What have you done? by Shari Lapena

Imagine a small village, where people know each other, and nothing ever happens.

Until one day, it does.

That’s the story Shari Lapena tells in her new book What Have You Done.

What have you done

In the sleepy little town of Fairhill, life is pleasant. People don’t even lock their doors—it’s not necessary. But one morning a farmer finds the naked body of a girl in one of his fields. She’s been strangled—and he knows her. It’s Diana Brewer, a lovely girl who was loved and had a bright future ahead of her. Until she didn’t. Obviously.

Her best friends Riley and Evan are devastated, as is Diana’s boyfriend Cameron. But then information starts to trickle in. It turns out Diana was fed up with Cameron’s possessiveness and wanted to break up. And what’s this about Diana complaining to the high school principal about gym teacher Brad?

Lots of shifting perspectives

Shari Lapena tells her story by constantly shifting perspectives. Especially at first, I had a hard time remembering who was who. Once I finally started to 'know' the characters, it got better, but still. Changes in perspective are not my favorite way to read a story.

Just when I’m getting into the story through one character, it stops and switches to another. By constantly changing perspectives, you get a mosaic-like picture of life in Fairhill and its people. Shari Lapena even includes Diana’s perspective, though she’s dead. There are parts where Diana’s ghost tells the reader what she sees and what she can’t remember.

Plot twist - just to have a plot twist

At the end of the book, there’s a big plot twist that I definitely saw coming. Not because Shari Lapena dropped beautifully crafted hints—she didn’t. There was no reason to think things weren’t as they seemed. Toward the end, I just had the feeling: 'I think she’s going to do a big plot twist.' And then she did.

But since there was no build-up or logical reason for the twist, I found it perfunctory. It’s a purely technical plot twist.

A plot twist just to have a plot twist.

Not because the story takes a turn you didn't see coming.

What's with the ghost thing?

Even though What Have You Done is a whodunnit, there are several references to ghosts. Like Diana herself, who floats around as the ghost she’s become. There’s also a scary tale about summoning ghosts. But in the end, Shari Lapena seems to drop this storyline.

Summing up

I have mixed feelings about What Have You Done. On one hand, I was intrigued and wanted to know what happened to Diana. On the other hand, I found the frequent perspective changes annoying, and the plot twist was surprising but also disappointing because Shari Lapena didn’t provide any reason for the revelation. On GoodReads What have you done has a 3.76 rating. I would rate it 2,85.

Want to read What have you done?

You can find What have you done at Amazon.

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