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3.27 AVERAGE
3.27 AVERAGE
This book starts as a real page turner, immediately you know something is not right. We see the story told in chapters alternating between the point of views of the main characters. This immediately leads to a feeling of suspense and unease. I enjoyed the first two thirds of the book and found myself compelled to turn the pages, to see what was going to happen next. However I did feel the end was a little lacking and over written. A good overall read, just not for me.
Set in the beautifully idyllic land of Sweden you can wonder how this tale will go wrong.
Told through the eyes of the mysterious, homely wife Merry, her husband -who isn't all he seems at first -Sam, and Merry's best friend who comes to stay, beautiful Frank.
A twisted bunch of souls I have never disliked as much since reading Gone Girl.
Unfortunately wrapped up in this story is a baby, innocent of anything except being born to such a cold hearted woman. Did I understand why Merry {would?} could not bond? Was everything she did an act or a cry for help?
Their neighbours sense something is wrong, but having problems of their own don't cause too much fuss. A few red herrings are popped in like Christopher and his emails.
Finding a bit about each characters mother issues was illuminating but still I could not get over the feeling they had made their own toxic relationships thrive by never letting go.
I could not put this down over the weekend, surely their bitterness to each other, even the secret cruelties could not mean one of them capable of murder, who has set who up?
Appalled at what happened I read on sure that the author would have them eventually kill each other out of spite.
Such a shocking run of events had me wondering if I liked the book or not.
Huge debates on motherhood, bonding and how we are nurtured are surely why this book will be nabbed up by book friends everywhere.
Told through the eyes of the mysterious, homely wife Merry, her husband -who isn't all he seems at first -Sam, and Merry's best friend who comes to stay, beautiful Frank.
A twisted bunch of souls I have never disliked as much since reading Gone Girl.
Unfortunately wrapped up in this story is a baby, innocent of anything except being born to such a cold hearted woman. Did I understand why Merry {would?} could not bond? Was everything she did an act or a cry for help?
Their neighbours sense something is wrong, but having problems of their own don't cause too much fuss. A few red herrings are popped in like Christopher and his emails.
Finding a bit about each characters mother issues was illuminating but still I could not get over the feeling they had made their own toxic relationships thrive by never letting go.
I could not put this down over the weekend, surely their bitterness to each other, even the secret cruelties could not mean one of them capable of murder, who has set who up?
Appalled at what happened I read on sure that the author would have them eventually kill each other out of spite.
Such a shocking run of events had me wondering if I liked the book or not.
Huge debates on motherhood, bonding and how we are nurtured are surely why this book will be nabbed up by book friends everywhere.
A very dark book that is a lot different to the blurb on the back of the book. Well written but why why WHY they feel the need to not use speech marks is beyond me. Bumped up to 3 stars from 2.5 due to this being a debut novel and I can see potential in the writing.
Merry and Sam decide to start life all over again when they find out Merry is pregnant. They move their lives to Sweden, leaving everything behind to live in a small idyllic town where they have their privacy. After living there for over a year, Merry’s best friend Frank decides to come visit and fits right into quiet Swedish life, threatening Merry’s domestic bliss. Merry and Frank have been best friends for their entire lives, so Frank sees little things others wouldn’t notice in Merry and Sam’s lives. They are all hiding secrets and a dark truth begins to show through and they will all go to any length to keep their secrets.
I had read mixed reviews on this one and wasn’t quite sure what I was going to think of the novel. I loved the idea of the novel and how different it is from the other books I have read recently. I loved the short chapters and how easy it was for me to sit down and devour 200 pages in one sitting! I loved that each chapter was from a different character and you knew what each character was thinking and what sort of crazy thing that they were up to now. I loved that each character was flawed in a different way and the relationship between each character is equally toxic!
