Drowning in Paper Flowers

by E.L. Westbury

THE LIE: Ruby Powell is the epitome of perfect. She is beautiful, prominent, and wealthy. She lives in her dream home in the most affluent neighborhood in Dallas. She's a doting mother, a devoted wife, and a respected member of her community. She takes pride in being the president of both the PTA for her son’s elementary school, and the Booster Club for her daughter’s high school soccer team. Her kids adore her, and her husband is still her best friend after eighteen years of marriage.

THE TRUTH: Ruby Powell is a full-figured, middle-aged housewife, living in a house she’s grown to despise. She’s a subpar mother. She detests her husband. And she’s addicted to anti-anxiety pills due to a recurring nightmare. She volunteers at both of her children’s schools, albeit for appearance’s sake only—because what would it look like if she were a stay-at-home mom who didn’t volunteer? Her teenage daughter loathes her, and her six-year-old son suffers from PTSD, due to being the victim of a kidnapping when he was a toddler.

What happens when Ruby is no longer able to separate the truth from the lie?

A nightmare.

An affair.

A dead body.

A lifelong secret.

And the ending you never saw coming.

Genres: Thriller, Book Club, Audiobook, Mystery, Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Suspense

432 pages, Paperback

First published December 24, 2024

About the author

E.L. Westbury is a wife, mother of five (three humans and two fur babies), and vanilla latte lover. After years of scribbling ideas for a novel on coffeehouse napkins and figuring out a hundred different ways to describe a single smile, she eventually sat down and poured her heart into her first manuscript. Even though her writing is filled with twists, turns, snaps, crackles and pops, at heart she's a hopeless romantic. When she isn't writing, she's begging her husband to watch The Notebook with her for the hundredth time, laughing while learning the latest Gen Z lingo from her kids, or curled up on the couch covered in dog kisses. She resides in Texas and often escapes to Colorado, finding peace in wildflowers, red wine and the mountains. Her wish is to continue writing and leave her readers with a little piece of herself in every book.

Reviews

[E.L. Westbury]

Every page of DIPF carries a piece of me. I’m endlessly grateful to the readers who’ve been with me since the start, and to every one of you just discovering my work. I hope this story grips you, haunts you, and stays with you long after the last page. Love to you all! 💛

[♥︎ Heather ⚔ (Semi-Hiatus-attempting return) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 Stars.

Freaking loved it. Can’t stop thinking about it.

A mother struggling to hold her family together begins to unravel as buried trauma and long-suppressed truths start surfacing, straining her relationship with her daughter and blurring the line between memory and reality.

I finished this at 5am, which tells you how hooked I was-but I wouldn't call it a traditional thriller. The tension is there, but the big reveals are pretty easy to clock early on, and the story doesn't try very hard to disguise them.

It's more about a psychological unraveling than twist-driven suspense, which worked for me-but it's worth going in with that expectation.

The middle drags a bit. Some chapters feel overextended, and a few of the heavier, darker moments come in slightly disjointed, almost like they're dropped in before being fully grounded.

Where this book really shines is in the characters. Ruby took a while to click for me-I wasn't even sure | liked her at first-but by the end she felt layered flawed, and deeply human.

Millie, though... she completely stole the show. That protective, almost feral big sister energy hit me immediately, and I connected with it personally. Her relationship with Mason added a soft, grounding layer that never felt forced.

The emotional core between Ruby and Millie carries the story. Their relationship is messy, strained, and very real, and their arc lands so genuinely as a result. The push and pull /good bad mother daughter dynamic is real.

I may sound a little critical, but it’s only because I enjoyed the story so much that with just a couple tweaks it could have ventured into 5 star territory.

Highly recommend. Currently on KU and Audible for like $6 (don’t need to use a credit 😉) even less if you have KU and apply the discount. 🤭

Also, I’m probably not going to be on Goodreads as often anymore. If you’re on Instagram- I’d love to connect there. 💖

⋆✴︎a˚｡⋆ Connect with me on Instagram ˗ˏˋ★︵‧ ˚ ₊⊹

🌻Psychological tension
🌻Messy, realistic mother–daughter relationship
🌻Fierce, protective big sister energy
🌻Emotional payoff
🌻Tender but tense parenting moments
🌻Slow-burn unraveling

[chantalsbookstuff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nearly a DNF for me. Those first 20 odd pages was torture. Every little single thing was being over described, but yet I could not stop reading. This is a fantastic book, multiple POV's, secrets and lies, and a couple of hard twist had me ultimately hooked this entire day!

[Cherie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author’s excessive use of similes and metaphors to describe the characters’ feelings detracted from what was overall an interesting plot.

[Abbie Konnick · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 🌟 this was about to be a 5 star read until the ENDING!!! I needed at LEAST 2 more chapters to wrap the whole things up!!

[Emily Rae · Rating 5 out of 5]

I ATE THIS BOOK UP - finishing it in less than 24 hours. I. could. not. put. it. down!

I liked that it was told from multiple POVs. All of the characters were unreliable and semi unlikable, which left me unable to trust any of them and constantly questioning their actions/motives. I appreciate Westbury’s use of present day vocabulary, which made the characters feel real and relatable, allowing me to connect with them.

The twists did not stop coming - and kept me on edge the entire time. I loved the way the plot unfolded, it kept me glued to the pages, desperate for answers. Finally, I loved the way the truth was revealed. The ending was unexpected yet satisfying.

Fantastic, 5 ⭐️ thriller - definitely recommend!

[TheConnieFox · Rating 4 out of 5]

I went into this book not knowing what it was about and I’m so glad that I did! The unique cover and title is what ultimately made me want to dive into reading this novel. The story grabbed my attention during the prologue and kept it till the very end. I enjoyed the short chapters, the characters and the storyline.

Going into this book, I had no idea that this was going to be a thriller novel, that came with a lot of twists and turns! I enjoy reading thrillers! This one came with a lot of depth and emotions. Furthermore, this story comes with multiple POV’s, family secrets, betrayal and an unreliable narrator.

It is ultimately about a family that appears to have the perfect life. However, that is far from the truth. We slowly get to learn about each main character in the book, which are all multilayered. Everything started making sense towards the end. However, I DID NOT see that ending coming at all! It was shocking, yet satisfying. Overall, this was a great book! I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading dark, character-driven, suspenseful thrillers that come with questionable characters! It gave me the books, “The Wife Between Us” and “Sharp Objects” vibes. I give this book a solid 4 out of 5 stars!

Themes:

🌻 Secrets & lies.
🖤 Motherhood & failure
🌻 Mental Health & trauma
🖤 Identity & Self Deception
🌻Appearance Vs. Reality

》* 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ * 。° 。 • ˚《

❥ ୨⎯ Connie ⎯୧ ❥

ツ౨ৎ

[Nina (ninjasbooks) · Rating 4 out of 5]

That was one twisty tale for sure! Loved it

[Eileen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Each chapter was a different character and the minor or personal drama they were dealing with. And each chapter made me wonder why am I reading this book? Nothing captured my attention and nothing was written that made me excited to continue reading. Millie, the daughter dealing with teenage stuff. Jack, the husband having an affair. Ruby the main character has a pretty boring life. At about 80% a “secret” is revealed, but by then, I just wanted to be done reading this book.

[Caz (Underlined) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐️ Drowning in Paper Flowers is one of those rare books that completely pulls you in and doesn’t let go. I was hooked from the very first page and found myself thinking about it long after I finished. The story is so beautifully layered, full of suspense and emotion—it’s a psychological thriller that stays with you. I really loved it.

[~✡~Dαni(ela) ♥ ♂♂ love & semicolons~✡~ · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNFed at some point, maybe 60%? I'm not sure because I lost my will to live.

That this book has 4 plus stars on GR is sheer madness.

