Who We Were by B.M. Carroll
Genre: Psychological thriller, Suspense, Mystery, Contemporary fiction, Women's fiction
Read: 6th October 2020
Published: 7th May 2020
★★★★★ 5 stars
DESCRIPTION:
IT'S BEEN TWENTY YEARS
BUT ALL IS NOT FORGIVEN
Twenty years after they went their separate ways, friends and enemies are coming together for their school reunion. Katy, who is desperate to show that she’s no longer the shy wallflower. Annabel, who ruled the school until a spectacular fall from grace. Zach, popular and cruel, but who says he’s a changed man. And Robbie, always the victim, who never stood a chance.
As the reunion nears, anonymous threats are made and a terrible event that binds the group together begins to resurface. Everyone, in their own way, is guilty. And someone wants revenge…
MY REVIEW:
“Annabel Moore: pretty, popular, poisonous.
Grace McCrae: couldn’t go to the toilet without Annabel.
Zach Latham: thought he was so fucking funny, the idiot.
Melissa Andrews: stuck-up bitch.
Luke Willis: gay as Christmas.
Katy Buckley: always trying to be everyone’s friend.
Jarrod Harris: Annabel’s on-and-off boyfriend till he got her up the duff and became full-time ‘on’. Jarrod is the one he despises the most.”
The second standalone thriller by B.M. Carroll, WHO WE WERE is about the power of childhood cruelty and how it can shape us into the adults we become. The way we were versus the way we are now. It raises the question and explores the notion "do people really change?"
It's been twenty years...but all is not forgiven.
As someone who was always on the periphery during high school, Katy Buckley is keen to prove to everyone that she is now somebody. The class of 2000 from Macquarie High School is approaching twenty years and Katy, now a science teacher, is organising a reunion and thinks it would be a great idea to update the yearbook entries reflecting their present day lives.
Throughout the course of putting together plans for the reunion and tracking down old classmates, someone has decided to take the updated yearbook idea to a different level by writing their own version of the entries and then sending them to their respective recipients. The emails are official looking and mimic the previous entries yet revealing mean and harsh facts, private aspects of the lives these former students would rather not share. At first it was thought to be a joke, albeit a cruel one. But then the entries continue, revealing innermost secrets and private fears...and no one is exempt.
At school, Annabel was a "mean girl". She was pretty and popular and had friends trailing in her wake. Now she is 37, married to her high school sweetheart Jarrod with three children - Jemma, Daniel and Mia. But Annabel's life is not as perfect as outwardly seen. And someone knows what she and Jarrod have tried to keep quiet.
Grace was Annabel's bestie in school and remains so to this day. She is now married to hunky Tom and has four children - Tahlia, Poppy, Lauren and Billy. Her big regret was listening to Annabel's ministrations about "dropping" who was not socially acceptable...and someone knows this. Someone also knows her deepest fears about her daughter Lauren, who is anxious of just about everything.
Melissa was always destined to succeed...although she didn't succeed in keeping Jarrod. Not after just two short months when he revealed that Annabel was pregnant and that he was sticking by her. Now Melissa is married to Henry but lives alone in her apartment overlooking Bondi Beach. Henry has a separate house in which his teenage children live with him because they have refused to accept Melissa. At least she has a successful career as marketing director...but is she happy? And how does this person know about her living arrangements and secret fears?
Zach was one of those boys who just loved taking the piss out of everything and everyone...and using it as his "party piece" just for laughs. He was insensitively cruel without really thinking about it; he just wanted to be the centre of attention and make everyone laugh. But Zach had a defining moment not long after leaving high school which changed the course of his life. He became a doctor, gave back to the community, married his beautiful wife Isabel (also a doctor) and has a son Carson, who is a joy to his life. But Carson is not a normal child and as much as Zach loves him, he also fears for him. And someone knows these fears. They also know of his deepest secret which he has never confessed to his wife.
Luke was naturally funny and someone who was, strangely enough, comfortable in his own skin. He came out as gay as a teenager, which enraged his father who refused to accept his son as a "faggot", so he escaped to the other side of the world after graduating and became a flight attendant. Now living in London with Aaron, Luke wants nothing more than to marry the love of his life but can't find the courage to ask him. But someone knows something else about Luke...something he didn't even know. And drops on him a bombshell that leaves him reeling...
Katy was a science nerd with bright red hair. It was a given that she would not be one of the popular ones. But neither was she cruel. She was kind and always tried to be everyone's friend. She would leave birthday cards in their lockers on their birthdays...for some it meant the world. To others, like Annabel, it only fueled their hate of her. Now Katy is a science teacher and doesn't take no crap from the type of kids she used to shy away from. But Katy is lonely. She is 37 and single...and she wants a baby. And she knows who she wants to ask to donate to her cause...as does somebody else.
