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julie_hastings's review
3.0
You can read all of my reviews over at www.novelthrillsandchillsreview.wordpress.com.
I struggled a lot with this novel. It started out very slow for my liking and held true for 3/4 of the book. As a reader, I am not one to quit a book and I have to say I was interested to find out what exactly happened to Jo and her family. The book picked up speed within the last 100-150 pages. I'm usually not one to dislike characters very much either. In each and every book I read or have read, I've always attached to a character or two. In this novel I unfortunately did not have that take on any character within these pages. I could not find the sympathy for any of the Harding family. All of the lies and betrayal each member hid from Jo and vise versa I was almost hoping myself her memory stayed gone so everyone could just move on.
Knowing that this is Reynolds debut novel, it is a very good start. I cannot wait to see what she has coming next. I will definitely be picking it up to read. Unfortunately this book was just not a favorite. If any of you bloggers/readers enjoy a more slow read, I thoroughly think you will enjoy it.
Thank you to NetGalley, Quercus and Amanda Reynolds for a free copy to read for an honest review.
I struggled a lot with this novel. It started out very slow for my liking and held true for 3/4 of the book. As a reader, I am not one to quit a book and I have to say I was interested to find out what exactly happened to Jo and her family. The book picked up speed within the last 100-150 pages. I'm usually not one to dislike characters very much either. In each and every book I read or have read, I've always attached to a character or two. In this novel I unfortunately did not have that take on any character within these pages. I could not find the sympathy for any of the Harding family. All of the lies and betrayal each member hid from Jo and vise versa I was almost hoping myself her memory stayed gone so everyone could just move on.
Knowing that this is Reynolds debut novel, it is a very good start. I cannot wait to see what she has coming next. I will definitely be picking it up to read. Unfortunately this book was just not a favorite. If any of you bloggers/readers enjoy a more slow read, I thoroughly think you will enjoy it.
Thank you to NetGalley, Quercus and Amanda Reynolds for a free copy to read for an honest review.
sonjaaaa8's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
erinld2005's review
1.0
I tried to read this one a little while back and I couldn't get into it at all.
nannyf's review
4.0
This is a story which goes from one extreme to another. A woman wakes up in hospital with amnesia, but only the last year of her life. As far as she is concerned her son has just left to go to university and her daughter is happy. Over time she begins to piece together that fact that what she is being told, or not told, by those closest to her is not always the truth. Her family are hiding things from her, but why? Is it to protect her, or themselves.
The mystery of how Jo came to fall is revealed slowly as she begins to try and start living her life again. But as she begins to discover the lies she is being told, can she figure the actual truth out?
This is a well told story with just enough mystery to keep me desperate for Jo to remember exactly what happened. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing a copy.
The mystery of how Jo came to fall is revealed slowly as she begins to try and start living her life again. But as she begins to discover the lies she is being told, can she figure the actual truth out?
This is a well told story with just enough mystery to keep me desperate for Jo to remember exactly what happened. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing a copy.
erinvreads's review
3.0
I liked the idea of this book it was definitely a good read. I would recommend it to most people who like this genre, definitely didn’t expect some of the twists and turns that happened. For me though it was a one time read and i probably wont read it again.
scent_of_the_rain's review
2.0
Wow this book was boring. The plot not the most original in the world, I actually though it may be at first. I was sure that there is a unreliable narrator used in this but it turned out I was wrong.
Because this was so boring I started noticing things I’m not sure the author wanted me to notice. For one thing, the main character is something in-between hippy and judgemental old lady that thinks that she always knows best.
But the most jarring thing was her relationship with her children, definitely unhealthy, specially with her son. She treats her children as possessions and is surprised when they don’t want to have a much to do with her at the end of this. And even though she seems to need to be joint with them by an imagined umbilical cord, she doesn’t really make any effort to get to actually know them better. Not even she gets amnesia.
This is not the worst book I read in my life but definitely one of the worst I read so far this year. But at least it wasn’t too long.
Because this was so boring I started noticing things I’m not sure the author wanted me to notice. For one thing, the main character is something in-between hippy and judgemental old lady that thinks that she always knows best.
But the most jarring thing was her relationship with her children, definitely unhealthy, specially with her son. She treats her children as possessions and is surprised when they don’t want to have a much to do with her at the end of this. And even though she seems to need to be joint with them by an imagined umbilical cord, she doesn’t really make any effort to get to actually know them better. Not even she gets amnesia.
This is not the worst book I read in my life but definitely one of the worst I read so far this year. But at least it wasn’t too long.
jorja_2001's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
chrissireads's review
Close To Me centres around our main protagonist Jo. Jo has had an accident which results in her losing her memories of the past year. This leaves Jo questioning what has happened and why her family don’t seem to be telling her the truth. Jo is convinced that her grown up children and her husband are keeping things from her, but with only snippets of memories coming back to her, she doesn’t know what to believe anymore.
Although this isn’t the most unique psychological thriller that I’ve read, it was still an engaging and exciting read. I was eager to find out about the secrets that were being hidden. I wanted to know whether Jo had fell down the stairs or whether she was pushed. I was questioning every single thing, not sure whether to distrust Jo’s family or not. There were just so many questions to be answered!
The narration goes between Jo’s point of view in the year that she had lost and Jo’s present day life. Using this narrative was effective because the reader got to learn about Jo’s life before the accident. I liked this element of the story as it meant that the reader could learn about Jo’s past as the memories were revealed to her too.
I didn’t think much of Jo’s family. I couldn’t really warm to any of them. I didn’t trust some of them and I wondered why Jo’s children weren’t more concerned with her memory loss! I found Sash (her daughter) in particular to be a very irritating character. I desperately wanted her to be there for her mother… and she just wasn’t!
There may be many books like Close To Me in the genre, but it’s an addictive read and a very promising debut nevertheless!
Although this isn’t the most unique psychological thriller that I’ve read, it was still an engaging and exciting read. I was eager to find out about the secrets that were being hidden. I wanted to know whether Jo had fell down the stairs or whether she was pushed. I was questioning every single thing, not sure whether to distrust Jo’s family or not. There were just so many questions to be answered!
The narration goes between Jo’s point of view in the year that she had lost and Jo’s present day life. Using this narrative was effective because the reader got to learn about Jo’s life before the accident. I liked this element of the story as it meant that the reader could learn about Jo’s past as the memories were revealed to her too.
I didn’t think much of Jo’s family. I couldn’t really warm to any of them. I didn’t trust some of them and I wondered why Jo’s children weren’t more concerned with her memory loss! I found Sash (her daughter) in particular to be a very irritating character. I desperately wanted her to be there for her mother… and she just wasn’t!
There may be many books like Close To Me in the genre, but it’s an addictive read and a very promising debut nevertheless!
cservat129's review against another edition
4.0
This book grabbed me right from the beginning. It was a great plot with a real psychological twist. I thought the writing was really great and the characters well written. I could not put this one down.