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3.3 AVERAGE
3.3 AVERAGE
I liked this book. I mean for dark, creepy books - this one was fun. Different. Interesting and didn't feel like it had to be the next "Gone Girl" - so that made me enjoy it even more. I feel sheepish giving it 4 stars- I mean this book isn't life-changing or anything but if you are looking for a well-written, dark, creepy book - this is a good one.
Don't start this book if the idea of cruelty and the unintended consequences thereof, particularly when enacted by young boys, is going to be a problem. The way in which Patch and Matthew nearly destroy Hannah's life, and how their actions play out years later feels over the top, yet somehow works. What was less believable was how Hannah reacts in the modern day, as is her relationship with both Patch and the police (I bought she was a crime reporter, not the lengths Mikey went to for her). Add to that the multiple POVs, the way we don't see how Matthew changes over the years, we just see him as changed, and the improbable ending (including the One Twist that puts the ending in motion)... points got lost. More of Patch's cooking would have been nice. As mystery/thriller/suspense books go, this isn't bad, but it's not really unique either.
ARC provided by publisher.
ARC provided by publisher.
GRIST MILL ROAD starts out with a bang...well, multiple bangs to be exact. The first few lines of this novel are dark, menacing, and coldly calculated and it doesn't stop there. The menacing plot is not only a story that is bold, it's painful at times to read. This is definitely one of the darkest novels I've read in a long time and deals with a ton of social issues that were written very well and lets face it, Yates is someone who knows how to tell a story and it's definitely a story worth reading. While I did enjoy this one, there were a few things that could've been done differently in my opinion to make this novel a little more enjoyable. Nevertheless, even with slower pacing in the beginning, I found myself really enjoying the second half of the novel once I got a little more in depth with where this was going and how deeply routed these characters really were.
What I found enjoyable other than the plot was the three main characters. Were they likable? Not really. Were they believable? 100%. I did enjoy reading the differences in these characters from their adolescent lives into adulthood and how the twisted acts in 2008 brought them back to the devastating summer of 1982 and held their emotions and thoughts prisoner. I actually enjoyed the fact that the three main characters weren't that likable as it really proved to me as a reader that you can still care about their stories. While the pacing during the first 100-150 pages was a bit slower and kind of confusing to really get into, I was glad I stuck with it when I got to the meat of the story and even found some scenes in the present time to be almost dreamlike.
While I enjoyed the story, some scenes to me were kind of vague in the sense that I couldn't tell if something was imagined or if it had really happened. At times, I did find myself revisiting certain scenes feeling like some detail had been left out and really wanted to have more information. Other than that, the only thing I found rather unenjoyable was how the dialogue was set up. If you're not really careful, it's hard to differentiate between the characters thoughts and their words compared to what was said during a conversation.
This novel is completely different than what I thought it would be, but ultimately I did find this to be a rather unique and interesting reading experience. While I don't think it falls necessarily into the thriller and suspense genre, I would definitely consider this a dark literary novel with hints of violence and crime fiction. Definitely will be checking out more of Yates work and I'm glad I had the opportunity to venture into this world he created.
Special thanks to Picador for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.
What I found enjoyable other than the plot was the three main characters. Were they likable? Not really. Were they believable? 100%. I did enjoy reading the differences in these characters from their adolescent lives into adulthood and how the twisted acts in 2008 brought them back to the devastating summer of 1982 and held their emotions and thoughts prisoner. I actually enjoyed the fact that the three main characters weren't that likable as it really proved to me as a reader that you can still care about their stories. While the pacing during the first 100-150 pages was a bit slower and kind of confusing to really get into, I was glad I stuck with it when I got to the meat of the story and even found some scenes in the present time to be almost dreamlike.
While I enjoyed the story, some scenes to me were kind of vague in the sense that I couldn't tell if something was imagined or if it had really happened. At times, I did find myself revisiting certain scenes feeling like some detail had been left out and really wanted to have more information. Other than that, the only thing I found rather unenjoyable was how the dialogue was set up. If you're not really careful, it's hard to differentiate between the characters thoughts and their words compared to what was said during a conversation.
This novel is completely different than what I thought it would be, but ultimately I did find this to be a rather unique and interesting reading experience. While I don't think it falls necessarily into the thriller and suspense genre, I would definitely consider this a dark literary novel with hints of violence and crime fiction. Definitely will be checking out more of Yates work and I'm glad I had the opportunity to venture into this world he created.
Special thanks to Picador for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Dnf 46 pages in just to grewsome a book and couldn't connect with or understand the motives of the married couple enough to carry on.
After hearing such great things about his debut, Black Chalk, I couldn't resist the opportunity to read the second novel by Christopher Yates, Grist Mill Road. The story begins powerfully, and the first paragraph is an attention-grabber.
