Behind Her Lives
Behind Her Lives
By: Briana Cole
[Fulfilled ‘Fiction book by a black author’ for Shelf Reflection’s 2023 Reading Challenge]
“Your sister died of what appears to be an accidental drug overdose.”
“This is not my sister.”
This was my first Briana Cole book so I wasn’t sure what to expect.
I was pleasantly surprised! The tension and mystery were there throughout the whole book and I liked the main character.
The premise was intriguing and I thought she did a good job of leading us through the clues.
The main thing that took this book down a notch was the swearing. I could have done without that. However, a couple of the characters are sketchy criminals so their way of talking, I suppose, requires it. But even the main character, Deven, swore a lot too.
I’m not sure if the ending is necessarily ‘likable’ but it kinda fit. It’s just not really a ‘feel good’ ending and is a little open. So if you don’t like that kind of ending, it may frustrate you. Unless she plans to do a sequel? Maybe…
It is told through a couple different perspectives: the present, several months ‘before,’ and a few different diary entries from her sister’s childhood diary.
Brief Summary
Deven is called to the morgue to identify the body of a woman found dead in her apartment, apparently by drug overdose. They say it is her (half) sister, Kennedy.
But when Deven sees the picture of the body she is certain that it’s not her sister. It can’t be. The body doesn’t reflect her cosmetic surgeries and her sister would never have done drugs. Something is amiss.
The police think she’s in denial and aren’t treating it as anything other than a routine suicide, so Deven is on her own to find her sister and find out what really happened.
The more she digs, the more she realizes she maybe didn’t know her sister as well as she thought. In fact, her entire childhood and family weren’t quite what she thought they were.
We follow Deven on her investigation to neighborhoods she never thought she’d go to, and even a visit to prison. We also follow her on a journey through grief, having recently lost her father to cancer, essentially her mother who has dementia, her twins that she miscarried, and now possibly her sister.
Is Deven strong enough and with it enough to find out and handle the truth?
Comments
I like books that deal with possible mistaken identities. It keeps you guessing even when you think you know what’s going on.
Even though it was a psychological thriller, it was also an exploration of grief and familial bonds— what would we do to protect our family and how much can we forgive?
I have had a miscarriage (7+ years ago) and since then I’ve had four kids, including twins. I was okay reading this book now. I think she handled writing that part pretty well. But I don’t think I would have wanted to read this book if that pain and grief was still fresh. Especially with the short dream sequence that is described after her miscarriage. I don’t think that would have sat well with me.
I thought Cole did a good job writing the diary entries as if they were from a 11-12 year old. Sometimes authors do a bad job and it sounds too grown-up or too childish, but I thought she wrote it just right!
I don’t like what Deven did with that diary at the end. I don’t think that was smart, especially with the slightly open-ended ending. I think that would have been something important to keep if she wanted complete justice eventually.
Though I thought it strange that Deven’s character admitted that she intentionally didn’t date outside her race, I did appreciate that the author didn’t try to do too much with the love story part of the book. That was not central to the plot and considering all the things Deven was dealing with, I think it’s more realistic to plot the relationship the way Cole did.
Another couple random thoughts— I don’t think she really wrapped up Benji’s part in all of it very well, unless I’m remembering wrong. I would have liked to know more of his deal. And was Kennedy’s pregnancy and miscarriage real or faked?
Recommendation
If you can handle the swearing, I would recommend this book. It’s a great read if you can get past that bit.
In her acknowledgements she makes a comment to a family member that this book isn’t “as raunchy” as her other ones. So based on that comment, I’m not sure if I will read her other books. The sex in this one was mostly mild but I could see her potential to do a lot more and I’m not sure I want to read that.
So just a note of caution that this book might not be indicative of her entire body of work but I can’t confirm that personally.
I’m glad I tried this book. I haven’t read much fiction by black authors (unintentionally) so it was good to expand my library in that way as well. There is a different flavor to the characters and the relationships that was new for me.
I’ll end with this quote from the book that I thought was really fitting for the ending:
“Grief is love with nowhere to go.”
[Content Advisory: 26 f-words, 64 s-words, 50 d-words; one short sex scene; suicide; miscarriage, including one dream post-miscarriage that was a little gruesome]
**Received a digital book from the author in exchange for an honest review**
This book released October, 2022. You can order a copy of this book via my affiliate link below.
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