The story is disjointed, filled with unnecessary details and unlikable characters. It's also so fucking boring, I'd rather pick up trash on the side of the highway naked in blazing heat than read one more page.

This author has never met an em dash, metaphor, or simile she didn't like. This reads like Creative Writing 1010 where the author tried so hard to be descriptive, she tripped over her own adjectives and fell on her face.

Don't use two words when one word will do, Ms. Westbury, and ffs learn to edit.

[Meghan · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of the most horrible books I have ever listened to. I kept going because of the rave reviews I’ve recently read. No amount of my wishing made this book bearable. So many similes, adjectives, metaphors, and, quite frankly, stupid names/nicknames throughout the entire book. Less is more.
I feel as though the author was trying to win a horrible bet with the amount of times she described eyes as “divergent”. Half the word count has to be attributed to over explaining EVERY physical trait, joke, nickname, and describing a speech pattern. Grating. Though the characters physical traits were over explained, ad nauseam, they were all written from the same annoying, entitled, upper class, educated view point—which doesn’t work when the story revolves around elementary boys, high school girls, women dealing with PTSD, entitled husbands, and criminal grandmothers. From start to finish, this was awful. Do not waste your time.

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was super hyped up so I was excited to read it, but it really fell flat for me. The story seemed to drag on until the end when everything happened at once. A lot of focus was spent on things that, in the end, felt irrelevant to the story. I also felt that the writer suddenly thought of a good idea to add “shock value” and tossed it in the storyline and went with it.

I tend to prefer twists that are “oh wow, I didn’t see that coming but thinking back, there were definitely some breadcrumbs and it all adds up now.”

There was a severe overuse of em dashes, and I began to wonder if the writer was trying to hit a word count because the em dashes were always adding some type of metaphor or unnecessary description of something. The first page of chapter 6 was only a half page long yet there were FIVE sentences with em dashes and unnecessary content (or content that could have been condensed into a regular sentence). The writing could have been more concise and nothing would have been lost.

Also, there was such an odd number of things described as cherry-flavored or cherry-red, which was such a little detail, but it bothered me.

Finally, I was turned off by the constant pop culture references. It felt like the writer was trying to be the “cool mom” by showing off how many pop culture things she knew. Off the top of my head I remember reading references to the Kardashians, Stanley cups, the word “rizz,” TikTok/Facebook/Instagram, “Gen Z,” and Chick Fil A saying “my pleasure.”

I can certainly see WHY people liked the book, but it just didn’t do it for me. If you’re looking for a quick, easy read, this definitely fits the bill.

If you prefer a book that has a more mature writing style and doesn’t feel catered to a specific generation, this may not be for you.

[Dutchie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Powell family is not your normal wealthy suburban family; they are swarming with secrets and a ton of drama. While this made for a highly entertaining domestic drama, there was too much going on from a side plot perspective. This definitely could’ve benefited from staying in one or two lanes instead of using the entire freeway. There were roughly 5 storylines based on my math, maybe even a few more.

The basic rundown is Ruby gives off the appearance of living the perfect life with a perfect family, but behind closed doors, things are much different. Her husband is unhappy in his marriage. Her daughter absolutely can’t stand her, and her young son is still dealing with PTSD from having been kidnapped.

Overall, this was highly entertaining, but some of the side stories, while adding entertainment value, weren’t necessarily needed. For some reason, anything that dealt with her young son never quite got its footing for me. I found Millie‘s point of view to be a little bit better, but of course, it read more YA being that she was a teenager. I think if it had just stuck from Ruby and her husband’s perspectives, things could’ve been tightened up a little bit. I am purposely being vague to avoid any spoilers, which is tough to do!

If you’re looking for a domestic family drama, this one definitely comes packed with the drama. It’s just a bit all over the place.

From a rating perspective, I’ve decided to round up purely because I did find myself sucked into their dysfunction, but ultimately would rate this a solid 3.5 stars if we had half stars.

