Confessions on the 7:45

by Lisa Unger

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Confessions On The 7:45 by Lisa Unger

Released: October 6, 2020

Pages: 368

Publisher: Park Row

Overall: 5/5

Plot: 4/5

Characters: 5/5

Setting & World-Building: 3/5

Emotional Investment: 4/5

"She was still hungry. She felt like she could eat another full meal, and then keep eating until she’d devoured the whole world. And then she’d still be hungry."

This is my first book by Lisa Unger and now I'm going to definitely read the rest of her books.

Quick Summary: Selena Murphy is perfect. She has the perfect husband, with the perfect two kids and the perfect job she has worked her ass off for. But that's all a front. She one day catches her recently unemployed husband sleeping with the nanny. On one rather rare later subway ride home she meets an attractive, compelling woman who introduces herself as Martha. And through some connection, they feel they both confess a secret. Selena shares that her husband is cheating and Martha confesses she's sleeping with her married boss. That night didn't mean anything. At least not until the nanny goes missing and Selena's life gets turned upside down. Now the facade that is Selena's life must come to an end.

Holy smokes, this was such a suspenseful, page-turning read. I actually finished this in like a couple of hours because I literally couldn't put it down. I know the summary makes Selena seem fake but honestly she is so human. She puts up with so much to protect her kids and be a committed mother. Obviously, I've never been in any situation like this but Selena stayed in such an awful marriage for so long and she just kept giving him chances and believed therapy would fix everything, which I thought was the wrong decision. But it made her interesting and truly portrayed her as a strong individual. She had flaws don't get me wrong, but her flaws felt like my flaws and that just made her that much more real to me.

So the story is told through multiple POV's which might be confusing but I put a lot of faith that Lisa Unger would eventually get it to make sense so it didn't bother me that much. I actually liked how it was written because each character had such a disctint personality that evolved as the story went on. I can't explain more about it without giving away spoilers. One particular character I really liked was Anna. Now I can't tell much about her (because spoilers) but she was lowkey a psychopath. Like she had a warped moral compass but in a way it was kind of honourable. Some people might think her actions are horrible but like I live in a grey world, where I think in seem way her actions are justified. I felt so much pain for her and her upbringing, she was manipulated and went through so much. At certain times it's like she knows she's supposed to feel sad or happy but she just can't. This is often a tell for psychopathy but on her I just kind of felt sad.

This book in a weird sort of way is very feminist. It's about strong, if not damaged women who will do anything to protect themselves and their loved ones. This includes Selena, Martha, Anna, the nanny (Geneva), and even Selena's mom, Cora. It was women having to deal with the consequences of the horrendous actions of men in their lives. It wasn't anti-men but show the repercussions of greed and selfishness of a man. It was painful and made me so angry but all the women were so strong. I truly think the "villain" you may think it is isn't really one. Yeah, what that person did ruined Selena's life but it also saved it. I think another person is the true villain of the story.

The one star I took off was because I knew one of the plot twists. I guessed something to do with Anna and it didn't take away from the ready experience too much, but I wanted that shock effect more. But in honesty, this book isn't like a big shocker kind f book. It's mellow, but not like slow or unintriguing. It's just not as loud I'll say.

I really recommend this book to everyone because I think we can all learn something from this. Whether it be perseverance, strength, or just how to have a mind-blowing psychologically twisting experience. It was truly a really good book.

Quotes

"If you weren’t running a game, someone was running one on you."

"“Men,” said Martha when Selena stayed silent. “They’re so flawed, so broken, aren’t they? They’ve screwed up the whole world.”"

"You can’t con someone who doesn’t want something, who wasn’t willing to wade into a gray area to get it. You can’t con someone who is a stranger to desire, to need."

"People didn’t fall in love with other people. They fell in love with how other people made them feel about themselves. And so, it was easy to get someone to love you—if you knew how they wanted to feel."

"“Love is a lightning bolt. Sometimes there’s no avoiding it. We don’t always choose who we love or why. We can’t make ourselves love someone we don’t.”"

"It was about the truth. The truth like a wildfire that burned everything in its path. One that destroyed but also cleansed. And then from the ash, new life."