It Was Always You

By: Sarah Stephens

Narrated by: Linda Jones

Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's Summary

It Was Always You is a stunning psychological thriller which fans of authors like BA Paris, Clare Mackintosh and Fiona Barton are sure to love.

Morgan isn’t sure about her new boyfriend, Justin. Before the couple go on a romantic weekend trip, Morgan attends an appointment with her neurologist, Dr. Koftura, who has monitored her since an accident she had when she was seven years old. Morgan has a history of sabotaging her romantic relationships, and the doctor is concerned that she is following the same patterns with Justin. 

On the day of their trip, Justin runs the car off the road into a tree, killing himself and hurting Morgan. When she awakens in the hospital, Morgan has little time to grapple with this loss before detectives arrive to question her. 

As it becomes clear that the detectives believe Morgan is responsible for Justin’s death, Morgan must unlock the secrets of her past to prove her innocence.

©2019 Sarah K. Stephens (P)2020 W. F. Howes Ltd

Oof. So Unrealistic

First of all, the reason this gets 2 stars is because the author has potential. I like her writing style. It's the only thing that kept me reading. The story started off okay, but the further it went on, the more far fetched it got...right up to the big...two or three twists, which were so unrealistic and out in left field that it ruined the whole thing for me. And then I finally decided I couldn't listen anymore, because this book breaks my one rule, my pet peeve, the most cliché and worn out trope that I have sworn to myself that any time it happens in a book, I will put it down without finishing. That trope is this: the villain or antagonist gets their very own long, drawn out confession scene during which they literally tell the reader by way of bragging to the hero or protagonist, usually while holding them captive, every last detail of their evil scheme, how they did it, why they did it...circling back to explain loose ends and doing so with a smug satisfied tone that every single villain shares during this scene. It has been written so many times. It's lazy and it's insulting to the reader. Literally NO ONE talks that way!!! For Pete's sake, make your villains realistic, writers!! Please! No one who is about to murder someone after decades of planning and scheming...literally no one...takes the trouble of capturing their prey and then giving them a long, smug, speech saying things like, "I bet you're wondering how and why I did this to you..." and then proceeds to start at the beginning and work their way through their entire scheme. If I don't know how or why they did it by the time the twist comes, there has to be a more original way of showing the reader.

And not only does the villain get one such scene, but TWO!! I stopped at the beginning of the second one. I just couldn't stomach it anymore. I assume, as with every single time this device is used, the speech gave the protagonist time to come up with an escape plan...and at one point, the villain got so caught up in their story that they were distracted for a split second...long enough for the protagonist to somehow get the upper hand. So...I flipped forward to the end, and just from the snippets I heard, it sounds like that is exactly what happened. At this point, there's no excuse for it.

I can forgive the author for the bizarre story / unrealistic twists. At least she shot for originality and not following a formula or telling the same story that has already been told. But as many times as I've heard and read the confession scene, I cannot be the only one who notices that it has been done to death by now. So that, I cannot forgive.