This book was full of suspense and the further you were into the novel, the more suspense and mystery there was to the entire story. At first I really enjoyed Merry’s character, but the more I read, the less I enjoyed all the characters! This book gets quite dark and I did some of the twists coming, but nonetheless, they were enjoyable! This novel was a lot like a car accident, you can see what’s coming, but you can’t stop watching! I enjoyed this novel and will definitely be on the look out for another novel by Sacks!
I had read mixed reviews on this one and wasn’t quite sure what I was going to think of the novel. I loved the idea of the novel and how different it is from the other books I have read recently. I loved the short chapters and how easy it was for me to sit down and devour 200 pages in one sitting! I loved that each chapter was from a different character and you knew what each character was thinking and what sort of crazy thing that they were up to now. I loved that each character was flawed in a different way and the relationship between each character is equally toxic!
This book was full of suspense and the further you were into the novel, the more suspense and mystery there was to the entire story. At first I really enjoyed Merry’s character, but the more I read, the less I enjoyed all the characters! This book gets quite dark and I did some of the twists coming, but nonetheless, they were enjoyable! This novel was a lot like a car accident, you can see what’s coming, but you can’t stop watching! I enjoyed this novel and will definitely be on the look out for another novel by Sacks!
This was the most repulsive book I have ever read. It LITERALLY made me sick to my stomach. I almost couldn't even read it. The events that occur and the characters are absolutely horrendous. That being said, Sacks is a masterfally writer and storyteller. She's a genius of human emotion. If you are of a delicate constitution (like myself; a soft-hearted soul or empath) I would caution against You Were Made for This. My life is worse for having read it. I'm haunted by it. #youweremadeforthis #bookish #bookstagram #bookish
It was a quick read and the overarching story was interested but I didn’t love the actual way in which the story was told.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
My thanks to Netgalley and Little, Brown & Co. for providing an ARC in return for this honest review.
Tales about psychotic mothers or nannies (Die, My Love by Ariana Harwicz, The Perfect Nanny/Lullaby by Leila Slimani) and about female jealousy (Tangerine by Christine Mangan) seem to be all the vogue these days - so Sacks decided to conflate them into one somewhat messy suspense thriller. But I found three things preventing me from entirely enjoying Sacks' debut effort:
1. ALL of the major characters are not only screwed up, but deeply psychotic individuals... there was absolutely no one to root for, or even sympathize with, making it very difficult to relate to them or care about their problems. And although an attempt is made to 'justify' why each of them are screwed up, the psychology just doesn't quite work.
2. The three major characters take turns narrating - and they all sound EXACTLY the same. This is a particular bête noire for me, and granted it is difficult to pull off separate narrative styles for each character, but if you can't do it, don't attempt it.
3. (Minor spoiler ahead!) Almost exactly halfway through, a death occurs and although attempts are made to proffer various scenarios and subterfuges as to what occurred, I immediately had figured out 'Who Done It' and more or less why ... and it was kind of a slog through the final 160 pages to find out I was correct.
The GOOD thing is that the book is quick moving - I read the entire thing in a little over a day, and though the prose is nothing special, it gets the job done. For a breezy summer beach read, one could do worse.
Tales about psychotic mothers or nannies (Die, My Love by Ariana Harwicz, The Perfect Nanny/Lullaby by Leila Slimani) and about female jealousy (Tangerine by Christine Mangan) seem to be all the vogue these days - so Sacks decided to conflate them into one somewhat messy suspense thriller. But I found three things preventing me from entirely enjoying Sacks' debut effort:
1. ALL of the major characters are not only screwed up, but deeply psychotic individuals... there was absolutely no one to root for, or even sympathize with, making it very difficult to relate to them or care about their problems. And although an attempt is made to 'justify' why each of them are screwed up, the psychology just doesn't quite work.
2. The three major characters take turns narrating - and they all sound EXACTLY the same. This is a particular bête noire for me, and granted it is difficult to pull off separate narrative styles for each character, but if you can't do it, don't attempt it.
