REVIEW: How Will I Know You? by Jessica Treadway

How Will I Know You? by Jessica Treadway
Audiobook Narrated by Ryan Vincent Anderson, Christopher Ryan Grant, Cynthia Farrell, Lauren Fortgang, and Caitlin Kelly
My rating: 1 out of 5 Stars

Synopsis

On a cold December day, the body of high school senior Joy Enright is discovered in the woods at the edge of a frozen pond. Her death looks like a tragic drowning accident at first, but an autopsy reveals something sinister -- the teenager's body shows unmistakable signs of strangulation. The discovery upends an otherwise uneventful small town, as police grapple with a rare homicide case and those closest to Joy wonder how she could have been taken from them -- and by whom. Susanne, Joy's mother, tries to reconcile past betrayals with their wrenching consequences. Martin, an African-American graduate student, faces ostracism when blame is cast on him. Tom, a rescue diver and son-in-law of the town's police chief, doubts both the police's methods and his own perceptions. And Harper, Joy's best friend, tries to figure out why she disappeared from Harper's life months before she actually went missing. (Via Goodreads)

Review

Oh, brother, this stinker. I will say that the actual plot and progression of this book was not terrible. It was probably just fine but I was so distracted by the negative aspects of this book that I really could not say. To preface my discussion of those negative aspects I want to share some bullet points on the author Jessica Treadway, I think they really put why I hated this book so much into perspective.

Jessica Treadway is a Caucasian north-easterner who was about 55 when this book was published. She is an academic who holds an advanced degree and has taught in the literature department of two prestigious universities. She is married to a Caucasian man she met at one of the prestigious north-eastern universities she attended. From what I can gather she has always been upper-middle class. Now with that out of the way let’s get to the good stuff.

Treadway cannot write male characters. I have not read any of her other work but it appears that most if not all of her other novels are written from the POV of a female character, a pattern she probably should have stuck to. Two of the four POV characters, Martin and Tom, are males and my god do they sound like idiots. Everything about their narration is just so off. Neither of them think or speak like men, they are barely even convincing as humans. The best way I could describe it is that they read like the first creative writing assignment written by a third-grader at an all-girls school.

Even more than the generally awful writing of the male POV characters, the most cringe-worthy aspect of this book is Martin specifically. The vast majority of his narration and a large portion of the book was focused on his race but based on this book I would be shocked if Treadway has ever even been in the same room as an African American before, let alone spoken to one. Practically every other word out of his mouth was about his race making it seem like he was completely fixated on his own race, like a little kid who can't get over the fact that it is their birthday. This felt so entirely unrealistic and honestly disrespectful the idea of this character I believe she was attempting to portray.

This book reads like the failed experiment of an unwittingly ignorant, older, upper-middle-class white woman. That is in fact, from what I gather, exactly who Jessica Treadway is.

Purchase this Book on Amazon or Audible!