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judithdcollins's review
3.0
Vanessa Cuti’s debut, THE TIP LINE is a domestic drama about a woman who wants to find love and marry. How far will she go to do so?
Virginia Carey seems obsessed with wanting to get married. She is 30 yrs old and lands a job as an operator at a police station where she handles the tip line for incoming crimes. The Suffolk Police Department is primarily male-dominated, and she is a civilian operator.
She thinks this should be easy since she is surrounded by cops that are guys. Charlie Ford is a homicide detective, and Declan Brady is the police chief and can envision the wedding ring and marriage proposal.
Then she receives a call from Verona, a mysterious woman (sex worker) providing a tip about four bodies on a remote local beach. (This is about the only interesting part of the book). She also enlightens Virginia about the scandalous parties attended by law enforcement officers.
Is there a serial killer on the loose? Is it a police officer who is responsible for the murders? Will the tip line uncover the truth about the murders?
Firstly, I listened to the audiobook, and the narrator, Sarah Naughton, gave an outstanding performance. However, the book—NOT so much!
The main character, Virginia, was so naive and, let me say, completely DELUSIONAL. She is living in some sort of fantasy world. OMG! This woman acted like a young pre-teen, not a 30-year-old woman!
I thought the book would be about mysteries, crime, and suspense; however, the book's focus was Virginia wanting to get married. Is this the 1950s?
I wanted to learn more about the murders, not Virginia wanting to get married, which seems to be front and center.
I fast-forwarded to most of it to get through it. A very unlikeable character. Maybe this book will be for someone, but definitely NOT for me.
Let me reiterate. This is NOT a police procedural. It is NOT a psychological thriller. This story is about a crazy woman and her innermost thoughts, a delusional mind. The story is narrated from Virginia’s POV, and being in her head was absolutely tiring, nerve-racking, and eye-rolling.
I will have to agree with many of the other reviewers. The book description does not fit the book. It drove me nuts. There was so much potential for a different story here.
I am being overly generous with a 3-star rating only because the narrator did a great job with what she had to work with. The book alone would be much less.
Thanks to #DreamscapeMedia for an ALC via #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Blog review posted @
JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins |#JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 3 Stars (for the audiobook)
Pub Date: April 18, 2023
Virginia Carey seems obsessed with wanting to get married. She is 30 yrs old and lands a job as an operator at a police station where she handles the tip line for incoming crimes. The Suffolk Police Department is primarily male-dominated, and she is a civilian operator.
She thinks this should be easy since she is surrounded by cops that are guys. Charlie Ford is a homicide detective, and Declan Brady is the police chief and can envision the wedding ring and marriage proposal.
Then she receives a call from Verona, a mysterious woman (sex worker) providing a tip about four bodies on a remote local beach. (This is about the only interesting part of the book). She also enlightens Virginia about the scandalous parties attended by law enforcement officers.
Is there a serial killer on the loose? Is it a police officer who is responsible for the murders? Will the tip line uncover the truth about the murders?
Firstly, I listened to the audiobook, and the narrator, Sarah Naughton, gave an outstanding performance. However, the book—NOT so much!
The main character, Virginia, was so naive and, let me say, completely DELUSIONAL. She is living in some sort of fantasy world. OMG! This woman acted like a young pre-teen, not a 30-year-old woman!
I thought the book would be about mysteries, crime, and suspense; however, the book's focus was Virginia wanting to get married. Is this the 1950s?
I wanted to learn more about the murders, not Virginia wanting to get married, which seems to be front and center.
I fast-forwarded to most of it to get through it. A very unlikeable character. Maybe this book will be for someone, but definitely NOT for me.
Let me reiterate. This is NOT a police procedural. It is NOT a psychological thriller. This story is about a crazy woman and her innermost thoughts, a delusional mind. The story is narrated from Virginia’s POV, and being in her head was absolutely tiring, nerve-racking, and eye-rolling.
I will have to agree with many of the other reviewers. The book description does not fit the book. It drove me nuts. There was so much potential for a different story here.
I am being overly generous with a 3-star rating only because the narrator did a great job with what she had to work with. The book alone would be much less.
