BOOK REVIEW: The Personal Assistant by Kimberly S. Belle #bookreview #thepersonalassistant #psychologicalthriller

An influencer’s life spirals out of control when a viral post that she is certain she didn’t post goes viral on her account, attacking another influencer. I am a fan of Kimberly Belle and I always make sure to grab her latest, though some have wowed me more than others. I really enjoyed The Personal Assistant, particularly knowing the context in which it was written and the message that Belle was sending through the story.

About the Book (from Goodreads)

USA TODAY bestselling author Kimberly Belle returns with a deeply addictive thriller exploring the dark side of the digital world when a mommy-blogger’s assistant goes missing.

When Alex first began posting unscripted family moments and motivational messages online, she had no intention of becoming an influencer. Overnight it seemed she’d amassed a huge following, and her hobby became a full-time job—one that was impossible to manage without her sharp-as-a-tack personal assistant, AC.

But all the good-will of her followers turns toxic when one controversial post goes viral in the worst possible way. Alex reaches out to AC for damage control, but her assistant has gone silent. This young woman Alex trusted with all her secrets, who had access to her personal information and front row seats to the pressure points in her marriage and family life, is now missing and the police are looking to Alex and her husband for answers. As Alex digs into AC’s identity – and a woman is found murdered – she’ll find the greatest threat isn’t online, but in her own living room.

Written in alternating perspectives between Alex, her husband, and the mysterious AC, this juicy cat and mouse story will keep you guessing till the very end.

Context and Message

I don’t often pay as much attention as I should to the notes by the author, but in the case of The Personal Assistant it definitely gave me the story in a different light that I appreciated. Belle talks about how being in the second year of the pandemic really shaped the direction the plot took. Outside of writing, Belle (like many of us) was focusing on what is meaningful in life and she carries that theme into the thriller she crafts. This is a thriller with a message and I think that was the best part of the book.

Characters

Alex Hutchinson, 39, is the main character and is a popular Instagram influencer who started to gain a following under the handle @unapologeticallyalex and has made a career out of it. She was a single mom to twin 12-year-old girls, Penelope and Gigi, before marrying her current husband Patrick, 46. Patrick is a nightly news personality who has made a name for himself with a talk show where he talks about finances and money matters. AC is Alex’s younger personal assistant who goes missing after a late night celebrating Alex hitting 1 million followers. Anna Claire is a maid at a low-quality hotel who gets stranded on the side of the road with car trouble. A wealthy older man in a BMW helps her out and the two begin dating.

Narrative and Plot

Alex Hutchinson is a 39-year-old mother of twins and an Instagram influencer. Her husband Patrick has stepped up as the man of the house and acts as a father to the twins in the absence of their own father. Patrick is also a local celebrity, working as a nightly news personality talking about finances. When Alex hits a million followers on Instagram, she has a night out with her personal assistant AC to celebrate that ends in more than a few black holes.

When Alex wakes up the next morning, it is to a viral post that she has no memory of posting in which she calls out another influencer with derogatory language and implies she is stupid. Suddenly Alex finds herself at the center of a media storm—fans are calling for her to be cancelled, brands are pausing their contracts, and people are sending hate messages. Meanwhile Alex’s personal assistant AC has gone missing, and the police are investigating what happened. Alex and Patrick were the last to see her.

When the messages to Alex increase in severity and her address is leaked, Alex doesn’t know how to get out of this. But it seems that Patrick is also being targeted by anonymous hate. Though Alex doesn’t know it, Patrick worries that the attacks may be directed at him, not Alex. Patrick has something he is hiding, and he is desperate to cover up any clues that link him to AC.

The story is narrated largely by Alex, Patrick, and a woman named Anna Claire who worked at a divey motel and began dating a wealthy man who ends up hiring her to help him with his shady business deals. Is Anna Claire really “AC”, or are the initials a coincidence? Who is the wealthy man who helps her out? And how does Anna Claire’s story connect to what is happening to Alex?

My Thoughts

Kimberly Belle always takes me on a ride with her books. She’s had some that I literally couldn’t put down, some that were a bit of a miss for me, and some that may not have the compulsive thrill of my favorite books by her, but that carry a message that resonates none-the-less. I would characterize this book in the latter category. It didn’t rank in my top tier of her books, but I enjoyed it and think it will resonate with many readers. Some of the twists I definitely caught onto before the reveal, but others were a complete shock. I had a decent idea of where the book was headed and it delivered on what I anticipated.

I did find the characters a bit one-dimensional. I loved the message that Belle was sending with the book—that at the end of the day focusing on what is meaningful in life is more important than anything else, and that often includes family or those we love. I never really found Alex, Patrick, the twins, Anna Claire, or AC to have a ton of development and that detracted a bit from the book.

The story was entertaining and did carry a nice message. The plot itself had a few holes that I couldn’t quite reconcile and the ending was completely fantastical in a way that was both entertaining and a bit distracting. The final scenes after everything unfolds make the book what it is. Belle doesn’t ever end on a shocker, she likes to round out her stories and I think it works for her books.

Overall, pick this one up for the entertainment and if you enjoy stories about the dark underbelly of influencing. I also liked the message about family, and I liked the way justice played out in the story. Not a top read for the year, but an entertaining story that I enjoyed.