By: Alice Feeney
“The only good thing about losing everything, is the freedom that comes from having nothing left to lose.”
Rock Paper Scissors
*This post contains spoilers for Rock Paper Scissors
Overview:
Things have been wrong with Mr and Mrs Wright for a long time. When Adam and Amelia win a weekend away to Scotland, it might be just what their marriage needs. Self-confessed workaholic and screenwriter Adam Wright has lived with face blindness his whole life. He can’t recognize friends or family, or even his own wife.
Rock Paper Scissors
Every anniversary the couple exchange traditional gifts – paper, cotton, pottery, tin – and each year Adam’s wife writes him a letter that she never lets him read. Until now. They both know this weekend will make or break their marriage, but they didn’t randomly win this trip. One of them is lying, and someone doesn’t want them to live happily ever after.
Oddly enough, I read this book on what would have been my wedding anniversary had I not gotten divorce. It would have been the bronze year. However, I can’t relate to wanting to get my ex back and murder the person he cheated on me with. Best to just move on.
The Twist(s)
The book was twisty till the end.
However, the “big” reveal of Robin being the first wife who was writing the letters seemed obvious. I think this may be due to the fact that I read a lot of thriller books and I am digging for the twist from the moment I start reading. Once I had that thought in my head, I couldn’t see any other way for the story to work.
The second big twist was that Amelia and Adam both killed Adam’s mom. This one was a good “didn’t see that coming twist” because when Amelia is revealed to be the one in the car, it makes complete sense. She had been pretending to be something and inserting herself into Adam’s life as soon as she became friends with Robin.
Where it got really interesting was that Adam was the actual driver of the car all alone. Adam had no idea it was her because of his face blindness but she sure knew that he was the boy she met all those years ago.
This is also why Adam had to kill Amelia and not just leave her for his ex-wife. Not even Robin was figured out that Adam was in the car that day. The only one that could put him at the scene was Ameila so she had to go.
Robin’s Revenge
Robin setting up the entire weekend to exact her revenge was ruined by her still pining for her ex-husband. I wish that she would have set that place on fire and left with her dog. Adam and Amelia deserved each other and should have met their end together. Also, Robin had unfond memories of her father and that house. It would have been better if she was able to walk away from all of it.
Some would say that she didn’t destroy everything because then she would have to admit that he father was dead. I think she could have set it up to where she posed as her father in a letter or whatnot and talked about the talents of his daughter. She could have said that they co-wrote a book and then she could have branched out on her own. I’m sure the publishing world and her fathers fanatic readers would glom onto her as his daughter immediately. Especially after his death where he can no longer write books.
Also, the author gets points for the dog living and long and happy life and never being in danger or scared.
Overall,
If you are looking hard for the twist, you will find it. However, there are more twists layered into it so you can still be pleasantly surprised. I’ve seen some reviews where the writer claims to have seen everything coming and I just don’t think that is true. The main twist, sure, but the ones after? No way you could predict that many correctly or not be tricked by the misdirects into thinking that you are going in the wrong direction.
Rock Paper Scissors was worth the read and I will definitely look for more Alice Feeney books in the future.
Rating: 4/5 stars
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