Book Review: "The Two Lila Bennetts" by Liz Fenton & Lisa Steinke
“The Two Lila Bennetts” by Liz Fenton & Lisa Steinke
Synopsis: Lila Bennett’s bad choices have finally caught up with her. And one of those decisions has split her life in two. Literally.
In one life, she’s taken hostage by someone who appears to be a stranger but knows too much. As she’s trapped in a concrete cell, her kidnapper forces her to face what she’s done or be killed. In an alternate life, she eludes her captor but is hunted by someone who is dismantling her happiness, exposing one secret at a time.
Lila’s decorated career as a criminal defense attorney, her marriage, and her life are on the line. She must make a list of those she’s wronged—both in and out of the courtroom—to determine who is out to get her before it’s too late. But even if she can pinpoint her assailant, will she survive? And if she does, which parts of her life are worth saving, and which parts must die? Because one thing’s for certain—life as Lila Bennett knew it is over.
Rating: 3.75*
Review: “The Two Lila Bennetts” was described to me as “Sliding Doors”-esque with a legal background and a good twist at the end. I’ve never seen “Sliding Doors” (tbh, not a huge Goop fan, even when she was just Gwyneth), so I can’t attest to that; I will agree that this was a good legal-adjacent thriller with surprising twist at the end. I know that the synopsis above is vague, and since we are committed to spoiler-free reviews I won’t be giving anything away, but this is a book where its best to walk in semi-blind.
To sum it up the best I can, Lila Bennett isn’t a great person, and this book is about her getting her comeuppance — from her mysterious kidnapper, from those in her normal life, from her law partners, from her shady defense clients. She’s a big-time defense lawyer, known for being able to get off even the most terrible of clients. About a chapter in is the big split — the rest of the book is told from the perspective of “Captured Lila” and “Free Lila,” a narrative strategy that continues to the last chapter. Speaking of, I wasn’t sure how Liz & Lisa were going to be able to wrap this up in a way that seemed believable, but wooo those last two chapters. I didn’t want to put the book down.
Lila isn’t totally without redemption, and I wouldn’t classify her a villain, but she is definitely a complicated protagonist who has made some questionable choices throughout the course of her legal career. I personally didn’t buy the reasoning as to why she thinks she is the way she is (the rest of the book is richly nuanced, and that seemed a little shallow), but I did like that she wasn’t just a “perfect girl” who was victimized. As the book progresses, she should become less likable as we learn more about her, but she doesn’t. She actually becomes more sympathetic, which is a magic trick by the authors.
In my opinion, Lila’s two biggest victims were those that she was the most terrible to in her day-to-day life: her husband, Ethan, and her best friend, Carrie. Yes, this was a book about the terrifying consequences of your behavior on the life of those around you, but to me “Captured Lila” was just that, to an extreme. “Free Lila” was much more interesting to me in this regard because her life didn’t change as she was attempting to become a better person.
I teased it earlier, but the last 50 pages are a wild ride — so settle in with a beverage and a snack and a blanket cocoon. I was totally surprised and totally satisfied by the way that this one ended.
TL;DR: An engaging and intelligent thriller that makes you think about the consequences of your life choices — are you a good person? what would have happened if only X hadn’t? — and the impact of your life on those that are around you. A quick suspenseful read that is great to add to your end-of-summer list.
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*This is just another question - how do you rank your books? I do it as a genre-to-genre comparison, so I ranked “The Two Lila Bennetts” against other thrillers I have read recently.
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