This isn't a romance it's about a woman who was in a terrible accident three years ago that has her struggling with debilitating anxiety, depression and other psychological issues. Meg is an artist, currently teaching a small class at a university, living in a drab apartment. She wants to get better and is seeing a therapist and has jumped on taking an experimental drug in hopes of getting back to a normal life.

I can't say too much without giving significant things away but as you're reading flags will pop up everywhere and will having you wonder what is really going on with Meg and those around her.

If you like mind twisty, bendy stories I think you'll like this read. For me it felt like the story built up very big and had all these cool possibilities but the ending didn't live up the build up, it just sort of whispered out.

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Meg is dealing with horrible anxiety after she caused a car accident that permanently injured her live-in boyfriend. She is on a new experimental drug from her therapist that seems to be helping her cope. As she is starting to move forward and teach painting again at the local college Austin moves out as his way of helping Meg move on with her life. Meg then meets up with Haley a new instructor at the school who befriends her as she is asking Meg for help as she is settling down in her new job with her boyfriend. But for some reason Austin and Haley never meet but they don’t seem to like much about the either.
As the story progresses you find out that Austin has been in contact with Meg’s therapist and it sets up trust issues with Meg as she starts to wonder if the changes she is finally making in her life are her choices or only the new drug she is taking. The story doesn’t end where you think it will and it make you want to reread it to see what you might have missed on the first read through.
Digital review copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley
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Brought on by the death of her mother, Meg has been suffering from severe anxiety for years. Every day is a living hell as she fights her way through panic attacks and irrational fears. All Meg wants is to be a normal person again. To be able to be around people without worrying about when her anxiety will throw her into a panic attack and make her run home. When Meg's therapist, Dr. Jillian, suggests an experimental drug called Fitrecepon, Meg jumps at the chance and begins taking them. While it isn't immediate relief, Meg slowly starts to handle day to day life easier. Until she meets Haley, a guest teacher at the university. Suddenly it's as if life is ready and waiting for Meg, as Haley pulls her into a whirlwind of activity she would never have been able to achieve on her own. But are things too good to be true? A man lurks in the shadows, watching Meg, warning her that Haley isn't what she seems. Is Haley the friend Meg needs to pull her free of her crippling anxiety, or is it an illusion?

The way Kim Harrison paints Meg's anxiety is spot on to what I know my anxiety to be like. A few reviews I have read spoke about the confusing beginning and how they didn't know what was going on. Welcome to the life of someone suffering from anxiety. Your thoughts race, irrational fears, and questions begin to pop up out of nowhere and you suddenly find yourself unable to do anything but breathe. Meg does all she can to just walk out of the house to meet a few friends. Hell, there have been times I've been so crippled up I can't even accomplish that.

There is a good deal of blurring reality with illusion in this novel. The reader is never sure if what Meg is seeing is real, or just a side effect of her new medication. This does allow the fantasy elements to come into play as hints are dropped at whether or not there are fey involved. Having read the novel I can't honestly tell you if they are real or not. It makes me want to read it one more time and pick apart everything to make a more informed decision on the matter.

I do wish there had been a bit more build up with some characters. Aside from Meg, you don't learn much about anyone else. I think seeing the other characters on the page more would have added to the twist Kim threw towards the end. Dr. Jillian was the therapist, only seen during therapy. Haley was the friend only seen when shopping and going out to dinner. It was a very closed minded approach compared to her other novels where she flushed out each and every character over time.

As much as I love The Hollows series, I enjoyed seeing Kim Harrison experiment with a different type of writing. While this book is intended for adults, I can easily see young adults enjoying it as well.
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Synopsis: 'Meg wants a normal life. Her new artistic style, born in the depression of her mother’s death, is poised to take the art world by storm, if she could just overcome the debilitating anxiety caused by the car accident that scarred her boyfriend, Austin. Encouraged by her therapist, Meg pushes outside her comfort zone to befriend Haley, a guest instructor at the university where Meg teaches. Haley is everything Meg wants to be: charismatic, confident, and perfect, but when Austin expresses his worry that Haley is changing Meg too fast and leads her to realize that Austin is trying to keep her afraid and needing him, Meg kicks him out of her life. Or at least, she tries.'
Review: This is an unusual book. It took me 2/3 of the way through to decide I wasn't going to not finish it. I'm glad that I didn't in that the last third pulled the rest of this together and made the entire book interesting in retrospect. I thought it was crap until that point. The ending was astounding. ( )

Brought on by the death of her mother, Meg has been suffering from severe anxiety for years. Every day is a living hell as she fights her way through panic attacks and irrational fears. All Meg wants is to be a normal person again. To be able to be around people without worrying about when her anxiety will throw her into a panic attack and make her run home. When Meg's therapist, Dr. Jillian, suggests an experimental drug called Fitrecepon, Meg jumps at the chance and begins taking them. While it isn't immediate relief, Meg slowly starts to handle day to day life easier. Until she meets Haley, a guest teacher at the university. Suddenly it's as if life is ready and waiting for Meg, as Haley pulls her into a whirlwind of activity she would never have been able to achieve on her own. But are things too good to be true? A man lurks in the shadows, watching Meg, warning her that Haley isn't what she seems. Is Haley the friend Meg needs to pull her free of her crippling anxiety, or is it an illusion?

The way Kim Harrison paints Meg's anxiety is spot on to what I know my anxiety to be like. A few reviews I have read spoke about the confusing beginning and how they didn't know what was going on. Welcome to the life of someone suffering from anxiety. Your thoughts race, irrational fears, and questions begin to pop up out of nowhere and you suddenly find yourself unable to do anything but breathe. Meg does all she can to just walk out of the house to meet a few friends. Hell, there have been times I've been so crippled up I can't even accomplish that.

There is a good deal of blurring reality with illusion in this novel. The reader is never sure if what Meg is seeing is real, or just a side effect of her new medication. This does allow the fantasy elements to come into play as hints are dropped at whether or not there are fey involved. Having read the novel I can't honestly tell you if they are real or not. It makes me want to read it one more time and pick apart everything to make a more informed decision on the matter.

I do wish there had been a bit more build up with some characters. Aside from Meg, you don't learn much about anyone else. I think seeing the other characters on the page more would have added to the twist Kim threw towards the end. Dr. Jillian was the therapist, only seen during therapy. Haley was the friend only seen when shopping and going out to dinner. It was a very closed minded approach compared to her other novels where she flushed out each and every character over time.

As much as I love The Hollows series, I enjoyed seeing Kim Harrison experiment with a different type of writing. While this book is intended for adults, I can easily see young adults enjoying it as well. ( )