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3.3 AVERAGE
3.3 AVERAGE
Really good writing. Similar to his first one, or his last one. Great story and great twists!
Thanks for Netgalley for allowing me to read this copy for an honest review.
Grist Mill Road follows three characters- Hannah, Patrick, and Matthew and centers around a disturbing crime that happened while they were teenagers. Throughout the book, the plot rotates between the different characters' perspectives, while giving us glimpses of events from both the past and present. The plot explores whether any of them are really innocent, and if someone is out for revenge.
While I did enjoy the plot of this book, I did not appreciate how long it took to get through the backstory that helped me understand the characters. I realize that it was important. However, I felt as if these sections were too drawn out, and I found myself wanting the storyline to just get back to the plot. Despite this, there were fast-paced moments where I was thoroughly engaged. If you are a fan of mysteries with a lot of character development, then I think that this is one that you will enjoy!
Grist Mill Road follows three characters- Hannah, Patrick, and Matthew and centers around a disturbing crime that happened while they were teenagers. Throughout the book, the plot rotates between the different characters' perspectives, while giving us glimpses of events from both the past and present. The plot explores whether any of them are really innocent, and if someone is out for revenge.
While I did enjoy the plot of this book, I did not appreciate how long it took to get through the backstory that helped me understand the characters. I realize that it was important. However, I felt as if these sections were too drawn out, and I found myself wanting the storyline to just get back to the plot. Despite this, there were fast-paced moments where I was thoroughly engaged. If you are a fan of mysteries with a lot of character development, then I think that this is one that you will enjoy!
wow. ok. i know i said i shouldn’t read these kinds of books at night and well what can i say but that i’m a dumb bitch? but this one was less depressing than black chalk, certainly, at least in its vibe. maybe more so in subject matter. yates has a flair for unraveling storylines, that’s for sure, the plot of this one imo is much better done than in black chalk. it’s gone girl-esque, you start out with one judgement, you end entirely with another. it’s one of those stories that you wanna go back and reread with the knowledge that you now have. i feel like it’s that kind of formula that yates was going for in black chalk, but here he got the punch of it right. and speaking of formula, grist mill road is very similar to black chalk in its back-and-forth ness, the writing of a story, the punctuation of present vs. past, etcetera. but i think he did a good enough job of making it different from black chalk, although i do kind of want to see something from him in a different format. twice is probably enough. technically, it’s close to perfect, the unraveling is brilliant, the reveal of deeper motives, all that plot driving, it’s all really well done. well paced. except for the ending. this man and his endings. he just can’t do it right. it’s like he doesn’t want to overdo it but ends up underdoing it instead. i just wanna know what happens, chris, just let me know, for god’s sake. other than that...technically it’s brilliant.
ON THE OTHER HAND (and spoilers begin....now) I have mixed feelings about him using matthew being gay as such a major driving plot point. and using hannah’s calling him a f***** to justify his snapping. like...sure, cycle of abuse, the built up rage against his father, the jumped up hormones, but i refuse to believe that this boy who was beaten so often and fell in love with a park ranger and finally pushed his father off a cliff in a quite rational frame of mind just simply snapped at this one thing. like...not to get specific and personal but...from my experience and from the text directly, matthew’s a kid with a fuckload of self control. & it just seemed like yates wrote his first scene and spent the rest of the book building up this amazing backstory but forgot to connect the two. & i understand that words have power and matthew has a history of violence and hannah’s not entirely a person that he’s not resentful towards but even so. it was a hard leap for me to make.
& speaking more directly to matthew and pete. on the one hand, sure, pete thought he was close to adulthood so maybe like he’s not TOTALLY a pedophile, whatever, you tried, but also what the fuck yates you really had to use the most tired gay trope in the book? like really truly you had to have the old ass park ranger fall in love with the young impressionable teenager? who eventually ends up dead, years down the road, but nonetheless dead & mustered essentially all for this act of love? like if this book existed in a vaccuum then yeah. i’d have no problem with it. it’s a book about flawed human beings who make mistakes and fall in love and yeah sometimes you can’t control that shit. but media is not in a vaccuum and this kind of trope is all too prevalent & it’s just fucking exhausting to witness, honestly. & yeah it’s beautifully executed & wonderfully written & the characters are compelling and complex and deeply human and yet, and yet, this book leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. maybe it’s because lately i’ve been reminded constantly of my place in this world as a queer person & more specifically the extra barriers and fucking emotional bullshit that i personally am facing in the next few weeks because of who i am, and maybe it’s because pride is coming up, and maybe it’s just because i’m tired of this bullshit. yates is, as far as i know, straight, and too often straight authors use queerness as if it’s a handy plot point to give their characters more tragedy. i think that’s what pisses me off the most. that queerness is suffocatingly used and depicted only as a bringer of tragedy and suffering. like, yeah, no shit! i know that! we all fucking live that every day! but there’s also so many good things about being queer that are just brushed over in favor of the tortured tragic ideal. write me a story about the way it feels when you see someone and recognize yourself for the first time in your life. write me a story about realizing that you want your future, that you can see it, that you were afraid it would be impossible but it’s actually within your reach to be happy and also be yourself. write me a fucking story about listening to people, your people, and realizing that you’re not alone. don’t give me this tragic bullshit.