Jarrod was Annabel's on-again/off-again boyfriend throughout school until she fell pregnant and then he devoted his time and effort into being a good husband, father and provider for Annabel and their baby. But Jarrod did something that someone has never forgiven him for...
And then there is Robbie. Robbie was the one everyone taunted and made fun of. He was the easy target with his epilepsy and his sensitive nature. He was the butt of everyone's jokes. And yet no one bothered to take the time to get to know him. He was depressed, he hated life and he hated himself. When he was 18, Robbie left home suddenly and never returned...until now.
Everyone had a part to play - both now and 20 years ago - and these malicious accusations stir each of them and their lives, wondering who is taunting them? Who knows these things about them? And how do they know? It is unclear just who is responsible for these malevolent grievances with so many hiding secrets. But who is desperate enough to embark on a sadistic revenge for mistakes made when they were no more than children?
These disturbing and slightly threatening messages begin to unsettle the group as some find themselves suspecting others. Katy begins to have second thoughts and wonders whether she should just cancel the whole thing but she is encouraged by the others to persevere.
But then a shocking assault leaves them all wondering if it is related to the messages or something else entirely. And as the group look back on their teenage behaviour twenty years ago, mostly with guilt and remorse, they begin to realise that such actions may have borne a resentment which could now become motive. And as such, only one person comes to mind. But would they? Do they have the capacity? The ability to undertake such a malicious action with such malevolence? Or is there someone else they have failed to recall?
Unfolding through seven perspectives, WHO WE WERE is clear and concise in narrative so that the reader is not left discombobulated by the sheer number of POVs. Each narrative flows seamlessly into the next at each perfect moment, building a picture of each of the characters as individuals and as a whole. It is cleverly told and very well written, dealing with a multitude of problems from teenage bullying and cruelty, loneliness, depression, anxiety, insecurity, drug use, rebelliousness disability and homelessness. The depiction of each of these issues is convincing.
Whilst not a thriller as such, WHO WE WERE was indeed a mystery of sorts that makes for an addictive and compulsive read from beginning to end. I couldn't get enough of it...even if it did remind me a little of my own terrible teenage years at school. It has been likened to Liane Moriarty's "Big Little Lies" although I couldn't agree or disagree having never read it.
But what WHO WE WERE does do is beg the question "do people really change?" The way we were versus the way we are now. For most of us, school is a time we would probably rather forget...for different reasons more than likely. But for some it's a time that, while we would rather forget, still haunts us through the taunts we received and the cruelty we endured. I was not one of the "mean girls" (I loathed them); I was one of those taunted and belittled who was not worthy of their popularity...so I could really empathise. Part of me was Katy Buckley, wanting to be everyone's friend although I wasn't as smart as her...and in no way would I become a school teacher and revisit that awful time daily.
As a side note, I was thrilled to discover the Irish born author now resides in my city of Sydney and so therefore I was familiar with many of the places mentioned that I could picture them, such as Manly and Bondi Beach. It's always a refreshing change to recognise places I have actually been to...for example when one of them was trying to decide whether he would have more success with hailing a taxi (in Manly) at the wharf or the beachfront. Hahaha...both places are next to impossible.
A thoroughly engaging read I couldn't put down, WHO WE WERE is an enjoyable well-written tale with a plot that rapidly becomes addictive. I have no hesitation in recommending this thoroughly gripping read.
I would like to thank #BMCarroll, #NetGalley and #Viper for an ARC of #WhoWeWere in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Ber Carroll (also known as B.M. Carroll) was born in Blarney, a small but rather famous village in Ireland. The third child of six, she often retreated from the chaos of family life by immersing herself in books.
Ber moved to Sydney in 1995 with her boyfriend (now husband) Rob and began to climb the corporate ladder. Her exciting and dynamic work environment captured her imagination and inspired her first novel, Executive Affair. Ber has written eight other novels including Just Business, High Potential, The Better Woman, Less Than Perfect, Worlds Apart and Once Lost. Her recent novels are darker and more suspenseful. The Missing Pieces of Sophie McCarthy (Sept 2018) and Who We Were (May 2020) are published under B.M Carroll to reflect this transition in her writing.
Ber gave up her finance career when she realised that she couldn’t hold down a demanding job, be mum to two small children and write books to contractual deadline. She lives in Sydney's Northern Beaches with her husband, children and PJ, the family dog.
You can find out more about Ber by visiting her website or by checking out her Facebook page.
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