ARC Review: High Season by Katie Bishop
THE beach thriller of the summer.
I recently had the pleasure of receiving an ARC of High Season by Katie Bishop from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
This book in three words: complex, suspenseful, unreliable.
Summary: On a beautiful summer’s night twenty years ago, troubled seventeen-year-old Tamara Drayton was found floating face-down in the pool of her family’s idyllic mansion in the south of France. Her sister Nina, at six years old, became the youngest person ever to testify in a French murder trial. Because she’s the only one who saw what happened—who watched as her babysitter, Josie Jackson, pushed Tamara under the water, and held her there until she stopped breathing. Or did she? Twenty years later, Nina's memories have faded, leaving her with no idea of what really transpired that night. When a new true crime documentary about her sister’s murder is announced, Nina thinks this might be her chance to finally find out.
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If you’re anything like me, you read this description and immediately were hooked. I’m a sucker for an unreliable narrator and High Season did not disappoint.
Set against the backdrop of a glittering French coastal town, you can practically taste the salt in the air and see azure blue on the pages. But while the town is beautiful, Nina’s experience there is anything but. She lives with her new-money family (think Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo) in a crumbling mansion atop the French hillside, mirroring the eerie decay of Nina’s own memory.
Nina was only six years old when her sister Tamara drowned, but now, twenty years later, she can't remember what she really saw. Her brother Blake and her mother have all but erased Tamara from their lives, creating a chilling silence around her death. When a true crime documentary starts digging up the past, Nina takes it as a sign to finally find the truth. With Nina now a child psychologist, memory and how it shapes us (and betrays us) is at the core of the novel.
The way the novel handles the split POVs is absolutely perfect. We hear from Josie, Tamara, and Hannah (Josie's best friend) during that fateful summer and the tense present, along with 25-year-old Nina. I never felt like there were too many perspectives—each character is fully fleshed out, complex, and wholly unique. As the story unfolds, you realize that each of them knows something different, each is hiding something, and the full truth only clicks into place in the final pages. The tension is steady and relentless, but it’s never over the top (i.e. perfect for someone like me who isn’t fully into bone-chilling suspense and gory details).
High Season was eerie, intriguing, and a little heartbreaking. For anyone who loves true crime documentaries, unreliable narrators, and family dramas simmering under the surface, this book is a total must-read. I’m still thinking about it days later.