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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
3.5
This more character driven much more about exploring how people are impacted by the crime than setting up a compelling mystery. Not what I am looking for but not bad.
This more character driven much more about exploring how people are impacted by the crime than setting up a compelling mystery. Not what I am looking for but not bad.
Another psychological thriller, another Christian White masterpiece! After finishing The Wife & The Widow, which was Christian White’s first book, I decided I had to go back and read his debut novel which won him the Victorian Premier’s Literary award back in 2017; and I am SO glad I did.
The Nowhere Child tells the story of Kim Leamy, a woman living in Melbourne, teaching photography and just going about her life; until one day, a man approaches her with details of a missing girl named Sammy Went, who disappeared when she was two years old in Manson, Kentucky. The man tells Kim he believes she may be Sammy who vanished all those years ago, and Kim goes on a journey to find out who she really is and how this all happened.
Firstly, it’s safe to say I’m a Christian White fan girl now. His writing is so brilliant, that you never know what is going on until that sweet moment where it all comes together and you can’t believe you missed it from the get go. His twists in both the stories I have read felt so “right”, he doesn’t just add a twist for the sake of a twist but everything is so planned and so well executed that you’ll be simultaneously shocked at the surprise and amazed you didn’t see it coming.
In this particular novel, I loved the writing of Manson, Kentucky. This is a small US town and the description of it is perfection; you can imagine the drug store and the crumbling gristmill and the rundown Eckles’ property. The religious, cult like element of Church of the Light Within and it’s snakes was incredible in the most chilling, skin tingly way, and it’s physically isolated setting was the ideal place for this church to be located.
I LOVED this book and in general, I clearly love this author! This one was a
The Nowhere Child tells the story of Kim Leamy, a woman living in Melbourne, teaching photography and just going about her life; until one day, a man approaches her with details of a missing girl named Sammy Went, who disappeared when she was two years old in Manson, Kentucky. The man tells Kim he believes she may be Sammy who vanished all those years ago, and Kim goes on a journey to find out who she really is and how this all happened.
Firstly, it’s safe to say I’m a Christian White fan girl now. His writing is so brilliant, that you never know what is going on until that sweet moment where it all comes together and you can’t believe you missed it from the get go. His twists in both the stories I have read felt so “right”, he doesn’t just add a twist for the sake of a twist but everything is so planned and so well executed that you’ll be simultaneously shocked at the surprise and amazed you didn’t see it coming.
In this particular novel, I loved the writing of Manson, Kentucky. This is a small US town and the description of it is perfection; you can imagine the drug store and the crumbling gristmill and the rundown Eckles’ property. The religious, cult like element of Church of the Light Within and it’s snakes was incredible in the most chilling, skin tingly way, and it’s physically isolated setting was the ideal place for this church to be located.
I LOVED this book and in general, I clearly love this author! This one was a
Not grand but interesting enough to hold my attention. The ending however felt thrown together as though the author realized he needed to come up with something to end it all. The situations that the characters found themselves in might have been a bit of a stretch throughout the book but the ending was just over the top. An ex-con with a toddler in rural America managed not only to care for said child but to work enough (who kept kiddo?? ) to save up the exorbitant amount of money needed for fake passports and identity changes, money to travel to another continent, establish work/housing/childcare there, and then meet the love of his life and live fairly happily with his daughter convinced that he is her step father and his wife is her real mother. Huh??? I do plan to read another book by this author and give him a second chance as this was his debut novel. Perhaps he will be like fine wine.
Outstanding book with an intriguing premise- a young Australian woman, Kimberly, finds out she may actually be Sammy Went, a 2 year old who went missing from her home in Kentucky 30 years earlier. Kimberly had an idyllic childhood and cannot fathom her mother ( now deceased) being the kind of person who would steal a child. The book alternates between chapters from back then and chapters in the present day, where Kimberly gradually uncovers the mystery of how she ended up being kidnapped and moved across the world. Author Christian White excels at both character development and the slow unraveling of layers and secrets. We learn about Kimberly’s birth family: her brother Stu, an accountant who never gave up on finding her, sister Emma, now somewhat estranged from the family, dad Jack with secrets of his own and finally, her mom Molly, who is a Christian fundamentalist in a Pentecostal snake-handling church. I was engaged and invested in this story from start to finish. The characters were three dimensional and multifaceted, although the fundamentalists were a bit less fleshed out and more typecast as villains. I also had issues with Kimberly’s lack of memory of her early years—having lost my own dad at age 3 , I have several memories of him and find Kimberly’s lack of any a bit too convenient and unrealistic. Except for these quibbles, I loved this book and look forward to reading more of Christian White’s books in the future.
this was a DNF for me. I skimmed the last 30 pages. I normally LOVE plots like this, but I can't help bt feel White tried to do a Jane Harper with The Dry and just couldn't get the plot to where he wanted it to be. It was all over the place IMO and I didn't enjoy it.
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A