3. (Minor spoiler ahead!) Almost exactly halfway through, a death occurs and although attempts are made to proffer various scenarios and subterfuges as to what occurred, I immediately had figured out 'Who Done It' and more or less why ... and it was kind of a slog through the final 160 pages to find out I was correct.
The GOOD thing is that the book is quick moving - I read the entire thing in a little over a day, and though the prose is nothing special, it gets the job done. For a breezy summer beach read, one could do worse.
Although this is apparently a debut, I could've sworn i've heard the name Michelle Sacks in reading circles before this. Maybe it's just me, must be. One of the aspects that drew me to the book was the setting - the Swedish countryside, somewhere I would love to visit, sets the scene for this dark and disturbing read.
Merry and her husband and young baby, are creating their dream life in Sweden, far from the events that clouded their lives whilst living in New York. Then Merry's childhood friend, Frances, comes to stay but Frances finds that she hardly recognises her friend. Soon cracks begin to appear in Merry's carefully constructed fairy tale. And Frances starts seeing things that may not be so apparent to others, treacherous things. And then a terrible tragedy unfolds.
"You Were Made For This" is a difficult book to rate as there were both good and bad parts to it. It is slow to build, exploring the relationships between the three main characters - Sam, Merry and Frances - and is told from those three points-of-view. The synopsis really only gives you a slight glimpse of what might be involved in the novel, you are in for a shock! If you don't like disturbing, dark, and oppressive stories then I would advise you to avoid this one. I also found the writing style pretty hard going, it was sometimes hard to follow, something I don't usually have an issue with. The characters are incredibly unlikable, but I don't mind that if it adds to the narrative, as here.
If you enjoy thrillers overflowing with lies, secrets, murder, abuse, and unhealthy relationships, you'll likely appreciate this. But be warned - this is far more chilling than the blurb indicates!
Many thanks to HQ for an ARC. I was not required to post a review and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
Merry and her husband and young baby, are creating their dream life in Sweden, far from the events that clouded their lives whilst living in New York. Then Merry's childhood friend, Frances, comes to stay but Frances finds that she hardly recognises her friend. Soon cracks begin to appear in Merry's carefully constructed fairy tale. And Frances starts seeing things that may not be so apparent to others, treacherous things. And then a terrible tragedy unfolds.
"You Were Made For This" is a difficult book to rate as there were both good and bad parts to it. It is slow to build, exploring the relationships between the three main characters - Sam, Merry and Frances - and is told from those three points-of-view. The synopsis really only gives you a slight glimpse of what might be involved in the novel, you are in for a shock! If you don't like disturbing, dark, and oppressive stories then I would advise you to avoid this one. I also found the writing style pretty hard going, it was sometimes hard to follow, something I don't usually have an issue with. The characters are incredibly unlikable, but I don't mind that if it adds to the narrative, as here.
If you enjoy thrillers overflowing with lies, secrets, murder, abuse, and unhealthy relationships, you'll likely appreciate this. But be warned - this is far more chilling than the blurb indicates!
Many thanks to HQ for an ARC. I was not required to post a review and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
I really did not enjoy this book. The writing style was definitely not for me. If there's dialogue, there have to be SPEECH MARKS. If you're asking a question, there has to be a QUESTION MARK. I get it, no emotion in the writing symbolises the emotionless characters and the eerie vibe. But it just wasn't a mystery. Okay, the plot twist was fair enough about Conor. But the rest of the book was just so predictable, and not in a good way. The characters were just awful for me; I have to relate to a character or find some kind of loveable/redeeming quality in them. That just didn't exist.
I know a lot of people have enjoyed this book, but in relation to my own personal tastes, this book was not for me.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC, even though I've genuinely taken way too long to actually get to this.
I know a lot of people have enjoyed this book, but in relation to my own personal tastes, this book was not for me.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC, even though I've genuinely taken way too long to actually get to this.