[Meghan · Rating 1 out of 5]

How in god’s name does this have 4+ stars???? This book was AWFUL. Holy fuck. I have not read something this bad in a very long time. I’m pissed I didn’t dnf

[The Hateful Reader · Rating 1 out of 5]

I understand why this book is popular. I just don’t think it’s good.

It opens with that irresistible “what is happening?” tension that pulls you in fast.
And then it slowly unravels.
The characters are deeply unlikeable and not in a fascinating way, just in a draining one:
A grating six-year-old that speaks by switching his Bs and Vs. (cuz that’s fun to read)
A hostile, self-absorbed sixteen-year-old.
A wealthy, ugly husband (compared to Gargamel from the Smurfs) with the personality of damp cardboard.
A passive-aggressive wife marinating in resentment and questionable parenting choices.

The storyline grows increasingly disjointed, and while the twist didn’t shock me, I can admit it may land better for readers who don’t see it coming. For me, the breadcrumbs were a little too obvious.

What did stand out was the portrayal of the men. Every male character is weak, negligent, morally suspect or hideous. After a while, it stops feeling layered and starts feeling pointed.

To be fair, I get why it works for some. The slow-burn unraveling keeps you turning pages. But the ending is where it truly fumbles. After an entire novel of questions, the answers are shoved into the epilogue in a frantic information dump. Instead of payoff, it feels rushed and oddly detached… not to mention completely implausible!!

And after all that trauma? The characters remain insufferable. The bully is coddled. The criminal(s) protected. Accountability dodged. Growth non existent. Bad guys win.

In the end, this book left me sad…. not for the tragedies, but for what the story chooses to excuse.

[Kim Sewall · Rating 1 out of 5]

I purchased the audible version of this book based on several positive reviews. About a third of the way in, I gave up. There are way too many similes, adjectives, metaphors and after a while, it became annoying and distracted me from the story. I’m actually surprised that more readers didn’t experience the same reaction.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audible suggested this for me, so I decided to see what it was all about. I went into Drowning in Paper Flowers completely blind. This was a very well-written domestic thriller that featured alternating perspectives with a steady pace. As I was reading, I found myself questioning the characters and the intentions that they had. Drowning in Paper Flowers had many twists and the layers were unfolding as the story continued. Westbury bought a domestic thriller that kept me guessing until the very end.

[mia:) · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘Something tells me this is karma’s not-so-subtle way of warning me that I’m not going to get away with what I’ve done.’

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️okay wow this book was insanely good and an emotional rollercoaster. you have a bratty teenager, a messy messy marriage, mean girls, mistresses, heartbreak, and so many relatable moments. at first, i didn’t like any of the characters. i thought they were all super hypocritical and weird, but then the big twist came, and the twists just kept coming. every chapter had you flabbergasted, wondering “what??” and “you’re kidding??” 🤯😗. the way we get to see each character’s pov was so neat. this book is crazy good and will have you dying…😉🤭 (haha see what i did there) to know what happens next!! highly recommend this one!! 🌻🔪💋

“I lobe you.” “I lobe you back.”

[Debbie De Salvo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Trigger:
-Multiple rapes (The new “go to” for authors. Why can’t a thriller be written without this topic?!)

***Spoiler***
Do yourself a favor and don’t read. I found it skin crawling at the end. And I realize some of you may feel differently than me…..
The first half of this novel was so good. Everything you want in a thriller! Fast paced, gripping plot, intriguing characters so well developed along with witty dialogue punctuated with lots of music references.
And then….
And then it got weird and disturbing and I just can’t believe an author wrote about a 1st grade little boy who is a horrific bully and zipped tied another student all without explaining where in the hell he came upon zip ties. To make matters worse, he is coddled by his mother and she never discusses his behavior with him.
But hold on, that’s not even the most disturbing part.
The first grade boy stabs a woman more than 20 times and the mother sets things up so that her cheating husband takes the blame and is sent to prison. And the mother cleans up the mess and confesses that she’s never been happier and “revenge is best served cold.”
I am so gobsmacked that an author chose to write about an elementary school boy with twisted bullying tendencies who murders another woman.
He eventually sees a therapist and tells the therapist he has nightmares about killing a woman. She tells him it is normal to have dreams like that of someone you are scared of. And knock me over with a feather the mother exclaims that after her son heard that, “the darkness in his eyes faded.”
As a retired educator, myself, I know there are deeply troubled students. But why put this in a novel?! It’s so disturbing.
Why?!
The only saving grace was knowing the imprisoned husband wrote his wife a letter simply stating: “I know your secret.”

