13 Nov Pictures of You by Emma Grey – Book Review

Every now and then, a book comes along that takes a familiar premise—grief, identity, memory—and twists it into something fresh, unsettling, and deeply compelling. Pictures of You by Emma Grey does exactly that. What starts as a simple case of amnesia quickly morphs into a mystery of self, forcing both protagonist and reader to question everything they thought they knew. This isn’t just about piecing together lost memories—it’s about confronting the reality of who you are and the choices that led you there.

What’s it about?

Evelyn Hudson wakes up in a Sydney hospital, confused and disoriented. She remembers going to sleep the night before as a sixteen-year-old high school student in Newcastle, filled with dreams of forensic science and Regency-era literature. But when she opens her eyes, the world around her has shifted—she’s no longer sixteen. She’s twenty-nine. And married. And a widow.

The news is relayed to her by a doctor, then confirmed by her wealthy and emotionally distant in-laws, Gwendolyn and Anderson Roche. Her husband, Oliver, a highly successful lawyer, has died in a car accident. The problem? Evie has no recollection of marrying him. Or of the last thirteen years of her life at all.

As she tries to orient herself in this foreign existence, Evie realizes that the life she has apparently built doesn’t align with who she remembers being. Gone are her childhood home, her parents, and even her best friend, Bree. Her phone holds no contacts from her past—only unfamiliar names connected to the wealthy and powerful Roche family. Her wardrobe is filled with designer labels, her apartment sterile and impersonal. The only tangible connection to her old self is a podcast she apparently runs, focused on forensic linguistics—a field that fascinates her younger self but offers no comfort in explaining her current predicament.

Desperate for clarity, Evie starts digging, but the more she uncovers, the more questions arise. Why was Oliver driving that night? Why can’t she recall even a single detail of their relationship? Why are her parents completely absent from her life? And why does she feel an overwhelming sense of wrongness about everything she is being told?

When the pressure of playing the grieving widow becomes too much, Evie does the unthinkable—she runs. Straight from Oliver’s funeral. Straight into the car of Drew, a journalist-turned-photojournalist who, strangely, seems to know her. But if he does, he’s not saying much. As Evie tries to escape the suffocating grip of the Roche family, she finds herself increasingly entangled with Drew, who seems both exasperated and deeply protective of her.

Together, they embark on a journey north to Newcastle, Evie’s childhood home, in search of answers. But what she finds there isn’t the warm embrace of her family. It’s an absence that cuts deeper than she expected. Her parents are nowhere to be found. Her best friend Bree doesn’t exist in her contacts, her social media, or even in casual conversations with the people who supposedly know her best. It’s as though her past was erased entirely.

As Evie pieces together fragments of truth, it becomes clear that the life she lost isn’t just a collection of forgotten memories—it’s something much darker. Every choice, every missing piece, leads her closer to a revelation that is both devastating and freeing. What happened to the girl she used to be? And more importantly, does she really want to remember?

What This Chick Thinks

Emma Grey has crafted something truly captivating in Pictures of You. The novel isn’t just about memory loss—it’s about identity, control, and the terrifying idea that you could wake up one day and find yourself living a life you don’t recognize.

Evie is an incredibly compelling protagonist, balancing sharp intelligence with deep vulnerability. Watching her navigate a world that insists she is someone she doesn’t remember being is both heartbreaking and fascinating. The moments where she stares at her reflection, unable to reconcile the face she sees with the girl she remembers, hit hard.

Then there’s the Roche family—cold, controlling, and more concerned with public perception than genuine grief. The tension between Evie and her in-laws is masterfully written. Gwendolyn, in particular, is a character you love to hate, delivering passive-aggressive barbs with a veneer of concern that feels suffocating. The way she subtly pushes Evie into performing the role of the grieving widow, even as Evie is internally screaming that she doesn’t belong in this world, is both chilling and utterly believable.

And then there’s Drew. He arrives at just the right moment—not as a savior, but as an enigma. There’s an intensity in his interactions with Evie that hints at a shared past she can’t recall. Their dynamic is fraught with tension, but it’s clear from the start that he’s keeping secrets, and watching those secrets unfold is one of the most gripping aspects of the novel.

The pacing of Pictures of You is near perfect. The mystery unfolds in layers, keeping you hooked as Evie unearths pieces of the puzzle. The slow realization that not only has she lost her memories, but she may have been manipulated into erasing them, is deeply unsettling. The novel expertly balances psychological suspense with emotional depth, making it more than just a thriller—it’s a meditation on how easy it is to lose yourself when the world expects you to be someone else.

If I had one critique, it would be that some of the revelations feel slightly predictable if you’ve read a lot of psychological thrillers. But honestly? That didn’t lessen the impact. The strength of the novel lies in how well Grey builds tension and keeps the reader emotionally invested.

Final Thoughts

Pictures of You is a gripping, unsettling, and beautifully written novel that lingers in your mind long after you turn the last page. It’s about memory, loss, and the frightening idea that the life you think you’re living might not be yours at all. With its deeply layered protagonist, psychological tension, and a mystery that keeps unraveling until the very end, this is a book that delivers on every front.

I’d give it 9 out of 10—a must-read for fans of psychological thrillers with emotional depth.

Try it if you like:

• “Before I Go to Sleep” by S.J. Watson – Another haunting story about memory loss, identity, and a woman forced to reconstruct her past while surrounded by people who might not be telling her the truth.
• “The Girl Before” by JP Delaney – A psychological thriller that explores control, manipulation, and the way past trauma shapes our decisions.
• “The Wife Between Us” by Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen – A novel filled with shifting perspectives and unexpected revelations about love, power, and the things we tell ourselves to survive.