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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
When a book is nearly 700 pages long, you have plenty of time to think about all the problems you have with it. So I could honestly write a thousand word essay about my disappointment with Northern Lights. But I've already spent too much of my time on this book, so I'm going to try to keep it concise.
This book should have been 200 pages shorter. All the interest/ intrigue I had for the characters, setting, and mystery died a slow and dismal death before we reached the halfway point and never recovered steam.
In an effort to keep the murderer a surprise, the culprit was otherwise so insignificant to the plot I struggled to remember who he was and what, if anything, I knew about him. So the reveal, rather than shocking me, was just a big womp, womp.
All of the other Nora Roberts romantic thrillers I've read had a healthy balance between the romance and the mystery. Northern Lights does not. The "romance" is about 15% of the book. (That might be a generous estimation.) And I can't genuinely call it a romance. It's a no strings sexual relationship that out of the blue turns into I love yous and a marriage proposal. I didn't buy it and I never cared a thing about Meg and Nate getting together.
Ultimately, I never cared much about any element of Northern Lights and struggled even to finish it. Which makes me sad, because it had all the components of a book I should have loved. I guess I'll have to go back and reread one of my favorite NR romantic thrillers, The Witness or The Search.
2 stars
This book should have been 200 pages shorter. All the interest/ intrigue I had for the characters, setting, and mystery died a slow and dismal death before we reached the halfway point and never recovered steam.
In an effort to keep the murderer a surprise, the culprit was otherwise so insignificant to the plot I struggled to remember who he was and what, if anything, I knew about him. So the reveal, rather than shocking me, was just a big womp, womp.
All of the other Nora Roberts romantic thrillers I've read had a healthy balance between the romance and the mystery. Northern Lights does not. The "romance" is about 15% of the book. (That might be a generous estimation.) And I can't genuinely call it a romance. It's a no strings sexual relationship that out of the blue turns into I love yous and a marriage proposal. I didn't buy it and I never cared a thing about Meg and Nate getting together.
Ultimately, I never cared much about any element of Northern Lights and struggled even to finish it. Which makes me sad, because it had all the components of a book I should have loved. I guess I'll have to go back and reread one of my favorite NR romantic thrillers, The Witness or The Search.
2 stars
Besides the fact that one of GRs friends (Thank you, Pa!) told me that NORTHERN LIGHTS had some similarities to THE WITNESS, (my favorite NR’s romantic suspense), I was intrigued to see the story posted under What Book Would You Like To Live In?. Of course, there were over 2,500 books listed under this title but I was still interested nonetheless.
So while I was sweltering in our humid 90+ degree weather and waiting for autumn to arrive, I decided to visit Lunacy, Alaska. Population: 506. And before you ask, yes, the townspeople refer to themselves as Lunatics. And, no, I never saw the movie and don't wish to.
Nate Burke arrived in his new job as police chief with some emotional baggage. Ms. Roberts portrayed an honest look at depression. I found it refreshing that she chose Nate to suffer from this disease and that she told the story from his POV.
The townspeople were a contrary sort but Nate eventually formed an odd type of fondness for most of them. Especially the bush pilot, Meg Galloway. And before long, there was a mystery with a fair amount of suspense.
Ms. Roberts was in no rush developing the characters, then introducing a romance and, finally, bringing about the suspense. At over 600 pages, the story was a gradual climb but I had no problem with this. The mystery itself was actually pretty good; the author managed to stump me. I thought I had the killer pegged but I was wrong. I still favor THE WITNESS but I enjoyed Nate's adventures, too.
So while I was sweltering in our humid 90+ degree weather and waiting for autumn to arrive, I decided to visit Lunacy, Alaska. Population: 506. And before you ask, yes, the townspeople refer to themselves as Lunatics. And, no, I never saw the movie and don't wish to.
Nate Burke arrived in his new job as police chief with some emotional baggage. Ms. Roberts portrayed an honest look at depression. I found it refreshing that she chose Nate to suffer from this disease and that she told the story from his POV.
The townspeople were a contrary sort but Nate eventually formed an odd type of fondness for most of them. Especially the bush pilot, Meg Galloway. And before long, there was a mystery with a fair amount of suspense.
Ms. Roberts was in no rush developing the characters, then introducing a romance and, finally, bringing about the suspense. At over 600 pages, the story was a gradual climb but I had no problem with this. The mystery itself was actually pretty good; the author managed to stump me. I thought I had the killer pegged but I was wrong. I still favor THE WITNESS but I enjoyed Nate's adventures, too.
Not my favorite Nora but even a "not a favorite Nora" is still a good read. Nate's a great hero and it's lucky that most of the book is actually his POV and his story. I didn't dislike Meg so much as I feel like I never really got to know her. She's one of the prickly Nora heroines, and while I've liked others like that, I think because we didn't get much of her POV she seemed overly prickly for no reason. She grew on me towards the end but that was with about 50 pages left in a 600+ page book. And that was my other issue with it, it felt long. The mystery takes precedence over the romance, which I'm fine with, but they both dragged a bit for me.
This is not one of my favorite Nora Roberts books. The qualities I like about her books were in place. There was the proactive heroine and the sexy male lead. The books also has Robert's wonderful descriptive voice, but I felt something was missing. To me the pair hooked up a little to fast, with none of the literary foreplay I've come to expect. I also felt that the ensemble cast was less colorful than normal.
I would say that this book is great for a vacation or beach read.
I would say that this book is great for a vacation or beach read.
mysterious
fast-paced
Read it because a dear friend suggested it and glad I did for her - but will not be reading any more books in this genre.
I thoroughly enjoyed this thriller. The characters were brilliant and the plot was gripping. I did not know who to suspect and could not put the book down. I would definitely recommend this novel to those who enjoy romantic mysteries.
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Graag gelezen maar de karakters van de twee hoofdpersonages doen me net iets te veel aan de personages uit Ooggetuige van dezelfde schrijfster denken.