heart strings! The Anniversary had all of the fixings for a semi high Lil Red’s Book Club star rating. It really did fall short on the choppy writing, though, as it completely took away from a fully positive reader experience.

Overall, I am going to rate The Anniversary with a five out of ten stars. This was a perfectly average thriller that deserves a perfectly average rating. You’re not missing out on anything if you don’t read it, but you’re not going to hate it if you do give it a go!

What are you currently reading? What should I read next? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah