My Sweet Girl – Amanda Jayatissa

Book Title: My Sweet Girl

Series:

Author:  Amanda Jayatissa

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55510715-my-sweet-girl

Release Date:  9/14/21

Star Rating:

 Disclaimer: I received this book free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

What cover amirite?? I have to admit this cover was probably the main reason I requested this book from Netgalley. Mystery is not really my main genre of choice (I mean it’s pretty clear that is actually fantasy books). But I couldn’t resist a book with that cover, and featuring a person of color as a main character.

Paloma thought her perfect life would begin once she was adopted and made it to America, but she’s about to find out that no matter how far you run, your past always catches up to you…

Ever since she was adopted from a Sri Lankan orphanage, Paloma has had the best of everything—schools, money, and parents so perfect that she fears she’ll never live up to them.

Now at thirty years old and recently cut off from her parents’ funds, she decides to sublet the second bedroom of her overpriced San Francisco apartment to Arun, who recently moved from India. Paloma has to admit, it feels good helping someone find their way in America—that is until Arun discovers Paloma’s darkest secret, one that could jeopardize her own fragile place in this country.

Before Paloma can pay Arun off, she finds him face down in a pool of blood. She flees the apartment but by the time the police arrive, there’s no body—and no evidence that Arun ever even existed in the first place.

Paloma is terrified this is all somehow tangled up in the desperate actions she took to escape Sri Lanka so many years ago. Did Paloma’s secret die with Arun or is she now in greater danger than ever before? – Goodreads

This was an entertaining book. The mystery was pretty good, and it has a nice twist at the end (don’t worry no spoilers), but I think the main reason I gave it 3 stars was I just didn’t like the main character much. She was ok. Just not very likeable, though I don’t think she was meant to be. She is a very unreliable narrator, and I was picking up on that I’m sure. I just have trouble connecting with books where I don’t really have anyone I can root for. That is not a fault with the book, more with my own attitudes toward it.

But like I said, entertaining and I had no desire to step away from the story at any point. I was very interested in finding out who did what to whom. If you’re a fan of thriller/mystery type books then this will be a good one for you.