By Melissa Barbuzzi
Six friends. One college reunion. One unsolved murder. Who killed Heather? What dark secrets will come to light 10 years after graduation?
The plot and characters of Ashley Winstead’s In My Dreams I Hold a Knife were all incredible, and I absolutely devoured this book. I was super hesitant going into it because I thought it would be like just another thriller, but it was not!
The plot felt so realistic, and the college setting is one of my favourites. Right from the beginning, I was transported back to my university days and friendships. The nostalgia that it made me feel quickly turned this into a super entertaining and fast page-turner for me.
I absolutely loved all of the characters in this book. They all have their flaws and unsavory characteristics, but their realness was spot on. The character development throughout was honestly outstanding; it was so deep and made me root for every character regardless of what secrets they may have been hiding. The friendships and the dynamics within the friend group were so raw and realistic, which I think was definitely the reason this didn’t feel like a cliché thriller.
I normally don’t love a dual timeline, but the past and present flashbacks were done really well in this. There was even the occasional change of POV, which you would think would be confusing, but it wasn’t at all! Both of these devices added to the plot and provided the reader with another layer of detail.
The only element that I didn’t love about this book was the number of characters because I could not keep track of them. All of the boys meshed in my mind and there were a few times I had to step back and think, “Okay, who is this again?” but it wasn’t enough to alter how I felt about the book!
Ashley Winstead absolutely knocked it out of the park with this, and the fact that this is a debut is so impressive. I was fully immersed in this book and loved the realness of the plot and characters. This was also the first thriller in a while where the ending actually made sense to me and didn’t feel like it came way out of left field. If you’re looking for a thriller to add to your TBR, this is definitely it!