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yvo_about_books's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
3.25
Finished reading: April 29th 2024
"People go traveling for two reasons: because they are searching for something, or they are running from something."
I have a yearly goal of reading at least one book in Dutch, and this year I ended up deciding to read the Dutch translation of one of Lucy Clarke's books. I always love a travel element in my thrillers and I've enjoyed her writing in the past, so I was hoping that this would make the task of reading in a language I hardly use anymore a little easier... But sadly I did end up having mixed thoughts. I struggled considerably with the word choice and tone in the translation, as both fell off for me. I'm not sure up to what point it was the fault of the translation, as it might just have been me and my rusty Dutch, but it really impacted my reading experience in a negative way. This wasn't my only issue though. I also struggled to connect to both sisters, and especially Mia. I never warmed up to her, and her behavior was so selfish and negative during the story. The fact that we have more than one love triangle and cheating to deal with doesn't help either of course. I can't deny that I did love the travel element though, with chapters set in locations including Maui, Australia and Bali. It was interesting to see how these locations impacted both characters, and I liked the dual timeline structure where we switch between Katie in the present and Mia in the past. Both are connected through the diary, and while the twists were mostly quite predictable I still enjoyed the journey. All in all it's not my favorite Lucy Clarke story, although this might have had to do with the Dutch translation as well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Infidelity, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Cancer, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Grief, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Cursing, Death, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, and Drug use
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