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3.38 AVERAGE
3.38 AVERAGE
I think it was the multiple perspectives that weren’t marked or delineated by character in any way that threw me through a reading whiplash.
I couldn’t really get invested in the story.
I didn’t like the main character. She abandons her baby in the first chapter. Maybe it’s because I just HAD a baby, but this one was rough for me. A solid 2.5 ⭐️, rounded up to three.
I couldn’t really get invested in the story.
I didn’t like the main character. She abandons her baby in the first chapter. Maybe it’s because I just HAD a baby, but this one was rough for me. A solid 2.5 ⭐️, rounded up to three.
[b:Sunburn|35207298|Sunburn|Laura Lippman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1503360529s/35207298.jpg|56544258] is a slow burn, and I loved every minute of it. Polly and Adam are such interesting characters, both weaving in and out of the lies they tell themselves and each other. How much they can truly reveal to each other? More than a "thriller," this story feels like an introspective narrative from desperately flawed people trying to find the best way forward given their (mostly self inflicted) poor circumstances.
medium-paced
This book was okay. It was an interesting concept: a woman looking to escape her past moves to a small Delaware town to start her new life. She falls in love... but is her new lover as he seems? The book was fast in some places and slow in others. I would get hung up in the slow parts and therefore it took me a while to finish. It could be a good beach read/listen.
Great noir read! It’s a book that you want to keep reading to see what happens next. Most of the book you aren’t quite sure who to believe and even if you have partial facts you don’t always have motives...which leaves you guessing until the very end. The ending was pretty satisfying, if not exactly what I would have hoped for.
I think my favorite part of the book is that all but one chapter takes place in 1995 and while some of the nostalgic stuff feels forced (lots of specific songs casually strewn about in the narrative for no reason other than to remind you it’s 1995) it is still a time period I remember so fun to read about!
I think my favorite part of the book is that all but one chapter takes place in 1995 and while some of the nostalgic stuff feels forced (lots of specific songs casually strewn about in the narrative for no reason other than to remind you it’s 1995) it is still a time period I remember so fun to read about!
Entertaining and moody read. I needed a break from non-fiction, and this book delivered!
I fear I'm not in the majority with this review but insert eye roll here for this one. I detest a "We're in love in two seconds" story. Yes to lust. Yes to "koi no yokan" but not real love.
Welcome to Polly. She's basically horrible. She's a convicted murdered, skilled liar, first-class grifter, and amazing f*ck. So great, in fact, that men abandon all hope and common sense and fall madly in love with her. She hangs with bad company and when she abandons her second husband and child while on a family vacation, we're supposed to care why? She meets Adam and they're wildly in love. Adam's stupid.
When we learn more about her (insert tired trope) dark secrets, we're supposed to care more? When she gives us her inner dialogue, we're supposed to believe she's innocent of what she's been accused of? I liked nothing about her. She selfish, narcissistic, and lacks an ounce of empathy. When we reveal her overall plan, I still couldn't muster an ounce of compassion for her. So much so that I doubt her stories of her first husband. Shocking spoiler: he's awful too. I know, right?!? I dig an unreliable narrator but this was too much.
I liked no one in this novel. Not the shady insurance guy, not any of the husbands, not the supporting cast of dimwit townies.
Contrived and unbelievable. Not even a decent beach read.
Welcome to Polly. She's basically horrible. She's a convicted murdered, skilled liar, first-class grifter, and amazing f*ck. So great, in fact, that men abandon all hope and common sense and fall madly in love with her. She hangs with bad company and when she abandons her second husband and child while on a family vacation, we're supposed to care why? She meets Adam and they're wildly in love. Adam's stupid.
When we learn more about her (insert tired trope) dark secrets, we're supposed to care more? When she gives us her inner dialogue, we're supposed to believe she's innocent of what she's been accused of? I liked nothing about her. She selfish, narcissistic, and lacks an ounce of empathy. When we reveal her overall plan, I still couldn't muster an ounce of compassion for her. So much so that I doubt her stories of her first husband. Shocking spoiler: he's awful too. I know, right?!? I dig an unreliable narrator but this was too much.
I liked no one in this novel. Not the shady insurance guy, not any of the husbands, not the supporting cast of dimwit townies.
Contrived and unbelievable. Not even a decent beach read.
The premise of this made it seem like it would be really interesting: spies, love, a scammer- what’s the truth, who knows what, etc. However, when starting the book I thought of multiple other books/movies/tv shows this reminded me of. It didn’t feel original and tried to pull in too many tropes without actually giving them the space to breath and flourish.
This was extremely slow burn, and I felt like the beginning set the story up for SO much which just didn’t materialize. Are we supposed to sympathize with the main characters? Are we not? They circle around the same story repeatedly, and while it seems we are supposed to be gaining new information with every recounting, you literally know the entirety of the story nearly immediately… So the constant processing of the characters is an utter bore. The ONLY interesting part of this is the question of what Polly’s purpose is… and in the end that doesn’t even feel believable or interesting. Nothing felt satisfying about this story.
This was extremely slow burn, and I felt like the beginning set the story up for SO much which just didn’t materialize. Are we supposed to sympathize with the main characters? Are we not? They circle around the same story repeatedly, and while it seems we are supposed to be gaining new information with every recounting, you literally know the entirety of the story nearly immediately… So the constant processing of the characters is an utter bore. The ONLY interesting part of this is the question of what Polly’s purpose is… and in the end that doesn’t even feel believable or interesting. Nothing felt satisfying about this story.
The first few chapters of this book were promising but it became tedious as I felt so much of the mystery was told to the reader rather than naturally unfolding. It was very hard to understand the motives of either of the main characters. I did not believe they were in love and did not sympathize with them at all.