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phantasmaboo's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Dark Roads by Chevy Stevens tells the stories of Haley and Beth, two young women who are tied together by the murder of young women in their small town. When Amber, Beth's sister and Haley's best friend, falls victim to the murderer, the two team up to catch them.
I thought this book was good. Stevens crafted a dark, atmospheric setting that kept me in suspense the whole time. While I didn't quite enjoy the graphic nature of the book at times, I thought that there was enough otherwise to keep me interested. The narrative switches between Beth and Haley's points of view throughout, so we get to see both sides of their grief, anguish, and fear. Even in the slower parts of the plot, I never thought that the pacing was suffering, which I think speaks to the power of Beth and Haley's voices. The plot does suffer, however, from the "continuous red herring", as I call it. That is, the book keeps us so focused on someone else that it is literally impossible to see the end coming. Because of that, the ending does feel somewhat abrupt and lackluster, because all of the tension was building up toward someone else. That character's ending also feels abrupt, in a way. Still, I can't say that this wasn't the author's intention, and I can't say that it was too bad.
The characters are pretty well-developed. I was scared for a while that one of the characters would devolve into a caricature of a racist, power hungry cop, but I think that Stevens treaded that line carefully and well enough that it didn't come off as forceful or over the top for the sake of the plot. The characters are not diverse as far as I can tell with the exception of (maybe) socioeconomic class. The author attempts to incorporate First Nations peoples and practices, but it is mentioned only in passing and doesn't incorporate any aspects of the culture beyond that. That all being said, the characters we do meet are compelling and deep, and Stevens writes them well enough that you can empathize with their struggles.
Overall, I give this book a 4/5 stars.
I thought this book was good. Stevens crafted a dark, atmospheric setting that kept me in suspense the whole time. While I didn't quite enjoy the graphic nature of the book at times, I thought that there was enough otherwise to keep me interested. The narrative switches between Beth and Haley's points of view throughout, so we get to see both sides of their grief, anguish, and fear. Even in the slower parts of the plot, I never thought that the pacing was suffering, which I think speaks to the power of Beth and Haley's voices. The plot does suffer, however, from the "continuous red herring", as I call it. That is, the book keeps us so focused on someone else that it is literally impossible to see the end coming. Because of that, the ending does feel somewhat abrupt and lackluster, because all of the tension was building up toward someone else. That character's ending also feels abrupt, in a way. Still, I can't say that this wasn't the author's intention, and I can't say that it was too bad.
The characters are pretty well-developed. I was scared for a while that one of the characters would devolve into a caricature of a racist, power hungry cop, but I think that Stevens treaded that line carefully and well enough that it didn't come off as forceful or over the top for the sake of the plot. The characters are not diverse as far as I can tell with the exception of (maybe) socioeconomic class. The author attempts to incorporate First Nations peoples and practices, but it is mentioned only in passing and doesn't incorporate any aspects of the culture beyond that. That all being said, the characters we do meet are compelling and deep, and Stevens writes them well enough that you can empathize with their struggles.
Overall, I give this book a 4/5 stars.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Torture, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Outing, Murder, Xenophobia, Rape, Racism, and Medical trauma
amnda527's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Police brutality, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Trafficking, and Violence
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