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4.14 AVERAGE
4.14 AVERAGE
I absolutely LOVED this book! My favourite in the series, so far. I loved that the book was so mysterious, with sporadic chapters that linked back to the killer. Totally recommend this!
#1: The Butterfly Garden ★★★★★
#2: Roses of May ★★★
#3: The Summer Children ★★★★
#4: The Vanishing Season ★★
You can also find this review on my blog.
cw: sexual assault, pedophilia, domestic abuse, drug use, pretty much everything related to that
Spoiler-free Review of an ARC Provided by the Publisher
As with The Roses of May, I avoided reading any kind of plot summary beforehand, because I was positive I would like whatever Dot had in mind for the third installment of the series. I was so excited when I realized we finally get a book centering around the POV of Mercedes, who until now has been more of a side character. Mercedes is a queer latinx woman who, it is revealed, has dealt firsthand with abuse in her past.
If you were afraid of something in the light, wasn't it just good sense to be more afraid of it in the dark?
Again, as with the last book, this could be read as a standalone, but I highly recommend reading the entire series in order to provide a better context for everything going on and so you won't have to worry about spoiling the first two for yourself. A lot of the character interactions probably won't make sense without the background.
Once upon a time, there was a little girl who was scared of angels.
Then she met one, and she wasn't afraid anymore.
My only issue with this book is really the interpersonal relationships between the characters. I think a significant amount of people took issue with this in the last book and while it didn't bother me at the time, it stuck out to me a lot more with this one. It got to the point where it kind of ruined my suspension of disbelief. Obviously I don't know much about the inner workings of the FBI, and within the story the characters do emphasize that this isn't necessarily normal, but the kinds of relationships you see here just seem kind of unprofessional and unrealistic.
Besides that, I did find the book highly enjoyable (although that's a weird word for this kind of story) and a quick read. I haven't looked at any reviews yet, so I'm not sure what criticisms are out there, but I'm sure some people will accuse this of being "torture porn" and I can't really fault them for that, but it's kind of the theme of these books. I'll also add that while I originally rated the second book highly, I do think it would fall more flat for me on a second read. I think that this one comes far closer to the first book in terms of quality, although I still prefer the first.
If you enjoyed the first two books in this series, then I definitely recommend The Summer Children!
#2: Roses of May ★★★
#3: The Summer Children ★★★★
#4: The Vanishing Season ★★
You can also find this review on my blog.
cw: sexual assault, pedophilia, domestic abuse, drug use, pretty much everything related to that
Spoiler-free Review of an ARC Provided by the Publisher
As with The Roses of May, I avoided reading any kind of plot summary beforehand, because I was positive I would like whatever Dot had in mind for the third installment of the series. I was so excited when I realized we finally get a book centering around the POV of Mercedes, who until now has been more of a side character. Mercedes is a queer latinx woman who, it is revealed, has dealt firsthand with abuse in her past.
If you were afraid of something in the light, wasn't it just good sense to be more afraid of it in the dark?
Again, as with the last book, this could be read as a standalone, but I highly recommend reading the entire series in order to provide a better context for everything going on and so you won't have to worry about spoiling the first two for yourself. A lot of the character interactions probably won't make sense without the background.
Once upon a time, there was a little girl who was scared of angels.
Then she met one, and she wasn't afraid anymore.
My only issue with this book is really the interpersonal relationships between the characters. I think a significant amount of people took issue with this in the last book and while it didn't bother me at the time, it stuck out to me a lot more with this one. It got to the point where it kind of ruined my suspension of disbelief. Obviously I don't know much about the inner workings of the FBI, and within the story the characters do emphasize that this isn't necessarily normal, but the kinds of relationships you see here just seem kind of unprofessional and unrealistic.
Besides that, I did find the book highly enjoyable (although that's a weird word for this kind of story) and a quick read. I haven't looked at any reviews yet, so I'm not sure what criticisms are out there, but I'm sure some people will accuse this of being "torture porn" and I can't really fault them for that, but it's kind of the theme of these books. I'll also add that while I originally rated the second book highly, I do think it would fall more flat for me on a second read. I think that this one comes far closer to the first book in terms of quality, although I still prefer the first.
If you enjoyed the first two books in this series, then I definitely recommend The Summer Children!
Still not sure how this is considered part of the collector’s series. I feel like each of the three books could really just be their own. The main correlation between them is the 3 FBI agents. This time it is in the point of view of Mercedes Ramirez.
The book itself covers the same genres of the other two, Horror, thriller, mystery, and a detective tale. The character development is strong once again in this book. Which shouldn’t surprise you considering the detail in the other two were perfect also. For the most part it has the same flow and not too many twists and turns. However, it still truly pulls you in enough that you will find yourself with tears in your eyes and anger in your heart towards the killer.
In the book you find that Mercedes hold a large burden of the main plot. Not only are these children showing up at her doorstep but she also has a past that she doesn’t want to recall. Though she is not our only agent in the story we do get to learn more about her personally. Each book of this series mostly focuses on one agent at a time but this one also brings them together a lot more than the other two.
However though The Butterfly garden will be the only one I will truly remember out of this series but this last book did provide more than the second so it will get an extra star.
The book itself covers the same genres of the other two, Horror, thriller, mystery, and a detective tale. The character development is strong once again in this book. Which shouldn’t surprise you considering the detail in the other two were perfect also. For the most part it has the same flow and not too many twists and turns. However, it still truly pulls you in enough that you will find yourself with tears in your eyes and anger in your heart towards the killer.
