Nothing beats a true psychological thriller — a story that keeps you on edge, surprises you at every turn and leaves you thinking about that shocking twist for days after.
But when a book just doesn’t cut it and the storyline falls flat, it’s more disappointing than anything — this was my experience with Jeneva Rose’s novel, “You Shouldn’t Have Come Here.”
A classic story about a city girl visiting the country and falling in love with a farm boy, but with a dark underlying theme — a seemingly idyllic escape from reality that turns into a nightmare.
I had never read a thriller with a rom-com component, so I was excited to see how the whole story would pan out.
“You Shouldn’t Have Come Here” is written through a dual first-person narrator, with every chapter shifting back and forth between the two main characters.
Grace Evans, an overworked New Yorker who needs a break from her busy, controlled day-to-day life, books an Airbnb on a ranch in the town of Dubois, Wyoming.
She arrives at the secluded ranch to be welcomed by Calvin Wells, the host. They have an immediate attraction, though Grace can’t help but notice odd things around the house and some concerning characteristics about Calvin.
Of course there is no cell service or internet connection, and the ranch is decked out in creepy taxidermied animal heads. Once upstairs, Grace notices a cracked window in her bedroom and women’s clothes in the bottom drawer.
As Calvin gives Grace a tour, they pass a locked and completely off-limits basement door — an immediate red flag.
All of these elements seem like a perfect foundation for a thriller, but the plot and character development were severely lacking.
I guessed the twist within the first couple of chapters but hoped I was wrong. Maybe Rose was guiding her readers to think something was going to happen, just to flip everything upside down, but this was not the case.
It was too predictable. Throughout the book, Calvin makes references to the beauty of caged animals and not wanting to share what’s “his” with anyone else.
There are questions that come up about Calvin’s past and in the beginning, we find out both of his parents died in a horrible fire and left him the ranch, and then almost exactly a year later, his girlfriend died in a car crash.
His past explains the terrifying aspects of his personality that slowly start to unravel as we see his true nature.
Meanwhile Grace has her entire life back home that we know nothing about, leaving readers to wonder why she decided to come to Wyoming. Was it just a needed break, or was it something more that made her choose to stay by herself in a desolate town?
Grace’s vacation is for 10 days and within the first two, they quickly start to fall for each other. But she has lingering doubts, questioning Calvin’s character while he falls hard for her.
On the second day, she drives into town and can’t help but feel an unshakable sense of intrusion settling over her. Eyes watching her every move, silently telling her she’s not welcome.
She then notices her check engine light come on and realizes she’s stuck — without a car, without a way out. Even though Calvin assures her that he will get someone to look at it, she begins to panic.
Grace wavers between trusting Calvin and believing he is the man everyone says he is, yet she can’t shake the nagging sense that something isn’t right — his charm masking something darker.
The build-up was so intense that it made me expect bigger things with the twist, but after a while, it started to get repetitive. I started to get a little nervous for Grace but also frustrated by her lack of urgency.
One of the biggest problems I had with this book was that after the twist, the characters read like completely different people. It made no sense, and it just seemed like a haste, sloppy way to wrap up the book.
The storyline did leave room for a potential sequel which could be interesting.
After this book, I need a break before reading a thriller again, but when I do, I’m ready for something substantial that stays in my mind long after the final page.