Thanks to #DreamscapeMedia for an ALC via #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Blog review posted @
JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins |#JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 3 Stars (for the audiobook)
Pub Date: April 18, 2023
fionacook's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
5.0
Smart, reflective, darkly funny. An intriguing character-based mystery that kept the pages turning, with deeper layers exploring violence, feminine roles, and police-culture in an interesting and thought-provoking way. Loved it; this book stuck with me.
sanja_knez's review
2.0
Ugh. This felt like a chore to read. The author writes in a very choppy way that made it difficult for me to get into the book and I’d have to read paragraphs over again to figure out what was going on.
The MC is constantly overthinking and creating fake scenarios which is fun when you’re trying to go to sleep but not when you’re reading a book!!!
I felt like there was no resolution and I was wondering where the suspense was because I sure didn’t feel it. I felt like I was inside the mind of a pick-me and I was relieved to be out of it.
The MC is constantly overthinking and creating fake scenarios which is fun when you’re trying to go to sleep but not when you’re reading a book!!!
I felt like there was no resolution and I was wondering where the suspense was because I sure didn’t feel it. I felt like I was inside the mind of a pick-me and I was relieved to be out of it.
elizabethsureau's review against another edition
4.0
This book was so strange! Really vivid writing and I was hooked on seeing where it was going, but I had so many questions! One of the most head-scratching narrators I’ve come across in a while.
caitlynpicc's review against another edition
dark
tense
slow-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? Yes
1.5
The writing is meandering and at some points beautiful. Not a book you can put on and half-listen to, because the narrator’s internal monologue jumps around and goes off somewhere else. Which is not necessarily a bad thing! I actually enjoyed how unreliable the narrator was and it kept me frustrated but on my toes (which I like). What I didn’t like was how it ended. She doesn’t learn anything. It doesn’t really focus on if she has doubts. This character is single-minded in almost the worst way.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Violence, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Murder, and Drug use
sriyasbooks's review
2.0
Interesting. I sped through this book and I think the idea of it is very solid, with this absolute love obsessed woman being our viewpoint into what the patriarchy asks of women. I think having Virginia be so absurd is a decent satire, with her wealth of fantasies showcasing exactly the kind of neuroticness that society breeds women into. I think it’s actually pretty good at getting this aspect of white womanhood across, and if anything I think it could’ve gone further. Make Verona POC and describe how Virginia cares about her but not enough to save her life or give her justice. Give me her white saviorism to bring her out of a life of prostitution. I think you could easily weave in the shittiness, discrimination and racism of the police department, having the chief’s crimes be an open kind of secret if you read between the lines (since Virginia is clearly too oblivious to think badly of these people). This book does get bloated in the middle, and really it could be a novella to get across what it needed.
I also really wished to see more of how all men discard women. Virginia’s view of Declan is of course rose colored, but let the reader understand how he probably doesn’t give a fuck about her, about how she is a convieniently attractive body that fulfills his kinks as needed, the definition of subservient. Give me an epilogue of Virginia ending up as a body because no woman escapes this, she’ll never end up valued in the way she wants to be. If you’re going to do the virgin Madonna thing, then go to its end and don’t give me this fuck ass ending
I also really wished to see more of how all men discard women. Virginia’s view of Declan is of course rose colored, but let the reader understand how he probably doesn’t give a fuck about her, about how she is a convieniently attractive body that fulfills his kinks as needed, the definition of subservient. Give me an epilogue of Virginia ending up as a body because no woman escapes this, she’ll never end up valued in the way she wants to be. If you’re going to do the virgin Madonna thing, then go to its end and don’t give me this fuck ass ending
heatheradoresbooks's review
2.0
2⭐
Publication date ~ April 18, 2023
Page Count ~ 282
Audio length ~ 9 hours 47 minutes
Narrators ~ Sarah Naughton
POV ~ single 1st
Featuring ~ some chapters on the long side (40 minutes is long to me), murders
Virginia has a new job as a civilian tip line operator, which sounds exciting to my nosy self. Yay, she's going to get some tips to help solve case after case after case. But, nope, this book was so much more than her job and that's not a good thing.