"I remember the gunshots made a wet sort of sound, phssh phssh phssh, and each time he hit her she screamed. Do the math and the whole thing probably went on for as long as ten minutes. I just stood there and watched."
In a wooded area north of New York City, teenage friends Hannah, Matthew and Patrick become irrevocably connected through their participation in a crime in 1982; Hannah is a victim of this crime, and as the novel progresses to present day, the affects of her experiences become apparent in her daily adult life.
What an imaginative, captivating story line! In addition, while alternating narrators can often be tricky and troublesome, Yates masterfully kept me on the edge of my seat, wondering where this narrative would lead and desperate for the conclusion.
"So that’s where I began, writing the opening lines a few weeks before Christmas 2007, obviously unable to see the story for what it was truly, the seed of a tragedy far greater than mine alone, the beginning of everything that’s happened since the day when I first sat down and typed out the words, I grew up ninety miles north and half a decade away from New York City. Because just as with my favorite book, In Cold Blood, this story you’re reading once started out as a perfectly ordinary, everyday tale. Until, very suddenly, it wasn’t."
There were a couple of things about this novel that I did not enjoy, but I feel certain that many will not be bothered in the slightest. The first is that Yates uses no quotation marks which made it a little tough, at times, for me to stay engaged.
The second is that a story is only going to keep me "on the hook" for so long; once I realized that the story would meander for a bit before it advanced, I found myself less and less interested. I also had some issues with the narrative of one particular character, toward the end of the book, but I don't want to spoil anything!
Overall, I liked Grist Mill Road l and will certainly recommend it to others because of the unique story and flawed, broken characters; it has received excellent reviews from many other readers and I'll be adding this to my Best Books to Read on Spring Break List!
"I remember the gunshots made a wet sort of sound, phssh phssh phssh, and each time he hit her she screamed. Do the math and the whole thing probably went on for as long as ten minutes. I just stood there and watched."
In a wooded area north of New York City, teenage friends Hannah, Matthew and Patrick become irrevocably connected through their participation in a crime in 1982; Hannah is a victim of this crime, and as the novel progresses to present day, the affects of her experiences become apparent in her daily adult life.
What an imaginative, captivating story line! In addition, while alternating narrators can often be tricky and troublesome, Yates masterfully kept me on the edge of my seat, wondering where this narrative would lead and desperate for the conclusion.
"So that’s where I began, writing the opening lines a few weeks before Christmas 2007, obviously unable to see the story for what it was truly, the seed of a tragedy far greater than mine alone, the beginning of everything that’s happened since the day when I first sat down and typed out the words, I grew up ninety miles north and half a decade away from New York City. Because just as with my favorite book, In Cold Blood, this story you’re reading once started out as a perfectly ordinary, everyday tale. Until, very suddenly, it wasn’t."
There were a couple of things about this novel that I did not enjoy, but I feel certain that many will not be bothered in the slightest. The first is that Yates uses no quotation marks which made it a little tough, at times, for me to stay engaged.
The second is that a story is only going to keep me "on the hook" for so long; once I realized that the story would meander for a bit before it advanced, I found myself less and less interested. I also had some issues with the narrative of one particular character, toward the end of the book, but I don't want to spoil anything!
Overall, I liked Grist Mill Road l and will certainly recommend it to others because of the unique story and flawed, broken characters; it has received excellent reviews from many other readers and I'll be adding this to my Best Books to Read on Spring Break List!
"What does it mean to watch? When a crime takes place in front of you, what is watching? Is it a failure to act or is it simply keeping your eyes open?"
Going into this I thought it was a thriller, but it's more a retelling of a past event and how it effected the persons involved in the present, 26 years later. Because of what I thought I was getting vs. what I received, I didn't particularly enjoy it.
I found the all of the three main characters pretty unlikable, to the point where I didn't really care about them. I felt that the retelling was an attempt to justify what Matthew did to Hannah, yet I felt that despite what she did, she still did not deserve what happened.
I'll be honest that I was so disinterested that I skimmed the ending, I was hooked for the first 50 pages, but it died down after that.
Going into this I thought it was a thriller, but it's more a retelling of a past event and how it effected the persons involved in the present, 26 years later. Because of what I thought I was getting vs. what I received, I didn't particularly enjoy it.
I found the all of the three main characters pretty unlikable, to the point where I didn't really care about them. I felt that the retelling was an attempt to justify what Matthew did to Hannah, yet I felt that despite what she did, she still did not deserve what happened.
I'll be honest that I was so disinterested that I skimmed the ending, I was hooked for the first 50 pages, but it died down after that.