Reviews - Hurt Mountain: A Novel

125 reviews for:

Hurt Mountain: A Novel

Angela Crook

3.38 AVERAGE

heatskitchen's review against another edition

4.5

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

thenovelstitch's review against another edition

I'm sorry to say that I DNF'ed this book. From the description it had everything I love in a story -- thrills, chills, and powerful character dynamics. However, as I started the book I was disappointed to realize that it just wasn't the book for me. I made it about 10% into the story, and that first ten percent was tough for me to get through. I have a really big "ick" around characters with unnecessary dramatics and unfortunately Olivia was written that way for me. You're a trauma doctor and you keep fainting/having emotional floods? As a medical professional myself I understand that we are all human and sometimes we do have our own responses to stress in the work place, but in the few chapters I read Olivia had fainted or almost fainted like three times. Girl, come on.

I'm sorry to say this was a no go for me, however it doesn't mean that it might not be a great story for another reader out there! I don't feel comfortable giving a star rating for a book I didn't finish, but I know I have to so I'd say 2.75 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

angelstar's review against another edition

3.0

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

bookish_wife16's review against another edition

3.0

dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

I really wanted to love this story. The beginning started off string for me. Along the way, I got a little uninterested. I feel as though it took too long for things to get going. There were many short chapters but not enough clues to keep me engaged.
The characters also did things that made no sense. Olivia needed a security system. Brandon shouldn’t have left them at home like that. I’m not gonna get into details to spoil it but those are things that irritated me.
I am glad that Brandon and Olivia got closure to as to what happened years prior. I was sad and felt the turmoil that they went through with the reliving of the whole ordeal.
Overall I do believe many readers will love this one. I was expecting more action than what was here. It wasn’t a bad story and I liked it enough but it wasn’t loved.

taylorfield's review against another edition

2.5

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Amazon First Reads - February 2024

Long Story Short: Dr. Olivia Blake and Brandon Hall’s marriage fell apart after their daughter went missing four years ago, but their paths cross again after a nameless, wounded teenager is found in their city.

More like Trope Mountain.

There’s some hard subject matter going on and a really interesting story line, but it’s overtaken by secondary plots that don’t have any impact in the long run. Brandon’s engagement and Olivia’s problems with her job, the media, and her mom are all filler. Meanwhile, the bare minimum is explained about the connecting thread between Olivia, Brandon, and Jane Doe.

Enjoyment: 3/5
Craft: 2/5
Overall: 2.5/5

Content Warnings