Book Review: Stranger By Karen Perry

Stranger is a thriller written by Karen Perry and published in 2021.

Karen Perry is the pen name of Dublin-based authors Paul Perry and Karen Gillece. The duo are Sunday Times bestselling authors of titles such as Your Closest Friend, The Boy That Never Was and Girl Unknown.

Disclosure: This post may include affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases

Genre: Crime/Thriller

Author: Karen Perry

Buy: Amazon | Waterstones

Published: 2021

Plot

Abi Holland is pleased when foreign exchange student Corinne comes to stay with her family. Her daughter Beth has had a tough time and rarely socialises and so Abi is relieved to see her making a new friend.

However, Corinne is a confident and manipulative presence and very different to what the family was expecting. She is always listening and learning new things about the family, waiting to use them to her own advantage.

And as a family with a lot of secrets, The Hollands may find out she is more trouble than they thought.

Stranger Book Review

I found this book to be a really dark, troubling read. You know early on something bad has happened and the story develops at a steady pace.

The characters are flawed and pretty unlikeable. The adult characters seemed almost as immature and selfish as the teenagers! The younger characters are obviously troubled and I read their interactions with a looming sense of dread. You know from the opening page that something bad happens and Karen Perry is brilliant at creating an atmosphere of tension.

This book is undeniably well written and I could appreciate it as a psychological thriller. It’s intense and dramatic and I did want to keep reading to find out what happened. However, in all honesty, I can’t say I actually enjoyed it. I found the themes throughout the novel too troubling to actually enjoy the story. I’m probably in the minority but I’m afraid it just wasn’t for me.