[Ember McPeak · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dont waste your time

I hate this book. There is so much unnecessary information and sub plots, that end up meaning nothing. This was so boring up until the last 80%. I hated every single character in this book, and there are so many plot holes and things unexplained, or just downright not realistic.

[Syndi · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF

Sadly, despite many many positive reviews fir Drowninv in Paper Flowers, I can not finish this book.

I was looking forward to read this, but the writing and the plot is off.

2 stars

[Cozy PagesW Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 🌟

Y’all… this book was a ride!!!! Drowning in Paper Flowers by E.L. Westbury had me gripped and hooked from the very beginning. Talk about plot twist galore??? I was literally speechless more than once. I devoured this in just two days because I simply had to know what would happen next.

Now, let me be honest, the characters are pretty unlikable and at times downright annoying, BUT the storytelling, the atmosphere, and those jaw dropping twists completely made up for it. This is one of those books that had me wanting to scream, throw punches, and still keep flipping pages because it was that good.

The authors ability to weave a psychological thriller is seriously impressive. The way her mind works when it comes to dark, twisty storytelling feels so compelling and masterful. I’ll definitely be picking up more of her books in the future.

If you’re looking for a psychological thriller that will keep you on edge, drop your jaw, and pull you in page after page, I can’t recommend this enough. I don’t see it floating around much in the book world, but let me be the one to tell you, it deserves attention!!!!

Thriller lovers, this one’s for you! 👏🏼

[Ash · Rating 5 out of 5]

A enthralling, immersing thriller that was so unorthodox and unlike anything I’ve ever read. I absolutely loved it and all of the aspects that came with it. As a woman I could understand Ruby and her decisions that she made. I completely recommend this. It has twists and turns that keep you on the edge!

[Dawn Laurine · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a crazy wild ride that was!! I loved the multiple POVs, the twist, the deceit and the revenge.

A couple times it felt a bit slower, didn't really enjoy the high school mean girl drama. Other than that, great read 4 🌟

[Laura · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is trash. 0/10. Do Not Recommend.

It is NOT a psychological thriller. It’s a loosely connected sequence of events narrated at the reader like a PowerPoint presentation by someone who has heard of subtleties but elected not to use any.
Every emotional beat is spoonfed. The prose doesn’t show thought, dread, desire, confusion, or guilt. It announces them, repeatedly. Often redundantly.

The writing follows a relentless rhythm of: I did this. Then I thought this. Then this happened. Then I went here. Then I thought this. Then I said this. Then this happened.

The story is a chaotic mess. We’re pushed to invest in characters and threads that ultimately go nowhere, not because the author is subverting expectations, but because the narrative simply abandons them. Literary poor planning. Red herrings aren’t red herrings if the book forgets they ever existed.

Ruby, our supposed anchor, is profoundly unlikable. Not in a sharp, self‑aware, morally complex way... she’s unlikable because the story wants our sympathy while actively undermining it at every turn. Her actions are excused, her perspective is never meaningfully challenged, and her droning monologue goes nowhere. The result is a protagonist who inspires no empathy.

The affair storyline is an especially hollow failure. The marriage is already framed as dead. The husband Jack is written as trapped, weary, and sympathetic. There’s no jealousy, no moral tension, no emotional risk. What we have instead is justification that removes all stakes. The “best friend” relationship with Flynn is teased as emotionally significant and then quietly evaporates. It doesn’t escalate. It doesn’t rupture. It doesn’t resolve. It simply stops mattering.

