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erinkellyreads's review
I'm going to have to stop reading this one - I think I am not the audience for this book. There is some good writing happening, and if you love crime thrillers with serial killers, particularly those where you get to see into the killer's past/mind, you'll like this book. A valid criticism I have is that the female characters are written obviously flawed while the MMC has all of his flaws easily brushed away. I tend to read books from mostly female authors, so this might be something that is sticking out to me more in this novel than maybe for another person. There is A LOT of things that made me squirm like animal death, sexual abuse, graphic and gross bullying, etc. I wouldn't usually call myself squeamish, but it was too much for me at this time.
Again, if you're someone who usually enjoys crime, thrillers, and serial killers, you will probably enjoy this book. Check the content warnings (publisher even says to look out for chapter 34). I won this book in a giveaway from Goodreads, and I'm grateful for the chance to read it, even if I am not the target audience after all.
Again, if you're someone who usually enjoys crime, thrillers, and serial killers, you will probably enjoy this book. Check the content warnings (publisher even says to look out for chapter 34). I won this book in a giveaway from Goodreads, and I'm grateful for the chance to read it, even if I am not the target audience after all.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Rape, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Body horror, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Death, Gore, Child abuse, Sexism, Sexual violence, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexual harassment, Incest, Sexual assault, Stalking, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Alcohol and Death of parent
marvsbooks's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
This was my first Peter Nichols book, and I am absolutely dying to know what happens next in the series.
I really loved the small town—but worldly—vibes of this book’s setting. I loved the folklore behind parts of it, and thought it started off strong with the first killing happening so early in the book.
The narration was phenomenal. I loved the narrator’s voice, and his character accents were excellent.
CW for graphic animal abuse in chapter 34–it was unexpected, but fit with the overall book and actually added a lot of context.
I absolutely hated Morgana for most of the book, but ended up loving the ending. The epilogue was really satisfying and wrapped things up nicely.
Overall, this kept my attention and was unique in the suspense/mystery genre—I will definitely read the next in the series once it’s out!
I really loved the small town—but worldly—vibes of this book’s setting. I loved the folklore behind parts of it, and thought it started off strong with the first killing happening so early in the book.
The narration was phenomenal. I loved the narrator’s voice, and his character accents were excellent.
CW for graphic animal abuse in chapter 34–it was unexpected, but fit with the overall book and actually added a lot of context.
I absolutely hated Morgana for most of the book, but ended up loving the ending. The epilogue was really satisfying and wrapped things up nicely.
Overall, this kept my attention and was unique in the suspense/mystery genre—I will definitely read the next in the series once it’s out!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Animal cruelty, and Animal death
library_dreamer's review
dark
medium-paced
2.0
This one was really hard for me to rate. The overall story was okay and might have warranted a 3-3.5 from me if it weren't for some detracting elements. It was more of a slow burn with the how and why being slowly revealed and the who not really a secret. It's honestly pretty forgettable to me with the exception of the darker elements like the animal death and no fade to black on a child sexual assault. If that's all I really remember in detail, that tells me it was probably unnecessary in that level of detail.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Violence, Child abuse, and Sexual assault
claraemily's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Incest, and Animal cruelty
chessakat's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
I really enjoyed this audiobook!
This one is really hard to talk about without giving anything away!
Loved the small town setting in Maine; the novelist-turned-detective father who is the center point of the story; the absolutely creepy method of murder the killer employs; the slow unwinding of a backstory; the way the parents are portrayed, and how realistic the teenager-parent relationships felt.
Didn’t love that the narrator had a pretty muddled Manchester accent for our main detective and that he kept mispronouncing “coif” for the entire book (you might wonder how many times this could POSSIBLY be an issue; it’s 3.)
This was just a very evenly paced thriller with a bit of horror story that built to a great conclusion. The denouement was very satisfying as well.
This one is really hard to talk about without giving anything away!
Loved the small town setting in Maine; the novelist-turned-detective father who is the center point of the story; the absolutely creepy method of murder the killer employs; the slow unwinding of a backstory; the way the parents are portrayed, and how realistic the teenager-parent relationships felt.
Didn’t love that the narrator had a pretty muddled Manchester accent for our main detective and that he kept mispronouncing “coif” for the entire book (you might wonder how many times this could POSSIBLY be an issue; it’s 3.)
This was just a very evenly paced thriller with a bit of horror story that built to a great conclusion. The denouement was very satisfying as well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Kidnapping, Child death, Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Body horror, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Child abuse and Death of parent
reading_under_covers's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
4.0
When a murdered teen is found in the coastal Maine town of Granite Harbor, the teen’s close friends and parents come together to get answers and hopefully save their own kids from the same fate.
This book was dark and gritty and such a fantastic crime fiction 🔪
The chapters flip through several points of view AND a past timeline which allow you to really get to know everyone in this small town!
Thank you to Celadon for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!
This book was dark and gritty and such a fantastic crime fiction 🔪
The chapters flip through several points of view AND a past timeline which allow you to really get to know everyone in this small town!
Thank you to Celadon for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Bullying, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Murder
jjsbookcase's review
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Child death
jmkendall0218's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Drug use, Body horror, Child death, Death, and Murder
danapr's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Torture, Violence, Animal cruelty, Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Excrement, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Suicide, Vomit, and Sexual content
Very graphic violence inflicted on teenagers and animals - horrible and disturbing.heidirgorecki's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Well that was… disturbing…and totally *not* what I was expecting when I picked up the book.
The writing itself was ok, which is the only reason it’s not a 1⭐️, and the story progression also pretty good, where I initially got the villain wrong, then my second choice was right. But the content was not up my alley. Violent, psychotic and a bit graphic. The first half-ish wasn’t as bad but especially the last probably 25% just went way too deep and I would have DNF’d if I realized it earlier on. It went beyond your typical crime/murder mystery, even serial killer thriller, into mutilation and just extreme creepiness. I’m not sure where the brain trust for something like this comes from but it was bizarre.
Also, listening to the audio on it, the narrator was good for every character but the main character, Alex. He was supposed to be British but the narrator couldn’t pull off the accent. It would venture into a very slight Irish/Scottish lilt once in a great while, but normally it was just American. Yet there were a number of other American accents done just fine. It made Alex feel badly done. Either don’t do accents for anyone, or do them all well, but only picking and choosing was just awkward.
Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy of this audiobook. All opinions are mine.
The writing itself was ok, which is the only reason it’s not a 1⭐️, and the story progression also pretty good, where I initially got the villain wrong, then my second choice was right. But the content was not up my alley. Violent, psychotic and a bit graphic. The first half-ish wasn’t as bad but especially the last probably 25% just went way too deep and I would have DNF’d if I realized it earlier on. It went beyond your typical crime/murder mystery, even serial killer thriller, into mutilation and just extreme creepiness. I’m not sure where the brain trust for something like this comes from but it was bizarre.
Also, listening to the audio on it, the narrator was good for every character but the main character, Alex. He was supposed to be British but the narrator couldn’t pull off the accent. It would venture into a very slight Irish/Scottish lilt once in a great while, but normally it was just American. Yet there were a number of other American accents done just fine. It made Alex feel badly done. Either don’t do accents for anyone, or do them all well, but only picking and choosing was just awkward.
Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy of this audiobook. All opinions are mine.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Animal cruelty, Physical abuse, Torture, Animal death, and Gore
Moderate: Suicide