Title: ROCK PAPER SCISSORS
Author: Alice Feeney
ISBN: 9781250266101
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Pages: 294
Source: Private Copy
Things have been wrong with Mr and Mrs Wright for a long time. When Adam and Amelia win a weekend away to Scotland, it might be just what their marriage needs. Self-confessed workaholic and screenwriter Adam Wright has lived with face blindness his whole life. He can’t recognize friends or family, or even his own wife.
Every anniversary the couple exchange traditional gifts – paper, cotton, pottery, tin – and each year Adam’s wife writes him a letter that she never lets him read. Until now. They both know this weekend will make or break their marriage, but they didn’t randomly win this trip. One of them is lying, and someone doesn’t want them to live happily ever after.
Ten years of marriage. Ten years of secrets. And an anniversary they will never forget.
Official Summary
10 June 2025
If you enjoy twisty, atmospheric thrillers that play with perception and keep you guessing until the very last page, Rock Paper Scissors is a must-read.
The story follows Adam and Amelia Wright, a married couple whose relationship has been hanging by a thread for years. Winning a weekend away at a remote, snow-covered chapel in the Scottish Highlands seems like the perfect opportunity to reconnect—or implode. Adam, a successful but emotionally distant screenwriter, suffers from face blindness, a condition that prevents him from recognizing even his closest loved ones. Amelia is the quieter counterpart, but her silence hides far more than Adam suspects. Each chapter ratchets up the tension as secrets are revealed through alternating perspectives and mysterious anniversary letters written—but never shared—by the wife over the course of their marriage.
From the very beginning, the setting adds an eerie chill to the story. Feeney does a fantastic job of using the isolation of the Scottish countryside to create a sense of dread and claustrophobia. You can almost feel the cold seeping through the pages, which makes the mounting psychological tension even more intense.
What truly sets this book apart is how masterfully Feeney plays with structure and expectation. Just when I thought I had the plot figured out, she pulled the rug out from under me with a twist that was not only surprising but made me question everything I’d read so far. And yet, once the pieces fell into place, it all made sense. That’s the kind of twist I love—the ones that don’t feel like a gimmick but rather a revelation.
The use of face blindness as a plot device is particularly clever. It’s more than just a quirk—it’s a metaphor for the emotional distance and misunderstanding in Adam and Amelia’s marriage. You start to wonder: how well do we know the people we love?
Rock Paper Scissors is a dark, suspenseful exploration of marriage, deception, and identity. It’s full of secrets, and I couldn’t flip the pages fast enough to uncover them. It’s the kind of book where, once you finish, you want to go back and reread it to catch all the clues you missed the first time.
Also by Alice Feeney
DAISY DARKER
After years of avoiding each other, Daisy Darker’s entire family is assembling for Nana’s 80th birthday party in Nana’s crumbling gothic house on a tiny tidal island. Finally, back together one last time, when the tide comes in, they will be cut off from the rest of the world for eight hours.
The family arrives, each of them harboring secrets. Then at the stroke of midnight, as a storm rages, Nana is found dead. And an hour later, the next family member follows…
Trapped on an island where someone is killing them one by one, the Darkers must reckon with their present mystery as well as their past secrets, before the tide comes in and all is revealed.
With a wicked wink to Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, Daisy Darker’s unforgettable twists will leave readers reeling.
About the Author
Author bio from the author’s site
Alice Feeney is a New York Times million-copy bestselling author. Her books have been translated into over twenty-five languages and have been optioned for major screen adaptations. Including Rock Paper Scissors, which is being made into a TV series by the producer of The Crown. Alice was a BBC journalist for fifteen years and now lives in Devon with her family. Daisy Darker is her fifth novel.
Thank you for visiting the blog and reading my review. This book has been on my TBR for way too long. I am so glad I have finally read it. Alice Feeney’s books are always brilliant reads. I am looking forward to reading more of her books soon. Are you are fan? Which is your favourite book? I would love to hear from you. Please leave a comment below. Until next time… Happy Reading!
