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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
This was a great mystery debut!
There were a few questionable things - the reveal at the ~20% mark felt oddly placed, but overall the storyline of the book worked very well.
The characters were very interesting, and I loved following their stories.
Looking forward to reading more from Christian White!
There were a few questionable things - the reveal at the ~20% mark felt oddly placed, but overall the storyline of the book worked very well.
The characters were very interesting, and I loved following their stories.
Looking forward to reading more from Christian White!
I enjoyed this book but I felt like it had its weak points.
While the plot was interesting and had a really intriguing writing style, the book felt slow to me with the story failing to progress quick enough. There were also some underwhelming revelations towards the end. I felt like I waited and waited for Kim/Sammy to face her birth parents and have them finally meet their missing child but these ended up being very underwhelming scenes. Also, there was barely any character development. With the likes of Travis, Jack and Emma basically becoming unknown figures in the present storyline.
All this can be forgiven, but I really have an issue with how some of the women in this book are written. Why are minor characters described as “large women”? (Kim’s neighbour, Emma’s high school best friend and present day Molly). What is the obsession with describing women’s bodies? They aren’t plot points. It’s not needed and it’s just weird. Thankfully, I have read a more recent book of White’s and I didn’t notice this issue. Just hoping he won’t return to old habits in future books.
While the plot was interesting and had a really intriguing writing style, the book felt slow to me with the story failing to progress quick enough. There were also some underwhelming revelations towards the end. I felt like I waited and waited for Kim/Sammy to face her birth parents and have them finally meet their missing child but these ended up being very underwhelming scenes. Also, there was barely any character development. With the likes of Travis, Jack and Emma basically becoming unknown figures in the present storyline.
All this can be forgiven, but I really have an issue with how some of the women in this book are written. Why are minor characters described as “large women”? (Kim’s neighbour, Emma’s high school best friend and present day Molly). What is the obsession with describing women’s bodies? They aren’t plot points. It’s not needed and it’s just weird. Thankfully, I have read a more recent book of White’s and I didn’t notice this issue. Just hoping he won’t return to old habits in future books.
Imagine you are living a quiet life, teaching photography at your local vocational school in Australia, still mourning the death of your beloved mother, but close to your step-father and half-sister. Then a stranger from halfway across the world shows up and tells you he believes you were kidnapped from a family in Kentucky when you were two years old, and your entire life has been a lie. Initially, he says he's a friend of your biological family, but then
In alternating chapters, we follow Kim's journey to discover the truth about her past, while also learning about the events surrounding the 1990 disappearance of Sammy Went. The Went family was already falling apart before the youngest member disappeared without a trace from her upstairs bedroom, and every family member is hiding something. Mother Molly is a member of a fundamentalist church ::cough, cult:: and pretty obviously suffering from postpartum depression, father Jack is finding affection elsewhere, teenage sister Emma is running wild, and middle child Stuart is completely lost in the chaos.
Mr. White has written a really strong debut that contains everything I look for in a mystery/suspense novel: complicated, believable characters; an original plot that is logical without being predictable (several times I thought I knew what was going to happen next, but was happy to find myself wrong); and twists that left me saying, "oh!" instead of feeling manipulated. In the last 50 pages, the drama gets turned up to 11, which doesn't entirely match the pacing/tone of the rest of the novel, but it's definitely not anti-climactic.
The Nowhere Child, which has already been released in Christian White's native Australia, won't be availabe in the U.S. until January 2019, but I received an Advance Reader Copy through a Goodreads giveaway.
Spoiler
after showing you DNA test results, he reveals that he's actually your biological brother.In alternating chapters, we follow Kim's journey to discover the truth about her past, while also learning about the events surrounding the 1990 disappearance of Sammy Went. The Went family was already falling apart before the youngest member disappeared without a trace from her upstairs bedroom, and every family member is hiding something. Mother Molly is a member of a fundamentalist church ::cough, cult:: and pretty obviously suffering from postpartum depression, father Jack is finding affection elsewhere, teenage sister Emma is running wild, and middle child Stuart is completely lost in the chaos.
Mr. White has written a really strong debut that contains everything I look for in a mystery/suspense novel: complicated, believable characters; an original plot that is logical without being predictable (several times I thought I knew what was going to happen next, but was happy to find myself wrong); and twists that left me saying, "oh!" instead of feeling manipulated. In the last 50 pages, the drama gets turned up to 11, which doesn't entirely match the pacing/tone of the rest of the novel, but it's definitely not anti-climactic.
The Nowhere Child, which has already been released in Christian White's native Australia, won't be availabe in the U.S. until January 2019, but I received an Advance Reader Copy through a Goodreads giveaway.
It's "the face on the milk carton" but with fundies. I wish the ending explanation had been a bit more fleshed out. Also, no way "Dean" moved to Australia at 20something and was able to mimic an Australian accent by the time Sammy/Kim was grown up, but it's weird that she never mentions he's an American. (5/4/22)
Wow! What a ride! Kim is approached by a stranger who tells her the unbelievable - she is her sister, kidnapped from her home in Kentucky over twenty years ago then brought to Australia where she was raised, completely in the dark about her past. Kim returns to America to see if this could be true and finds the truth to be more than she could have imagined.
Lecture déroutante pour ce #bookclubmescarnetslitteraires de juin.
Dès les premières pages du livre, nous savons si Kim est Sammy. Le roman alterne entre la vie de sammy 28 ans plus tôt, et la vie de Kim, maintenant.
J'ai trouvé très intéressant le fait de connaître la vérité dès le début, et de faire en sorte que le lecteur ne s'interroge que sur le "comment".
Je suis très vite entrée dans l'histoire, dans les histoire, et je me suis vraiment retenue de ne pas aller lire les dernières pages.
Malgré une plume fluide, et une fin complètement dingue, que je n'ai absolument pas vu arriver, je me suis un peu ennuyée.
Je comprend que l'auteur ai voulu poser un cadre, expliquer certaines choses, et c'était pertinent concernant Sammy.
Un peu moins dans la vie de Kim, selon moi.
C'était donc une bonne lecture, qui m'a beaucoup surprise, mais avec tout de même quelques longueurs.
Dès les premières pages du livre, nous savons si Kim est Sammy. Le roman alterne entre la vie de sammy 28 ans plus tôt, et la vie de Kim, maintenant.
J'ai trouvé très intéressant le fait de connaître la vérité dès le début, et de faire en sorte que le lecteur ne s'interroge que sur le "comment".
Je suis très vite entrée dans l'histoire, dans les histoire, et je me suis vraiment retenue de ne pas aller lire les dernières pages.
Malgré une plume fluide, et une fin complètement dingue, que je n'ai absolument pas vu arriver, je me suis un peu ennuyée.
Je comprend que l'auteur ai voulu poser un cadre, expliquer certaines choses, et c'était pertinent concernant Sammy.
Un peu moins dans la vie de Kim, selon moi.
C'était donc une bonne lecture, qui m'a beaucoup surprise, mais avec tout de même quelques longueurs.
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes