Rock paper scissors

By Alice Feeney

Marriage only works if you both commit… to each other? Or murder?

The Ugly Truth:

Wowza, never read a book that makes me want to get married less than this one… or makes me question the goodness of people as much as this one. Alice Feeney’s Rock Paper Scissors is a perfect example of a good thriller, with twists and turns being revealed on every page leaving you to question the reliability of any of the narrators. As others have said, I do believe this book would be a phenomenal short series done by either Hulu or Amazon Prime that would keep viewers interested, nervous, and, most importantly, guessing. 

 To dive into the story a bit, the tale follows Adam and Amelia as they traverse up to snowy Scotland for a weekend getaway in a last attempt to save their marriage. Once snowbound in a chapel-turned cabin, the darker sides of their personalities begin to emerge as they feel an impending sense of distance, evilness and lack of trust. Feeney does a spectacular job of capturing the falling out of love that, unfortunately, some couples experience, as well as depicting the inevitable anger that each party feels towards the other for inexplicable reasons. You witness betrayal, backstabbing and more lies than you can count, leaving you to wonder how two people ever got together in the first place.

 The chapters trade-off perspectives from Adam, Amelia and Robin with letters marking each anniversary of the marriage interspersed throughout. The letters are probably the most interesting point of the story, as they provide thoughtful insight into every year of the relationship, highlighting both the challenges and the good times. In a way, it gives the reader a moment every few pages to grieve for the wife and husband as you witness them slowly dissolve their connections with one another. I will say, and perhaps being female I am a biased party, I would have been out of there SO quick with the way this man was MARRIED to his work. I understand that some people are able to operate as more of a partnership rather than from a place of intense emotional bonds, but can I just say girl, you deserve better.

Now, as said earlier, this book definitely did not go the way I was expecting it to. I thought I had the ending guessed in the first 20% and again at the 60% marker only to be proven wrong both times. While there are not many characters introduced, the ones you do meet spin you in an endless circle that you have a tough time finding a way out. I was pleased with the ending but only because it stayed perfectly suspenseful until the very last page. If someone were to ask me if I felt good after reading the book, I would say absolutely the heck not 😊 This book only showed that no matter the person, the upbringing, or the relationships they had, they could, and likely were, an inherently bad person.