Review: Jar of Hearts (Jennifer Hillier)

Jar of Hearts
Author: Jennifer Hillier
Publication Date: June 12, 2018
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Fiction

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Synopsis:

This is the story of three best friends: one who was murdered, one who went to prison, and one who’s been searching for the truth all these years . . .

When she was sixteen years old, Angela Wong—one of the most popular girls in school—disappeared without a trace. Nobody ever suspected that her best friend, Georgina Shaw, now an executive and rising star at her Seattle pharmaceutical company, was involved in any way. Certainly not Kaiser Brody, who was close with both girls back in high school.

But fourteen years later, Angela Wong’s remains are discovered in the woods near Geo’s childhood home. And Kaiser—now a detective with Seattle PD—finally learns the truth: Angela was a victim of Calvin James. The same Calvin James who murdered at least three other women.

To the authorities, Calvin is a serial killer. But to Geo, he’s something else entirely. Back in high school, Calvin was Geo’s first love. Turbulent and often volatile, their relationship bordered on obsession from the moment they met right up until the night Angela was killed.

For fourteen years, Geo knew what happened to Angela and told no one. For fourteen years, she carried the secret of Angela’s death until Geo was arrested and sent to prison.

While everyone thinks they finally know the truth, there are dark secrets buried deep. And what happened that fateful night is more complex and more chilling than anyone really knows. Now the obsessive past catches up with the deadly present when new bodies begin to turn up, killed in the exact same manner as Angela Wong.

How far will someone go to bury her secrets and hide her grief? How long can you get away with a lie? How long can you live with it?


Wow. Just wow.

I’m a reader who loves a good thriller, but I’m always hesitant to pick one up. Sometimes they have this slow, dreary quality that drives me a little nuts. Jar of Hearts was not one of those thrillers. It was explosive from the start. I loved how the mystery and suspense of the story was set up. The plot was fascinating and just the right amount of disturbing. Every character had lightness and darkness in them that made it hard to know who to trust. I felt like I was discovering connections and twists right alongside them. There was never a slow spot or stall in the story. I was always wondering what was next until the very end. I really can’t put into words how amazing this thriller was.

Jar of Hearts was so well written. I haven’t read a thriller in a long time that has impressed me this much. I have to thank Stephanie and a bunch of other bloggers who reviewed this book. If I hadn’t heard such great things about it, I would have missed out. This book is too good to miss out on! It is definitely worth the hype it got.

21 thoughts on “Review: Jar of Hearts (Jennifer Hillier)”

    1. I would recommend it because 1. it’s fast paced and 2. it’s really good. It’s hard to read slower paced after reading romances. Plus, it wasn’t so dark and intense that I got freaked out. It was just really addictive!

    1. It was so good!
      And you’re one of those reviewers I have to thank for reading this book. 🙂

    1. It’s one of the best thrillers I’ve read in a while. I picked it up because I was in this weird book funk. It was really fast paced and good. I hope you love it if you read it!

  1. This has been on my TBR list for a while now…after reading your review, I can tell you that it’ll be the next book I buy! I’m glad you enjoyed it – great review!

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