Book Review: She’s Not Sorry | Mary Kubica

This is a spoiler free review. If you are looking for spoilers about the ending and my thoughts, go to my spoiled review where I unpack everything.

I have a complicated relationship with Mary Kubica’s work. My first experience made me want to throw the book off a cliff (more on that here), and my subsequent experiences have been a roller coaster. She has fantastic ideas for her stories, but I often struggle with the execution. Up front let me say, I enjoyed She’s Not Sorry and I think this will be a hit with psychological thriller fans. There was one storyline in particular that didn’t work at all, but it also had a twist in it that I absolutely loved. Let’s get into all of it…

What is She’s Not Sorry about?

Meghan Michaels is an ICU nurse and a single mom. The recent divorce from her childhood sweetheart Ben was difficult, but the two are relatively amicable co-parents to their teenage daughter Sienna. Due to Ben’s work commitments, Meghan is the custodial parent. She’s still figuring out parenting with her work schedule—she often doesn’t get home until well after 7 and she’s been worried about attacks on women that have been happening around the city. Leaving work one evening, she encounters a woman headed to the support group for divorcees as she is. It turns out the woman is an old friend from high school, Nat, and the two reconnect.

Meanwhile, a new patient named Caitlyn arrives in the ICU with a traumatic brain injury sustained from jumping off a bridge and plunging twenty feet to the train tracks below. Caitlyn is fortunate she didn’t immediately die, but her recovery is still very up in the air; even if she were to wake up, there’s no telling what her functionality may be. When a witness comes forward and describes seeing an altercation right before Caitlyn fell, the family begins to suspect she was pushed.

Caitlyn’s parents take a liking to Meghan, and she becomes their preferred nurse. But the more Meghan learns about Caitlyn, the more unsettled she is. Caitlyn was estranged from her parents and siblings, and they have very different stories about what led to this. As Meghan becomes more entwined with Caitlyn’s family, she uncovers dark secrets surrounding Caitlyn. And it may just put her and Sienna in the path of danger…

What did I think?

This was one of the better Mary Kubica books I’ve read, though it had some issues. I think Mary Kubica is filled with incredible ideas—every book of hers nails the premise and teaser. Even with my complicated feelings about her books, I line up to get the new one because I can’t resist them. There’s a reason she is one of the most popular contemporary authors publishing psychological thrillers. One only needs to scroll her books on Goodreads to see rave reviews. Why do I stand as an outlier? I often find the execution of her books to under deliver. That said, I liked this book; it had plenty of twists (even one that I loved!). Let’s get into it.

What did I like about it?

She’s Not Sorry is a quick, easy read—I was able to fly right through it and I enjoyed reading it. It didn’t require intense concentration the way some books do. Kubica comes up with some great ideas for her books, and this is no exception. Broken into two parts, the second part is a stand-out. It is tense, heart-pounding, and impossible to put down. I raced right to the finish once I got there.

Meghan is a compelling character and a strong lead for this story. She’s honestly a bit strange—it took me a bit to get the hang of her (but I like a bit of weird in my characters). I found her to be mildly unhinged from the beginning which was fun. Most of the narration explores Meghan’s inner thoughts and she’s a chronic overthinker (relatable). I liked that about her, it made her interesting and imperfect, but it got repetitive. I think parents will relate to the storyline between Meghan and her daughter Sienna.

The most interesting parts of the book surrounded Meghan’s job as an ICU nurse. Nurses have a hard job, and Kubica delves into the mental and emotional fatigue that a high-compassion profession like nursing can have. Caitlyn’s family confided in (and often over-shared) Meghan. Caitlyn’s parents have a difference of opinion on who their daughter was. They aren’t alone—other people who knew Caitlyn make an appearance and spill some juicy tidbits. Meghan (and the reader) learn pretty quickly that Caitlyn is no angel. It was compelling learning this as she was in a coma, because it was all context provided second hand and it makes the reader question if the sources are reliable.

What didn’t work

Kubica writes plot-driven thrillers and her style doesn’t lend itself toward deep character development. This is partly why she has attracted a large fanbase. Part two of this book is a perfect example of where Kubica excels—it’s fast, twisty, and heart-pounding. Unfortunately, part two doesn’t kick off until nearly 75%. Part one—which is three-quarters of the book—is slow, meandering, and repetitive, which is a problem in a plot-driven story.

