Pictures of You (Emma Grey, Penguin)

Emma Grey’s second adult romance, Pictures of You, follows her successful debut, The Last Love Note, and shares similar themes of love, grief and hope, while weaving in mystery and suspense. Evie Hudson wakes up with retrograde amnesia after an accident that has killed her husband, Oliver. She believes she is still 16 years old, trapped in the body of a 30-year-old woman, whose isolated and manicured life she does not recognise. As Evie tries to piece together the missing years, the story alternates between her perspective and that of her high school best friend Drew, skilfully juggling the present-day amnesia timeline and the events of the past, in which Evie is 16. Grey is brilliant in her exploration of the weight of loss and the rush of first love, using vivid details to create a palpable sense of vulnerability. However, the rapid succession of twists and turns towards the end disoriented me, and I felt the conclusion was rushed, closing the story without offering conclusions to questions introduced too late in the novel. Additionally, the exploration of Drew’s romantic feelings for Evie in the present, when she is mentally 16, felt uncomfortable. Grey shines in her realistic portrayal of abuse, heartbreak, hope and warmth, and fans of her previous novel will again enjoy her emotionally dextrous prose in Pictures of You, as will readers of Colleen Hoover.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Shivani Prabhu is a Melbourne-based writer and editor. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

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