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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
mysterious
medium-paced
This domestic thriller begins from the perspective of podcaster, Rachel Krall, who seeks justice for the unheard and the wronged. She is brought to a small town to cover a rape trial. A high profile Olympic swimmer is accused of raping a high school girl. While in town Rachel begins receiving messages about a past crime that occurred in the town. The sister of Jenny Stills wants justice for her murder that was brushed under the rug 25 years ago. The two stories parallel and collide in this page-turning thriller. I enjoyed the chapters that were written in podcast-style to showcase how deeply Rachel is searching for the truth. Highly recommend for readers of mysteries and thrillers. Thank you to Netgalley for a digital ARC of this title.
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Decent for a goodwill find
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence
3.5/5
I liked the structure of this book. Hannah’s letters combined with the podcast transcriptions and Rachel’s perspective gave this a really full feeling. At first it was odd, though, adjusting to the switches between first and third person.
But I didn’t totally love this, I don’t know what it is but something kept gnawing at me while I read. I wanted to get to the end, figure out how the trial would end and what would happen to Hannah, but something kept me from fully engaging with it. It could be just that parts of this were so difficult to read given the crimes at hand, though, thank god, Goldin never gives explicit details. Basically, I have mixed, but overall positive, feelings.
I liked the structure of this book. Hannah’s letters combined with the podcast transcriptions and Rachel’s perspective gave this a really full feeling. At first it was odd, though, adjusting to the switches between first and third person.
But I didn’t totally love this, I don’t know what it is but something kept gnawing at me while I read. I wanted to get to the end, figure out how the trial would end and what would happen to Hannah, but something kept me from fully engaging with it. It could be just that parts of this were so difficult to read given the crimes at hand, though, thank god, Goldin never gives explicit details. Basically, I have mixed, but overall positive, feelings.
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This book was better than expected! I love the fact that it weaved two different “mysteries”/cases together (without confusing the reader) and it included a true crime podcast! I could see part it being predictable but not overly much but I wanted the book to end - in the best way possible! I just wanted to see if my theories were right and what the actual ending was! I don’t feel like the book was slow at any point, it was fast paced and such a good read!
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Thrillers are tricky for me. I want so badly to be engrossed by them, but I've yet to find one that had a compelling voice and a twisty plot that hasn't felt gimmicky. This book has a ton of positive reviews and was one of the top thrillers in the goodreads choice award so I thought I had a winner. I also loved the podcast angle. Unfortunately, it didn't live up to my expectations. I found the narrative voice quite dull and uncompelling and the podcast chapter section uninspiring. I also correctly guessed the murderer, as well as another key character, about 150 pages before their reveals. Which is fine! Thrillers are meant to be guessed and a late stage plot twist that you never saw coming is something that I don't enjoy but I was expecting there to be something unexpected - something shocking to end the story on.
I enjoyed myself enough - hence the 3 stars - but overall the plot was never compelling enough to make me feel invested, the split POV was largely unnecessary and took away from the investigative aspect, and Rachel was a dull protagonist whose personality never jumped off the page. If you're looking for a simple easy read, this definitely does the trick, and I'm trying to read more widely in the thriller genre so I'm glad I picked it up but if you're looking for a twisty, can't take your eyes off the page read, I would look elsewhere.
I enjoyed myself enough - hence the 3 stars - but overall the plot was never compelling enough to make me feel invested, the split POV was largely unnecessary and took away from the investigative aspect, and Rachel was a dull protagonist whose personality never jumped off the page. If you're looking for a simple easy read, this definitely does the trick, and I'm trying to read more widely in the thriller genre so I'm glad I picked it up but if you're looking for a twisty, can't take your eyes off the page read, I would look elsewhere.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No