In the book you find that Mercedes hold a large burden of the main plot. Not only are these children showing up at her doorstep but she also has a past that she doesn’t want to recall. Though she is not our only agent in the story we do get to learn more about her personally. Each book of this series mostly focuses on one agent at a time but this one also brings them together a lot more than the other two.
However though The Butterfly garden will be the only one I will truly remember out of this series but this last book did provide more than the second so it will get an extra star.
Esto fue increíble, hace mucho rato que un libro no me hacía sentir así.
Es un libro muy gráfico, con mucho sufrimiento de por medio, pero el desarrollo de personajes, tanto el principal como de los secundarios es genial.
No puedo contar las veces en las que se me apretó el pecho por lo qué ocurría, tenía los sentimientos a flote. Es del tipo de historia que te mantiene al borde del asiento expectante a ver qué pasa.
Una novela muy completa, no sé si se la recomiendo a todos, pero no me puedo sentir más satisfecha.
Es un libro muy gráfico, con mucho sufrimiento de por medio, pero el desarrollo de personajes, tanto el principal como de los secundarios es genial.
No puedo contar las veces en las que se me apretó el pecho por lo qué ocurría, tenía los sentimientos a flote. Es del tipo de historia que te mantiene al borde del asiento expectante a ver qué pasa.
Una novela muy completa, no sé si se la recomiendo a todos, pero no me puedo sentir más satisfecha.
I love Mercedes so, so much. I love this whole FBI team
I am enjoying these books more as I go through the series, and truly I think that's because of the relationship and personalities of the detectives. Is it believable that they would remain so friendly with victims? No. But I do like that they stay in contact so we can keep up with their lives too.
This story in particular had a serial killer that targeted abusive and unfit parents. I enjoyed learning more about Mercedes and seeing her relationship. Though I feel like their pasts at times aren't conveyed deeply enough as it was hard to believe her and her ex had been together for 3 years and Mercedes didn't seem to cut up by the break up. It also frustrated me how long it seemed to take them t make any links or research into the obvious connection between Mercedes and the killer. But honestly I can't ever not finish a series so I read it to enjoy and didn't analyse too much so I enjoyed it.
This story in particular had a serial killer that targeted abusive and unfit parents. I enjoyed learning more about Mercedes and seeing her relationship. Though I feel like their pasts at times aren't conveyed deeply enough as it was hard to believe her and her ex had been together for 3 years and Mercedes didn't seem to cut up by the break up. It also frustrated me how long it seemed to take them t make any links or research into the obvious connection between Mercedes and the killer. But honestly I can't ever not finish a series so I read it to enjoy and didn't analyse too much so I enjoyed it.
These mysteries are dark, but the relationships are close and complex. We also get to see how the butterflies are coping now.
Agent Mercedes Ramirez begins to have bloodied children delivered to her door who claim an angel saved them from abusive parents. But what happens when this angel starts making mistakes and the children aren’t really being harmed? Mercedes must uncover who this serial killer is and the answer lies in her old cases.
I loved this book. Mercedes' character is so beautiful and I got a better feel of the dynamic of the team even after reading two books following the same team. I really, really wanted to give this book five stars but I just couldn't. My only problem with this book was the Spanish used here and there. As a native Spanish user, interjections were too random and unbalanced. You can tell when a language isn’t the author’s native tongue or even well-versed in casual conversation with the language. Other than that, Mercedes is a lesbian and my third gay eye knew it. – Also, too that one reviewer whose tone felt almost offended about Mercedes sexuality coming up out of nowhere: it is literally mentioned in the book before this one that she is dating a girl. No surprises here. Also, there doesn't need to be any hints that indicate sexuality, just let characters (and real people) be.
And while I'm on it, the running joke of the whole workforce thinking Eddison and Ramirez are f*cking is so excessive and like we get it... people can touch or seek comfort in others without jumping to the conclusion that they are somehow sexually involved. It felt like the characters were a little too obsessed with everyone thinking that that their actions seemed to always never be the innocence and comfort they actually were.
I loved this book. Mercedes' character is so beautiful and I got a better feel of the dynamic of the team even after reading two books following the same team. I really, really wanted to give this book five stars but I just couldn't. My only problem with this book was the Spanish used here and there. As a native Spanish user, interjections were too random and unbalanced. You can tell when a language isn’t the author’s native tongue or even well-versed in casual conversation with the language. Other than that, Mercedes is a lesbian and my third gay eye knew it. – Also, too that one reviewer whose tone felt almost offended about Mercedes sexuality coming up out of nowhere: it is literally mentioned in the book before this one that she is dating a girl. No surprises here. Also, there doesn't need to be any hints that indicate sexuality, just let characters (and real people) be.
And while I'm on it, the running joke of the whole workforce thinking Eddison and Ramirez are f*cking is so excessive and like we get it... people can touch or seek comfort in others without jumping to the conclusion that they are somehow sexually involved. It felt like the characters were a little too obsessed with everyone thinking that that their actions seemed to always never be the innocence and comfort they actually were.
I still really liked this story, but it was difficult to get through at times and stay with the story.
The change of name for Bliss to Victoria-Bliss was also confusing and irrelevant I felt. And the constant washing off of makeup in every single chapter was a little repetitive.
Overall it was another great read by this author and I absolutely love the unique and captivating stories she writes.
The change of name for Bliss to Victoria-Bliss was also confusing and irrelevant I felt. And the constant washing off of makeup in every single chapter was a little repetitive.
Overall it was another great read by this author and I absolutely love the unique and captivating stories she writes.