The whole story is narrated by Meghan and though I liked Meghan, there wasn’t enough happening to spend so much time in her head. This book needed a second POV to break things up and quicken the pace, even if Meghan remained the primary narrator. The scenes where she was at work were compelling because they centered on the mystery around Caitlyn. Caitlyn’s parents immediately seem off, but so does Caitlyn herself. Unfortunately, those weren’t the bulk of the story in part one. It primarily covered Meghan’s life outside of work, which included three things: Meghan’s unexpected obsession with Nat (the friend she reconnects with), Meghan’s obsession with knowing what her daughter is doing (at all times), and Meghan’s obsession with personal safety due to an uptick in attacks on women.

Let’s start with Nat… The reader doesn’t get any context as to why Meghan is so fixated on Nat. They haven’t spoken since high school (Meghan doesn’t even recognize her at first), yet Meghan obsesses over their facebook exchanges as though she is a teenager with a crush. It’s odd, to say the least. The relationship with her daughter seemed normal—any parent would be worried about their teenager being home alone while they work late. The problem was how repetitive it got. The reader didn’t need to be hit over the head with how often Meghan worried about Sienna.

Then there are the long and out-of-place internal monologues about women’s safety and how much women need to think about it every day. This storyline was confusing. Meghan references an uptick in attacks on women around the city, but it’s unclear what she means by that. Is it a string of attacks committed by the same person or is it a general uptick in attacks? It sounded like the latter. This needed to be more substantial if it was going to be a part of the book. It felt unnecessary and largely irrelevant to the central story (until it wasn’t).

What about the twists?

As usual in a Kubica book, you can expect twists. The woman loves a blindside! Usually that is my criticism of her books—that the twists are out of left field and don’t tie to any clues from the rest of the book. That was largely not a problem in She’s Not Sorry. The twists start right at the end of part one and continue through the end of the book. Some of them I loved, and others made no sense to me. I felt like rather than tying everything together, some of them left the story frayed at the ends.

If you are looking to find out how She’s Not Sorry ended, go to my spoiler review where I go through all of the twists and give my thoughts.

Final thoughts

Overall this is an entertaining book. Many readers have absolutely loved it; check out other reviews too. I never want my opinion to deter anyone from reading a book, because we all have different preferences. I thought the first three quarters of the book dragged a bit, but it was made up for by the twists at the beginning and middle of part two. I didn’t like the ending, but I also felt the ending didn’t matter—it was like a separate storyline that I wasn’t even thinking about. The final sentences in the epilogue are thought-provoking, if nothing else. Kubica may be on a slow upward trend for me, but it is still upwards! I’ll certainly give her next book a try.

If you liked She’s Not Sorry, what should you read next?

About the Author | Mary Kubica

Mary Kubica is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of many suspense novels, including THE GOOD GIRL, PRETTY BABY, DON’T YOU CRY, EVERY LAST LIE, WHEN THE LIGHTS GO OUT, THE OTHER MRS., LOCAL WOMAN MISSING and JUST THE NICEST COUPLE.

A former high school history teacher, Mary holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, in History and American Literature. She lives outside of Chicago with her husband and two children.

Her first novel THE GOOD GIRL was an Indie Next pick in August of 2014, received a Strand Critics Nomination for Best First Novel and was a nominee in the Goodreads Choice Awards in Debut Goodreads Author and in Mystery & Thriller for 2014.

LOCAL WOMAN MISSING was an Indie Next pick in May of 2021, a nominee in the Goodreads Choice Awards in Mystery & Thriller for 2021, and a finalist for an Audie Award.

Mary’s novels have been selected as Amazon Best Books of the Month and have been LibraryReads selections. They’ve been translated into over thirty languages and have sold over five million copies worldwide. She’s been described as “a helluva storyteller,” (Kirkus Reviews) and “a writer of vice-like control,” (Chicago Tribune), and her novels have been praised as “hypnotic” (People) and “thrilling and illuminating” (Los Angeles Times). She is currently working on her next novel.