The Soulmate

Sally Hepworth knows how to write domestic suspense!

Gabe and Pippa, along with their two four-year-old daughters, have moved to a cliffside home in Portsea, Australia.  They’re hoping for a fresh start after Gabe’s unstable work history and increasingly erratic behavior have led to yet another move. Unfortunately, the cliff on their property is a well-known spot called “The Drop”  for those who want to end their lives. Fortunately, Gabe seems to have a gift for talking people away from the edge … at least he did until this most recent woman shows up. Now she’s dead, and Pippa’s left to make sense of what she saw from the window.

Did this woman commit suicide, as Gabe claims? Is she really a stranger?

Things get a LOT more complicated for Gabe and Pippa when the woman’s identity is revealed!

I’m not going to say any more about the plot since so many reviews have summarized it by this point, but I will jump into what I liked and what I struggled with.

Likes:

• Short, snappy chapters and lots of dialogue kept the pace moving nicely

• It’s a very clever dual narrative mostly from Pippa’s past and present POV, but also from the victim Amanda’s past and present POV, AFTER her death.  It was extra fun to see things from her now omniscient perspective!

• Hallelujah … the men weren’t perfect by any means, but they also weren’t written as complete cretins for once! Gabe and Max - Amanda’s husband - both had their issues, but there was at least some depth to them and a rationale behind their behavior.

• The mental health issues felt realistically researched and portrayed.

• Overall, an intriguing and entertaining story that kept me turning the pages to the end!

A few issues … aka a minor mini-rant:

• Please someone tell me the planet that exists where parents of two young, curious children buy a cliffside home with a bonus window view of occasional suicide attempts? WHAT? WHY? My brain can’t process this level of stupid.

• Pippa is asked whether she’s heard of ADHD and she says “only in passing”. Is there really anyone who’s still clueless about what ADHD is? I found that hard to believe.

• Pippa and Gabe’s devotion (i.e. co-dependency) was more annoying than admirable.

• Prude alert: So many books these days have a scene where a woman is being … there’s no nice way to put this … orally pleasured by her guy. Good for you, ladies! Just please keep that door shut … I don’t need to see that. 🫣

• I don’t love how things ended. It made me sad. I can’t say more without spoiling.

Issues aside, I mostly enjoyed this, and will continue to devour anything Sally Hepworth writes!

★★★ ½  (rounded up to 4)

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press, NetGalley, and author Sally Hepworth for this ARC to honestly review. It’s due to be published April 4, 2023.