& yeah, ok, whatever, it’s meant to be a tragic book, it’s a crime thriller, whatever, whatever, but that doesn’t require you to throw in harmful stereotypes and slurs. be more fucking mindful of the stories and people that you use for the sake of creating tragedy. i loved matthew, i felt for him, i ached for him, i might reread this book if only to spend more time with him, but i’ve got serious beef with yates over this.
& while we’re at it, that anniversary steak thing? what the fuck. too chewy for foreplay, my man. you know how long it takes to eat a whole fucking steak, even if it’s tender? and also, tables are hard. lie down on the couch or something.
ON THE OTHER HAND (and spoilers begin....now) I have mixed feelings about him using matthew being gay as such a major driving plot point. and using hannah’s calling him a f***** to justify his snapping. like...sure, cycle of abuse, the built up rage against his father, the jumped up hormones, but i refuse to believe that this boy who was beaten so often and fell in love with a park ranger and finally pushed his father off a cliff in a quite rational frame of mind just simply snapped at this one thing. like...not to get specific and personal but...from my experience and from the text directly, matthew’s a kid with a fuckload of self control. & it just seemed like yates wrote his first scene and spent the rest of the book building up this amazing backstory but forgot to connect the two. & i understand that words have power and matthew has a history of violence and hannah’s not entirely a person that he’s not resentful towards but even so. it was a hard leap for me to make.
& speaking more directly to matthew and pete. on the one hand, sure, pete thought he was close to adulthood so maybe like he’s not TOTALLY a pedophile, whatever, you tried, but also what the fuck yates you really had to use the most tired gay trope in the book? like really truly you had to have the old ass park ranger fall in love with the young impressionable teenager? who eventually ends up dead, years down the road, but nonetheless dead & mustered essentially all for this act of love? like if this book existed in a vaccuum then yeah. i’d have no problem with it. it’s a book about flawed human beings who make mistakes and fall in love and yeah sometimes you can’t control that shit. but media is not in a vaccuum and this kind of trope is all too prevalent & it’s just fucking exhausting to witness, honestly. & yeah it’s beautifully executed & wonderfully written & the characters are compelling and complex and deeply human and yet, and yet, this book leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. maybe it’s because lately i’ve been reminded constantly of my place in this world as a queer person & more specifically the extra barriers and fucking emotional bullshit that i personally am facing in the next few weeks because of who i am, and maybe it’s because pride is coming up, and maybe it’s just because i’m tired of this bullshit. yates is, as far as i know, straight, and too often straight authors use queerness as if it’s a handy plot point to give their characters more tragedy. i think that’s what pisses me off the most. that queerness is suffocatingly used and depicted only as a bringer of tragedy and suffering. like, yeah, no shit! i know that! we all fucking live that every day! but there’s also so many good things about being queer that are just brushed over in favor of the tortured tragic ideal. write me a story about the way it feels when you see someone and recognize yourself for the first time in your life. write me a story about realizing that you want your future, that you can see it, that you were afraid it would be impossible but it’s actually within your reach to be happy and also be yourself. write me a fucking story about listening to people, your people, and realizing that you’re not alone. don’t give me this tragic bullshit.
& yeah, ok, whatever, it’s meant to be a tragic book, it’s a crime thriller, whatever, whatever, but that doesn’t require you to throw in harmful stereotypes and slurs. be more fucking mindful of the stories and people that you use for the sake of creating tragedy. i loved matthew, i felt for him, i ached for him, i might reread this book if only to spend more time with him, but i’ve got serious beef with yates over this.
& while we’re at it, that anniversary steak thing? what the fuck. too chewy for foreplay, my man. you know how long it takes to eat a whole fucking steak, even if it’s tender? and also, tables are hard. lie down on the couch or something.
WHAT did I just read!?!
