Book Review #90: Saving Grace by Jane Green

 

I've had this book on my TBR for such a long time. It's funny, I actually mentioned this book in two blog posts back in 2015 - one in a Book Haul, and one in my 2015 Summer Reading List - and yet it took me until 2021 to read it. 6 years later! But either way, I'm glad that I've finally read it.   

When Grace's husband, Ted, hires a new assistant, Beth walks in and turns their lives around for the better. But soon, Grace begins to feel like an intruder in her own life. Is Grace paranoid, or is Beth too good to be true? 

I liked this book a lot. At first I thought it would be a unique take on this tried and tested plotline, but it wasn't as unique as I wanted it to be.

At first I couldn't work out what this book would be, either a drama or a thriller, and that was mainly because of the character of Ted. I won't give anything away, but he is not at all who I thought he would be.

The book isn't particularly long, but it feels long because a lot of the information given isn't needed. For a start, Beth doesn't actually begin working for the couple for at least 100 pages.   

There are many pieces of description and/or flashbacks that are too long and feel unnecessary. I would have liked to see more of Ted and Grace's romantic relationship and less of what their home looked like, for example. 

Because of the amount of times that stories like this have been told, I was surprised that it was only published in 2014 - it felt much older than that.

Once the story gets going, it's actually really intriguing, and the characters are really interesting. It could have gone in a lot of different directions.

I loved the shift in dynamic between Grace and Ted. It was interesting and something that I hadn't really seen before. There was this kind of role reversal that I thought was done really well.

Having said that, as entertaining as the story is, it does feel really unrealistic, particularly the character reactions. The characters were so frustrating that I thought more people were involved in whatever was going on, because their actions didn't make sense. Without giving anything away, the doctor was a character that I don't understand, and nothing was ever really explained for that situation.   

Speaking of characters, the character of Ted is weird. He is described one way, then does a complete 180. I couldn't work out who he was supposed to be, and how the reader is supposed to feel about him.

However, my frustrations over the book mostly disappeared in the last 200 pages. I became obsessed with it and couldn't put it down. 

I loved the new characters introduced, and would have liked to see more of them earlier in the story, especially Patrick.

What was good?

Grace's character development was subtle but beautiful. She is such a well-written character, and the author clearly knows her really well.

What was bad?

In contrast, Beth was not developed well at all. Who is she? Why is she this person? Is there more to know about her?

Ted's development was also a weird one for me. If he was a specific type of person in the beginning, but then changed and his previous behaviour wasn't mentioned again, why could he not have just been a good husband from the beginning?

Overall 

I was disappointed that the book turned out exactly as I expected it would. However, I really enjoyed it. It was well-written, interesting, and a real page-turner.

3/5 stars