I have mixed feelings about The Prenup, a new psych thriller by Arianne Richmonde. On the one hand, it is an interesting look at a relationship dynamic most people never have to consider.
On the other hand, the relating of the actual events often comes across as muddled and uneven. I still can’t decide whether or not that is purposeful to go along with Ava’s state of mind.
Frankly, we don’t get much of a backstory for her, only in little bits, so it is sometimes difficult to tell why she is the way she is…and why she does what she does.
There are parts in the first third of the book where she appears to be an absolute mess. That made it difficult for me to root for her or even relate to her. She almost seemed too pathetic to care about.
There is a point, though, (not giving it away) when it becomes apparent there is another layer to what is going on – and then the pieces start to fall into place.
I liked it when all of the points of view started to converge, and we got to find out more about that other layer. However, I wish that the author had kicked it up one notch.
The threads were there to turn it into a gleeful revenge against the villain character story, but it never quite got there. Likewise, I thought that the author was going to go in a certain direction with Ava, but unless I missed it, that never really materialized either.
At any rate, The Prenup still was a good psych thriller. I just think it could have gone to another level and been even better. I’ll still be looking for the next story from Arianne Richmonde.   Â
