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3.21 AVERAGE
3.21 AVERAGE
I first picked up this book because I saw it advertised on an underground billboard (great reasoning eh!?) and to an extent, it did not disappoint.
While I was confused at first with the back and forth of the timeline (the book jumps between before and after the daughter’s disappearance) after I got into it I honestly started to enjoy it ...more
While I was confused at first with the back and forth of the timeline (the book jumps between before and after the daughter’s disappearance) after I got into it I honestly started to enjoy it ...more
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I’m reviewing this book long after I read it, so my memory is fuzzy. I remember enjoying the ending because it was so open and seemed like there could be another story focused on the daughter. But overall the story wasn’t compelling enough to keep up steam, though I did finish it. It wasn’t as suspenseful as I would have liked it to be.
Daughter by Jane Shemilt starts quickly and you will need to keep reading. I devoured this book in only a few days. It was delicious. Basically, a daughter of two doctors goes missing and the fissures in the family start to show, as they do in books like this, but some of the fissures were different twists and turns. The narration is interesting too--before she went missing and after she went missing in the same chapters. This novel felt well paced--I never felt dragged along or forced to read something in which I was not interested.
This is a great book to read as winter as ending, as much of the action takes place in an environment that feels chilly and rainy. The atmosphere is great here. You will want to curl up with a cup of coffee, then tea, then cocoa and realize you have spent the whole day reading--furiously page-turning, blissfully reading.
The ending is worth the read, although I am sure that some people may feel it is too adrupt and want more but I thought it fit. It took me off guard--I read a good number of these "family crime dramas" and have come to realize that most of the time, the ending isn't as satisfying as the twists along the way, but Jane Shemilt's Daughter's did not leave me with this feeling. I was pleased that I'd not seen it coming.
I have to tell you my copy was provided to me at no charge by Goodreads Firstreads Program.
This is a great book to read as winter as ending, as much of the action takes place in an environment that feels chilly and rainy. The atmosphere is great here. You will want to curl up with a cup of coffee, then tea, then cocoa and realize you have spent the whole day reading--furiously page-turning, blissfully reading.
The ending is worth the read, although I am sure that some people may feel it is too adrupt and want more but I thought it fit. It took me off guard--I read a good number of these "family crime dramas" and have come to realize that most of the time, the ending isn't as satisfying as the twists along the way, but Jane Shemilt's Daughter's did not leave me with this feeling. I was pleased that I'd not seen it coming.
I have to tell you my copy was provided to me at no charge by Goodreads Firstreads Program.
I really wanted to like this book, but in the end, I was just angry. It turns out that the caring, really great pediatrician mom who raises three kids while working at a clinic for the uninsured is actually a terrible mom because ... she works. There was the possibility in the book of interesting messages about class--not assuming that people are terrible parents because they are poor--and about how we don't know teens' internal lives as well as we think, but in the end, these messages got muddied and buried under the idea that [SPOILER AHEAD] pregnant and stealing drugs at 15 is the healthier lifestyle for a teen girl because at least the adult man who got you pregnant and had you steal the drugs cares about family and would never go to work all day.
I'm giving this 4 stars because I was SO engrossed in this story! The jumping back and forth was an interesting way to keep us in suspense as to how the disappearance occurred, how the investigation went, etc... I felt for several of the characters and was in tears during the Christmas 1 year later... BUT, let me just say - the last 2 pages at the end = WHAT THE HECK??? I was stunned beyond words. I mean, why? And how on earth could ANYone do that to their mother, their entire family. Gosh. Absolutely terrible. I just can't even comprehend it.
A great idea but the skipping about with the time line irritated me, but that's just me. I think this will be a popular choice and I'll be recommending it (just not to linear people ;-))
Here are a few things wrong with this book:
Goes back and forth between present day and one year ago, which is fine except the present day sections are so incredibly boring. I check forecasts obsessively and even I got sick of hearing about the weather.
It feels like she periodically forgot about Theo being a character in the book. There are some kind of big things that come up with him and then are not really developed. His photography project would probably have been a much bigger deal.
The ending. Oh my god that ending! The ending is so dumb, and as other reviewers have pointed out, it really doesn't make sense to end it there. No spoilers but things could have been followed up on. (The only way the ending works is if you decide Jenny has just become completely delusional. But I don't think that's what you're supposed to think.)
But the worst thing about this book is its not very hidden message which is: Mommies shouldn't work or their kids will become lying stealing promiscuous drug addicts who run off with the gypsies because mommies who work don't know their children at all because all they care about is themselves. Working dads get a pass, naturally.
Goes back and forth between present day and one year ago, which is fine except the present day sections are so incredibly boring. I check forecasts obsessively and even I got sick of hearing about the weather.
It feels like she periodically forgot about Theo being a character in the book. There are some kind of big things that come up with him and then are not really developed. His photography project would probably have been a much bigger deal.
The ending. Oh my god that ending! The ending is so dumb, and as other reviewers have pointed out, it really doesn't make sense to end it there. No spoilers but things could have been followed up on. (The only way the ending works is if you decide Jenny has just become completely delusional. But I don't think that's what you're supposed to think.)
But the worst thing about this book is its not very hidden message which is: Mommies shouldn't work or their kids will become lying stealing promiscuous drug addicts who run off with the gypsies because mommies who work don't know their children at all because all they care about is themselves. Working dads get a pass, naturally.
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
2.5 stars. I struggled with this. I actually started reading it months ago - twice - and put it down each time. When I picked it up for the third time I knew for sure that it wasn't just that I wasn't in the mood for a slow-burn depressing domestic mystery, and forced myself to finish.
It's not bad. It's very accomplished for a debut and there are instances of breathtaking prose. The structure is clever and handled admirably; I didn't get lost or confused as to where we were in the Before or After once. But the structure itself causes fault - it means that you lose all tension or anticipation with the Before scenes, as you know from reading the interspersed After scenes that all these red herrings are exactly that, and lead nowhere, as Naomi is still missing over a year later. And the After scenes, well, they are just Jenny sitting in a cottage, thinking to herself, painting - hardly gripping.
I just didn't connect or care, and that was what made it a slog. Nothing rang particularly true - and I know I'm not a GP or a mother of three teenagers, but still. All the characters are odious pricks. The ending was a bit eye-rolly, right when I wanted it to pack the sort of punch that would have made it a solid three-star read. It never got there.
So, all in all, a bit of a disappointment. But it does sit better with other readers, and if you're interested by the blurb and an aficionado of the genre, certainly don't be put off by my review!
It's not bad. It's very accomplished for a debut and there are instances of breathtaking prose. The structure is clever and handled admirably; I didn't get lost or confused as to where we were in the Before or After once. But the structure itself causes fault - it means that you lose all tension or anticipation with the Before scenes, as you know from reading the interspersed After scenes that all these red herrings are exactly that, and lead nowhere, as Naomi is still missing over a year later. And the After scenes, well, they are just Jenny sitting in a cottage, thinking to herself, painting - hardly gripping.
I just didn't connect or care, and that was what made it a slog. Nothing rang particularly true - and I know I'm not a GP or a mother of three teenagers, but still. All the characters are odious pricks. The ending was a bit eye-rolly, right when I wanted it to pack the sort of punch that would have made it a solid three-star read. It never got there.
So, all in all, a bit of a disappointment. But it does sit better with other readers, and if you're interested by the blurb and an aficionado of the genre, certainly don't be put off by my review!