A bunch of unlikable people treating each other horribly without redeeming information, despite attempts. It's almost a really great story of human nature and people acting out their hurt, except most of the actions/decisions/thought processes are either unrealistic, unbelievable, or not explained well enough to actually be redeeming.
No one here is the good guy, which I often like, but here it's just a waste of time.
A bunch of unlikable people treating each other horribly without redeeming information, despite attempts. It's almost a really great story of human nature and people acting out their hurt, except most of the actions/decisions/thought processes are either unrealistic, unbelievable, or not explained well enough to actually be redeeming.
No one here is the good guy, which I often like, but here it's just a waste of time.
Spoiler
Matthew was terrible, yes, but it seemed like the story was redeeming Patrick and Hanna and not Matthew, which is the exact opposite of what I wanted and felt they deserved after finally learning all the details!
Plotwise I guess this was okay, and I did like some of the descriptions, but I think my main problem was that I didn't really care much for the characters. There were two in particular I especially didn't like. One was an abusive, homophobic racist, so I guess (hope) he was supposed to be unlikeable. The other I think was supposed to be likeable, but still annoyed me. I felt like everything he said seemed...sarcastic? That's probably not the right word, but all I know is that it was a chore to get through his dialogue.
That was actually a huge problem I had. A lot of times when the characters spoke, or were thinking to themselves, they would use these odd turns of phrases that just seemed awkward to me. And a lot of times they would say things that I think were maybe supposed to be humorous, but I wasn't sure. Not as in I don't get the joke, but as in I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be a joke.
So yeah, my main problem was the characters, which I might have been able to possibly overlook it I'd loved the plot, but I didn't, so...although I will 100% admit this is really more just me and that other people may not have that issue.
That was actually a huge problem I had. A lot of times when the characters spoke, or were thinking to themselves, they would use these odd turns of phrases that just seemed awkward to me. And a lot of times they would say things that I think were maybe supposed to be humorous, but I wasn't sure. Not as in I don't get the joke, but as in I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be a joke.
So yeah, my main problem was the characters, which I might have been able to possibly overlook it I'd loved the plot, but I didn't, so...although I will 100% admit this is really more just me and that other people may not have that issue.
There's a lesson to be learned here, labels are for soup cans!
I kept seeing reviews for this novel from others on Goodreads, and I had added it to my TBR list. I saw that it was on NetGalley, and I wanted to request it, but I also saw that it had a publication date in January, which made me second guess my decision to request it. I just had so many other titles with a January publication date that I didn't want to add another. BUT, as a few more weeks went by, the desire to read it grew, and after taking another look at NetGalley I saw that it was now listed as a "Read Now" selection, and I thought, heck with it, I'm going for it! I knew that with only two days shy of the publication date that I wasn't going to get it finished in time, but I simply didn't want to miss out. I have to say, I'm very glad I took the risk. This novel is slowly and cleverly crafted. It's a delicate story and one I feel that has a powerful message.
At the start of the novel, we learn of a senseless crime involving, Hannah, Patrick (Patch), and Matthew. Hannah is tied to a tree and shot repeatedly with a Red Ryder BB Gun by Matthew, with the last shot tragically causing her to lose her left eye. All the while, Patrick sits by and watches and does nothing to stop it. Matthew decides he wants to leave her there for the vultures, but Patrick cannot live with this decision, it's here that Patrick finally decides to step up and come to Hannah's aide. Matthew eventually serves time for what he has done, but Patrick, he is not named as an accomplice. Patrick is unsure of why? Is it because he didn't leave Hannah there to die?
Fast forward, twenty-six years later, and Hannah and Patrick are now married. Slowly, the story of what happened on August 18, 1982 begins to unfold, and the events that led up to that day. It's here that Christopher J. Yates creates such robust characters. Carefully letting us inside the mind of each, Patrick, Hannah, and Matthew, understanding what impacted their decisions before and after the events of August 18, 1982. It's clear, that none of them, have completely recovered, while some appear more successful than others, deep within, their guilt and secrets are slowly eating away at them. It's only a matter of time before the guilt takes over and someone snaps.
"Because now it seems to me I have the chance to write my own ending. Now I can truly become the hero of the piece. Only this time around, I can make it the truth."
One thing that I really enjoyed was the narration of this novel. I simply loved how this story was told. Perhaps it's not completely original, but I thought it was perfect for this storyline. I loved how it was a confession of sorts for each, Patrick, Hannah, and Matthew. Each finally unburdening themselves of what took place feeling the shame, the guilt, the torment, somewhat easing, though never fully feeling absolved. It really allowed you to connect to the story and the characters. To get a true sense of the pain of each, and by the end, you realize that all are victims of some jaded upbringing. What's really tragic, is even into adulthood, all three are so vulnerable and unfledged after having been burdened all those years. It's as if they are forever stuck in the past.
