Book Review | In My Dreams I Hold A Knife by Ashley Winstead

October 13th, 2022

Six friends.
One college reunion.
One unsolved murder.

Full Synopsis Here

In My Dreams I Hold A Knife is a mystery with twists until the final page. It begins with an invitation to a school reunion, then goes back and forth between the school days and ‘Now’. The plot slowly unfolds and becomes darker and darker, and is perfect if you’re looking for a book that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

This book is told from the perspective of Jess and firstly, I would like to mention how strange it was to read a book whose main character had the same name as me. And I’m not just talking first name, second name and all. In fact she even has the same initials as me, which was very strange. She also insults my name, but I can’t say I disagreed with the her..

Jess is a character who is very morally gray and is also very unlikable, yet I sympathised with her completely because I feel like all of her insecurities and actions were rational and validated. I completely understood where she was coming from, even if I did completely disagree with her actions.

“Wanting is dangerous. The less you want, the safer you’ll be.”

In fact I hated every single character in this book, and honestly I couldn’t name one redeemable quality for any of them. But that didn’t effect how invested I was in their story.

This book has those Dark Academia vibes perfect for an Autumn read. It’s set in college following privilaged students who get up to some messed up stuff. Not as crazy as The Secret History, but fans of that, I think, would definitely enjoy this book.

It’s a slow start but the pace picks up about a third of the way through. There are revelations and twists throughout, and it feels suspenseful until the final page. I didn’t predict anything but it all fit so perfectly. I read this until late at night, and it was a great time.

Thanks For Reading,
Jess X