She is absolutely obsessed with finding a husband. She's seems borderline crazy with all the inner monologue. She's like planning her and her nonexistent husbands whole life in her head. Just look her way and she'll have already named your future children. My biggest issue is that sometimes I didn't know if she was talking to someone or just herself. Let the scene play out in fiction life, not in your head girl.
For taking place in a police building there wasn't much police work actually going on. I could have went for more on solving the case of the 4 murdered women, since it was a big part of the story.
So in conclusion, if you like to read a non thriller thriller that has little police work happening when most of characters are cops and everyone is unlikable and the main character is batshiz then this one might be for you.
The narration is in the okay category. A little stiff at times, but listenable at 3x. I'm not sure if this would've been better as a read.
*Thanks to the author, Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for the ARC. I am voluntarily leaving my honest review*
Follow me ➡ Blog ~ Facebook
Publication date ~ April 18, 2023
Page Count ~ 282
Audio length ~ 9 hours 47 minutes
Narrators ~ Sarah Naughton
POV ~ single 1st
Featuring ~ some chapters on the long side (40 minutes is long to me), murders
Virginia has a new job as a civilian tip line operator, which sounds exciting to my nosy self. Yay, she's going to get some tips to help solve case after case after case. But, nope, this book was so much more than her job and that's not a good thing.
She is absolutely obsessed with finding a husband. She's seems borderline crazy with all the inner monologue. She's like planning her and her nonexistent husbands whole life in her head. Just look her way and she'll have already named your future children. My biggest issue is that sometimes I didn't know if she was talking to someone or just herself. Let the scene play out in fiction life, not in your head girl.
For taking place in a police building there wasn't much police work actually going on. I could have went for more on solving the case of the 4 murdered women, since it was a big part of the story.
So in conclusion, if you like to read a non thriller thriller that has little police work happening when most of characters are cops and everyone is unlikable and the main character is batshiz then this one might be for you.
The narration is in the okay category. A little stiff at times, but listenable at 3x. I'm not sure if this would've been better as a read.
*Thanks to the author, Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for the ARC. I am voluntarily leaving my honest review*
Follow me ➡ Blog ~ Facebook
pomengranate_moon_'s review against another edition
3.0
Thanks NetGalley for the opportunity the opportunity to listen to this audiobook. This is a truly strange story. It follows a woman named Virginia that takes a job at a police tip line to try to find a husband. Virginia is an unreliable narrator- a possibly delusional wannabe trad-wife. Until they started talking about texting I thought this story took places in the 60s.
Virginia takes a call from someone who states that there are dead bodies lying in the brush at a local beach. When the tip turns out to be true the homicide dept starts taking the tips seriously and they eagerly await the next call from the anonymous female. Meanwhile Virginia starts imagining intense relationships with the people around her and fantasizing their interactions. Her desire for closeness and love becomes wrapped up in her job as more details come with each call from the anonymous woman.
I don’t want to say too much more and give away the ending. This is definitely an original story but even by the end I couldn’t really say if I enjoyed it or not. I found all of the characters unbearable except for the caller. Parts of the book seemed like police propaganda until I realized the Virginia was the only one who saw them that way. The ending was both surprising and obvious at the same time.
Virginia takes a call from someone who states that there are dead bodies lying in the brush at a local beach. When the tip turns out to be true the homicide dept starts taking the tips seriously and they eagerly await the next call from the anonymous female. Meanwhile Virginia starts imagining intense relationships with the people around her and fantasizing their interactions. Her desire for closeness and love becomes wrapped up in her job as more details come with each call from the anonymous woman.
I don’t want to say too much more and give away the ending. This is definitely an original story but even by the end I couldn’t really say if I enjoyed it or not. I found all of the characters unbearable except for the caller. Parts of the book seemed like police propaganda until I realized the Virginia was the only one who saw them that way. The ending was both surprising and obvious at the same time.
nthealice's review against another edition
1.0
The book premise was so interesting but the execution was done so poorly. Probably the most underwhelming book I’ve read this year. I truly read it all because I figured it must get better, it must fill in the plot holes, it must make sense! But alas, it did not.