Scan barcode
kolson687's review against another edition
4.0
Wow- reviews of this book are all over the place! I really enjoyed this mystery. I thought the characters were well done, especially Bailey the angsty teenager. It would make a great beach read as it was a page turner. Definitely more of a mystery than a thriller.
bekahklemke's review against another edition
3.75
This book was a treat! I expected a mystery, and also got a heartwarming story of found family, selflessness, and love.
From the start, I was quite hooked. The plot started swiftly and maintained a steady pace throughout. There were a couple times where it slowed, but that gave us time to enjoy the blossoming relationship between Hannah and Bailey. I'm a huge fan of character-driven stories, so this gave me a nice mix of plot and people.
While I didn't find the writing particularly complex or detailed, it was easy to follow and drew me in quickly. And Dave gave me just enough information to truly care about the characters without bogging us down with unnecessary information.
Overall, my favorite message in this book is that both good and bad can exist in a person at the same time. I think the author did a fabulous job at giving us an engaging mystery that tugged on the heartstrings at the same time.
From the start, I was quite hooked. The plot started swiftly and maintained a steady pace throughout. There were a couple times where it slowed, but that gave us time to enjoy the blossoming relationship between Hannah and Bailey. I'm a huge fan of character-driven stories, so this gave me a nice mix of plot and people.
While I didn't find the writing particularly complex or detailed, it was easy to follow and drew me in quickly. And Dave gave me just enough information to truly care about the characters without bogging us down with unnecessary information.
Overall, my favorite message in this book is that both good and bad can exist in a person at the same time. I think the author did a fabulous job at giving us an engaging mystery that tugged on the heartstrings at the same time.
elisabethd8a's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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? Yes
4.75
One of the few books where the character unravels the mystery with the reader. So poignant!
shelbyharts's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
slowell28's review against another edition
4.0
solid 4/4.5, i’ve been getting into mysteries this year and i liked that this felt more like a TV show than a novel. stayed up late reading and couldn’t put it down the last day. now excited to watch the apple TV+ show!
avig's review against another edition
3.0
This book has one of the most polarizing audience responses I have seen from a fictional thriller. Some people love it and obviously it was nominated for the goodreads choice awards but some of the more proficient readers definitely observe the shortcomings in storytelling.
The story starts off great and definitely gets you hooked. The relationship between the protagonist and her step daughter develops over the course of the novel and is a really nice touch to aid the character development. What I didn’t like though was that the second half of the novel is extremely predictable and the last few chapters seem rushed taking away the charisma of the thriller. The ending was spurted out so quickly that you are left wondering “Oh! That’s it? Just like that?”
In conclusion, this is definitely a “good-read”(pun intended) for a general audience but could have been way better if there was some time spent on NOT oversimplifying the complex characters and plots that Laura Dave shows us in the first half. For the connoisseurs of thrillers though, you can pass on this one.
The story starts off great and definitely gets you hooked. The relationship between the protagonist and her step daughter develops over the course of the novel and is a really nice touch to aid the character development. What I didn’t like though was that the second half of the novel is extremely predictable and the last few chapters seem rushed taking away the charisma of the thriller. The ending was spurted out so quickly that you are left wondering “Oh! That’s it? Just like that?”
In conclusion, this is definitely a “good-read”(pun intended) for a general audience but could have been way better if there was some time spent on NOT oversimplifying the complex characters and plots that Laura Dave shows us in the first half. For the connoisseurs of thrillers though, you can pass on this one.
katelinpro's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
ksullivan205's review against another edition
4.0
I really liked this one. I do wish that the writer would’ve included one chapter at the end from Owen’s perspective bc I would’ve loved to hear his side of things. But, overall, the story was great.