I read so many mysteries/thrillers, and sometimes they're entertaining enough for the time I'm reading, but nothing special. This book surprised me. A compelling story, with a particularly interesting main character, and the author did such a great job of dispensing information. Yes, there is a lot of going back and forth in time as the story focuses on the narrator's present--and her past--but it's not even remotely confusing unless you're not paying attention, or have ever read a book which was not in chronological order. In fact, the structure of the book is why I'm bothering to review this at all--it was particularly cleverly done. We get more and more of the main character's background as the novel continues, little tidbits let out like a trail of crumbs, and the thing is? The make the narrator look more and more of an unreliable narrator the further we go into the story. It's not spoiling anything to say that: the clear premise of the book is that no one really knows who Emmy, the roommate, is, or if she even exists at all. It's something that kept me guessing all along, and was very well done.