The kidnapping subplot is an absolute disaster. What should be the emotional and psychological backbone of the story is instead handled like a narrative prop, introduced with heavy seriousness, revisited randomly, and then twisted into convenience whenever the plot needs urgency. It’s simultaneously over‑explained and underdeveloped, used to excuse behavior, fast‑track sympathy, and inject artificial stakes without ever being meaningfully explored. The logistics are implausible, the emotional aftermath is shallow, and the way the story deploys a child’s kidnapping as a catch‑all justification for everything else feels not just sloppy, but exploitative.

The Jet and Mildred (Ruby's kids) storyline is another baffling dead end. A manufactured pocket of drama that hints at significance and then evaporates. When multiple side plots fizzle out like this, it becomes clear the issue isn’t intentional ambiguity, it's author ineptness.

And then there’s the ending. The finale is sloppy. The epilogue is a catastrophe: a full explanation dump that clarifies, summarizes, and neatly labels everything the book failed to deliver within the chapters. An epilogue should echo, not explain. This epilogue is an admission that the story could not stand on its own without footnotes.

Who Will Love This Book:
* Readers who prefer to be told exactly what to think and feel, preferably multiple times per chapter
* People who equate “stuff happening” with “a good plot”
* Anyone who believes an epilogue explaining everything is “satisfying closure” rather than structural failure
* Readers who mistake words on a page for great storytelling
* Anyone who finishes a book and says “I didn’t see that coming” without asking whether it actually made sense

Final Verdict: Trash
This book is an overpraised, underwritten, structurally unsound flop. It mistakes exposition for psychology, messiness for complexity, and explanation for insight. The high ratings say more about the audience than the execution. Sorry, not sorry.
If this is what you call a “5 star psychological thriller,” then the bar isn’t just low, it’s underground, buried beneath an epilogue explaining how it got there.

[Lauren Chandler · Rating 1 out of 5]

Me when I write a book after learning what similes are. And why is every other word “lowkey”? And what do your editor and publisher do for a living, out of curiosity?
UNPUBLISH THIS NONSENSE

[Susan W · Rating 5 out of 5]

If family secrets had a pulse, this book would be one long panic attack. This was an addictive read.

This book was unsettling and impossible to put down. I was completely immersed in the lives of these flawed and complicated characters. What begins as a slow-burn family drama gradually and steadily intensifies, revealing the devastating cost of dark family secrets kept behind closed doors.

Not everything is as it first appears—perception is the greatest deception.

Thank you NetGalley, Atria Books and E.L. Westbury for this ARC. Consider me a fan—I can’t wait to read more from this author.

[Annette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ruby is a Mom of two, Millie and Mason and married to Jack. They all live in a beautiful big home in the ritzy neighborhood of Dallas, TX. From the outside it looks like a perfect home and a perfect family. Wrong!
Ruby is overweight, stay at home Mom, helps at both their kids schools, and despises her husband Jack. Millie who is in her teens has many grudges against her Mom. Mason just loves his Mom and the Dad ignores him. Mason has anger issues and is a bully at school. His friend Jet got the blame for causing trouble at school when it was Mason.
So many twists, surprises, hook ups, and a mind blowing murder in this book.

[Mlpmom (Book Reviewer) · Rating 4 out of 5]

You know those characters you absolutely love to hate? The ones that have zero redeemable qualities and yet something draws you into their stories anyway?
This book, is full of those characters. In fact, every single one of them are horrible people and you dislike them so much and are so disgusted with every single thing they do, you can't help but want to know more about them. They are trainwrecks in the form of people and you will love every single minute of it and find yourself not being able to look away let alone put the book down.

I truly loved this story, so much so, that it took me by surprise and I ended up reading it in (almost) one sitting.

*ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*