One last thing I will mention, a pet peeve of mine. To be honest, I am not familiar with Christopher J. Yates as a author, I have not read his previous work, and I'm not familiar with his biography. Now, in reading this novel, I never would have guessed he was from the UK, that is, until his use of the word "notes" when referring to currency. In America, we don't use the word "notes" when paying for our meals or merchandise, so when I read this in a novel that is set in America from a UK author, it just irks me. This by no means affects the overall read of the book, but it's something to take note of if you're going to write novels set in America if you're in the UK.
I want to thank NetGalley, Macmillian-Picador, and Christopher J. Yates, for allowing me the chance to read this novel in exchange for my review! It was a great read!
I kept seeing reviews for this novel from others on Goodreads, and I had added it to my TBR list. I saw that it was on NetGalley, and I wanted to request it, but I also saw that it had a publication date in January, which made me second guess my decision to request it. I just had so many other titles with a January publication date that I didn't want to add another. BUT, as a few more weeks went by, the desire to read it grew, and after taking another look at NetGalley I saw that it was now listed as a "Read Now" selection, and I thought, heck with it, I'm going for it! I knew that with only two days shy of the publication date that I wasn't going to get it finished in time, but I simply didn't want to miss out. I have to say, I'm very glad I took the risk. This novel is slowly and cleverly crafted. It's a delicate story and one I feel that has a powerful message.
At the start of the novel, we learn of a senseless crime involving, Hannah, Patrick (Patch), and Matthew. Hannah is tied to a tree and shot repeatedly with a Red Ryder BB Gun by Matthew, with the last shot tragically causing her to lose her left eye. All the while, Patrick sits by and watches and does nothing to stop it. Matthew decides he wants to leave her there for the vultures, but Patrick cannot live with this decision, it's here that Patrick finally decides to step up and come to Hannah's aide. Matthew eventually serves time for what he has done, but Patrick, he is not named as an accomplice. Patrick is unsure of why? Is it because he didn't leave Hannah there to die?
Fast forward, twenty-six years later, and Hannah and Patrick are now married. Slowly, the story of what happened on August 18, 1982 begins to unfold, and the events that led up to that day. It's here that Christopher J. Yates creates such robust characters. Carefully letting us inside the mind of each, Patrick, Hannah, and Matthew, understanding what impacted their decisions before and after the events of August 18, 1982. It's clear, that none of them, have completely recovered, while some appear more successful than others, deep within, their guilt and secrets are slowly eating away at them. It's only a matter of time before the guilt takes over and someone snaps.
"Because now it seems to me I have the chance to write my own ending. Now I can truly become the hero of the piece. Only this time around, I can make it the truth."
One thing that I really enjoyed was the narration of this novel. I simply loved how this story was told. Perhaps it's not completely original, but I thought it was perfect for this storyline. I loved how it was a confession of sorts for each, Patrick, Hannah, and Matthew. Each finally unburdening themselves of what took place feeling the shame, the guilt, the torment, somewhat easing, though never fully feeling absolved. It really allowed you to connect to the story and the characters. To get a true sense of the pain of each, and by the end, you realize that all are victims of some jaded upbringing. What's really tragic, is even into adulthood, all three are so vulnerable and unfledged after having been burdened all those years. It's as if they are forever stuck in the past.
One last thing I will mention, a pet peeve of mine. To be honest, I am not familiar with Christopher J. Yates as a author, I have not read his previous work, and I'm not familiar with his biography. Now, in reading this novel, I never would have guessed he was from the UK, that is, until his use of the word "notes" when referring to currency. In America, we don't use the word "notes" when paying for our meals or merchandise, so when I read this in a novel that is set in America from a UK author, it just irks me. This by no means affects the overall read of the book, but it's something to take note of if you're going to write novels set in America if you're in the UK.
I want to thank NetGalley, Macmillian-Picador, and Christopher J. Yates, for allowing me the chance to read this novel in exchange for my review! It was a great read!
Psychologically it was very interesting, but for being a thriller/mystery there weren't really any thrills or mysteries.
I would have given it a 3.5 if halves were available. It all came together in the end, but getting there was slow at times. I think the author did a great jobs with the three viewpoints and how every story's view point changes the story. Toward the end I really wanted to keep reading to find out what happened.