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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
I can always tell when books whose plots center around abused women and children are written by men. The handling of traumatic and sensitive topics feel forced and contrite. Flippant and used as a cheap literary tool. It was very apparent in this book that it made me stop and look up the writer. The writing was disjointed and the story had twists upon twists that did nothing but drag the story along. Overall, meh. It wrapped up too nicely and the ending was just too unbelievable and a little ghastly for my liking.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is a 3.5 star read. The subject matter is heavy and a little graphic, which is fine when I’m reading about adults, kids not so much. Without spoiling anything I’ll just say I had to suspend belief in order to buy into the main plot, as in this day of social media, there is no way. Overall a good read.
Jenny was a 6-year-old girl who vanished whilst walking over to her friends. Despite attempts to find her, she could not be found, until one day 12 years later when she's seemingly found. The twist of course is that this isn't the real Jenny - it's a different girl who has had a hard life and spends her time impersonating missing children. But there seems to be more to the household she's placed herself in, especially related to that of Jenny's brother Ben.
Now this book was a heck of a rollercoaster ride, filled with twists and turns which kept me reading to the end. The particular high point was the first chapter, describing the fate of a missing poster in quite the elegant way. I also liked the reveal, which intially sets Ben up to have killed his own sister, albeit in self-defense only to reveal that he was actually trying to save her from her pedophile father. My only criticism of it is that I never really gelled with the main character, maybe because her past was too patchy at times.
Still, a good read.
Now this book was a heck of a rollercoaster ride, filled with twists and turns which kept me reading to the end. The particular high point was the first chapter, describing the fate of a missing poster in quite the elegant way. I also liked the reveal, which intially sets Ben up to have killed his own sister, albeit in self-defense only to reveal that he was actually trying to save her from her pedophile father. My only criticism of it is that I never really gelled with the main character, maybe because her past was too patchy at times.
Still, a good read.
Wowza! The beginning was a bit of a slow burn, but I got to the point where I was frantically finishing, mainly because there were some seriously messed up people and details.
I could see some of the twist elements coming, but they didn't all fall into place the way I imagined. Some of the surprises were less than plausible, but they were satisfying.
I could see some of the twist elements coming, but they didn't all fall into place the way I imagined. Some of the surprises were less than plausible, but they were satisfying.
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment