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3.5 AVERAGE
3.5 AVERAGE
I didn't hate this but it fell flat for me. I think the author couldn't decide if she wanted it to be a mystery, a ghost story, a thriller... Is the ghost real? Is there a logical explanation? The book never picked one lane until the ending which was a mess. The flashbacks are to the narrator being in 5th grade and honestly I don't know many 10 year olds that have a love life this complicated, at least in the case of Del. I feel like my review is as unorganized as the book but it's late and I wanted to put my thoughts down while they were fresh. So many of the characters are just... there - and then the ending is something you couldn't have solved anyway, making any potential shocking twist impossible. Don't bother.
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal death, Child abuse, Incest
I though this story was so sad. Aside from the ghost story and the thought of the Del being back from dead theme, I couldn't believe all the things Del had to put up with from her classmates. At least she was strong but there was so much more to her that the readers didn't know about her. I like the analogy of an onion because even thought she let the closest people take a peak of her, she never truly revealed her true-self to anyone. While some readers disliked this story, I found interesting. I'm not going to say it was the best novel from her (I'm still trying to catch up) but I do enjoy her writing style and her way of story-telling.
I prefer my novels a little less on the supernatural side. The ending of this one was just too over-the-top for me. I kept expecting reality to come crashing in, & it never did.
This is the second book I have read by this author. The first was Island of Lost Girls and I did not really enjoy it. This one was much better. I still had some issues with the story, but overall I thought it was well written and I was never sure who the murderer was until the reveal at the end. It kept me guessing from the beginning and that does not happen often for me in these types of stories.
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
All the action happens in the last few chapters. Overall underwhelming.
Promise Not to Tell, by Jennifer McMahon, reads like a (high quality) first book (although it's not, technically), but it's got a strong sense of place and a plot that created full time worries even when I could only read it part time. Points for originality and a steady sense of dread. Lucky me, I passed right through the area where the story was set just after reading the book!
When middle-aged Kate returns to her hometown to find a care facility for her dementia-stricken mother, she learns that sometimes the past won't stay buried.
When Kate was a child, her best friend Del - a poor girl who was bullied and called the Potato Girl - was the victim of a brutal, unsolved murder. The night Kate returns home, a local teen is killed in the same way, and one of the witnesses swears that she saw the Potato Girl near the body. Who murdered the girls? Does the ghost of the Potato Girl really haunt the town? The more Kate learns, the more questions there seem to be and the only thing sure is that more is going on in this small town than meets the eye.
Suspenseful and decently spooky, with a great sense of place, this is a good choice for readers who want a slightly paranormal mystery. There's a surfeit of red herrings that detracts from the big reveal, but despite that, it's a good story.
When Kate was a child, her best friend Del - a poor girl who was bullied and called the Potato Girl - was the victim of a brutal, unsolved murder. The night Kate returns home, a local teen is killed in the same way, and one of the witnesses swears that she saw the Potato Girl near the body. Who murdered the girls? Does the ghost of the Potato Girl really haunt the town? The more Kate learns, the more questions there seem to be and the only thing sure is that more is going on in this small town than meets the eye.
Suspenseful and decently spooky, with a great sense of place, this is a good choice for readers who want a slightly paranormal mystery. There's a surfeit of red herrings that detracts from the big reveal, but despite that, it's a good story.
This is the fourth book I've read by [a:Jennifer McMahon|29471|Jennifer McMahon|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1207151006p2/29471.jpg], and I'll definitely continue to read her novels. I start reading, and they suck me in, and I zoom through them very quickly compared to most other books. The plots, although extremely similar, are just different enough that I can't tell what will happen, but her writing style doesn't require a whole lot of brainpower so I can easily read for hours after a long day at work.
The first two books of hers I read got 4 stars -- this one and the last one get three, but mostly due to the fact that the plots are so similar now they all seem to get jumbled in my head. If I'd read this one first, it would have four stars and one of the others would have three. Not fair? Maybe, but that's just how it goes. I have the same issue with [a:Jasper Fforde|4432|Jasper Fforde|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1350497674p2/4432.jpg]. Some authors, when you first come across them, you are wowed, but then you realize they only have one trick. It's a GOOD trick, so you keep coming back for more! But it's the same trick, really.
Anyway, this book takes place in rural Vermont, and the main character experienced a friend's murder as a child and also got sucked into another murder when returning home as an adult -- all par for the course in McMahon's books. The details are a little different, but that's the general idea.
This particular main character, I couldn't stand. She was so dumb! Everything she did seemed like she was TRYING to get people to think she was guilty. Dumb dumb dumb. I kept wanting to scream at her. The story didn't turn out the way I thought it would, which was a good sign. Still not quite sure what was going on with the mother channeling the potato girl, but eh. It was fine.
If you're looking for a quick read, and a good "whodunnit" that won't tax your brain too much, this is a great place to start.
The first two books of hers I read got 4 stars -- this one and the last one get three, but mostly due to the fact that the plots are so similar now they all seem to get jumbled in my head. If I'd read this one first, it would have four stars and one of the others would have three. Not fair? Maybe, but that's just how it goes. I have the same issue with [a:Jasper Fforde|4432|Jasper Fforde|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1350497674p2/4432.jpg]. Some authors, when you first come across them, you are wowed, but then you realize they only have one trick. It's a GOOD trick, so you keep coming back for more! But it's the same trick, really.
Anyway, this book takes place in rural Vermont, and the main character experienced a friend's murder as a child and also got sucked into another murder when returning home as an adult -- all par for the course in McMahon's books. The details are a little different, but that's the general idea.
This particular main character, I couldn't stand. She was so dumb! Everything she did seemed like she was TRYING to get people to think she was guilty. Dumb dumb dumb. I kept wanting to scream at her. The story didn't turn out the way I thought it would, which was a good sign. Still not quite sure what was going on with the mother channeling the potato girl, but eh. It was fine.
If you're looking for a quick read, and a good "whodunnit" that won't tax your brain too much, this is a great place to start.
Book club pick. I probably would never have picked this book up, yet I did enjoy it. It is a great mystery, "whodunit."