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3.37 AVERAGE
3.37 AVERAGE
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Not really a thriller, more just another story
Great premise for a book but perhaps a little poor in execution. It took too long to get into and though there was the undercurrent of tension needed for a thriller it just didn't quite build enough. When the twist was revealed it was over too quick, accepted and resolved too quick.
3.5 stars
A twisty suspense story with plenty of surprises along the way. This is a fast read and entertaining if you like mysteries.
A twisty suspense story with plenty of surprises along the way. This is a fast read and entertaining if you like mysteries.
slow-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
I had a little trouble getting into this book. It wasn't slow exactly, but the beginning was deliberately vague so it was a little jarring at first to figure out what was going on and what was happening in the story. Once you were able to establish what the pattern was and that we were getting closer to what 'it' was it started to grip you and take hold.
Overall, my positive feelings about this book grew with time. As the story steadily crescendoed, so did my liking of the book. I thought it was well written and the characters were very multi-dimensional. You both hated and sympathized with them. (Making them believable to me.)
I enjoyed the "twist" and really didn't see it coming. The hint that you were given where things weren't quite the way you were originally told ended up being quite a surprise. I thought it would be a different version, but not THAT different. That probably is more a 'me' thing. I never have the ability to pick things out ahead of time, but I was surprised and it only made me want to finish the book faster.
I would definitely recommend this book. I hope that if someday they make it into a movie it isn't cheesy. I could really see it becoming a poor Lifetime movie. I think this fits well in book form and am not sure it would translate to the big screen as easily.
Overall, I paid $1.99 for this book and was pleasantly surprised. It didn't blow me away, but it was good enough for a 4 rating.
Overall, my positive feelings about this book grew with time. As the story steadily crescendoed, so did my liking of the book. I thought it was well written and the characters were very multi-dimensional. You both hated and sympathized with them. (Making them believable to me.)
I enjoyed the "twist" and really didn't see it coming. The hint that you were given where things weren't quite the way you were originally told ended up being quite a surprise. I thought it would be a different version, but not THAT different. That probably is more a 'me' thing. I never have the ability to pick things out ahead of time, but I was surprised and it only made me want to finish the book faster.
I would definitely recommend this book. I hope that if someday they make it into a movie it isn't cheesy. I could really see it becoming a poor Lifetime movie. I think this fits well in book form and am not sure it would translate to the big screen as easily.
Overall, I paid $1.99 for this book and was pleasantly surprised. It didn't blow me away, but it was good enough for a 4 rating.
This was definitely a page turner but not as twisty and dark as I was expecting. The ending was a bit meek as well.
Disclaimer joins the slew of apparent successors to Gone Girl, and it has plenty of the hallmarks: a relationship, a secret, a pair of alternating narrators and some cheeky withholding of salient facts.
Unfortunately, the real disclaimer should be that the quality is somewhat lower.
The cover’s promises of the next thriller being all about you makes it sound like a Ludlum-esque suspense novel, but in fact it’s a disgruntled old man writing an extended poison pen letter to a woman that featured in his past. Make no mistake, if it weren’t for the Flynn-like structure, this is closer to chick-lit territory than it would like to believe itself to be.
Knight conceals and misdirects quite effectively, and sets up a few twists. The biggest occur at the middle and end: the middle explains the angst, the end flips it all again. The former is good, the latter is frustrating.
With Gone Girl, which Disclaimer aspires to be according to its own marketing, Amy hold back to incriminate Nick and Nick holds back to avoid looking guilty. Here, Catherine has absolutely no fathomable reason for withholding her big twisty secret. For no reason, she keeps it to herself for an entire novel and then for yet another non-reason, chucks it out like a grenade at the end. It’s sort-of a clever idea, ruined by the implausibility of the character’s handling of it.
It makes for an extremely frustrating climax. If the characters had acted in any logical way, the events of the entire book simply wouldn’t have happened. In the end, it feels contrived and underwhelming. My next thriller may well be about me, but it won’t be by Renée Knight I’m afraid.
Unfortunately, the real disclaimer should be that the quality is somewhat lower.
The cover’s promises of the next thriller being all about you makes it sound like a Ludlum-esque suspense novel, but in fact it’s a disgruntled old man writing an extended poison pen letter to a woman that featured in his past. Make no mistake, if it weren’t for the Flynn-like structure, this is closer to chick-lit territory than it would like to believe itself to be.
Knight conceals and misdirects quite effectively, and sets up a few twists. The biggest occur at the middle and end: the middle explains the angst, the end flips it all again. The former is good, the latter is frustrating.
With Gone Girl, which Disclaimer aspires to be according to its own marketing, Amy hold back to incriminate Nick and Nick holds back to avoid looking guilty. Here, Catherine has absolutely no fathomable reason for withholding her big twisty secret. For no reason, she keeps it to herself for an entire novel and then for yet another non-reason, chucks it out like a grenade at the end. It’s sort-of a clever idea, ruined by the implausibility of the character’s handling of it.
It makes for an extremely frustrating climax. If the characters had acted in any logical way, the events of the entire book simply wouldn’t have happened. In the end, it feels contrived and underwhelming. My next thriller may well be about me, but it won’t be by Renée Knight I’m afraid.
Pretty good. Nothing groundbreaking but it hooked me from the start and I pretty much read it in a day.
I’d give it more of 3.5. There were parts of this book where i was absolutely hooked, but it took a while to get to there, and then it slowed right back down again after. I think it had so much potential to be just a little bit better.
4 stars. This was an entertaining psychological thriller. The first 1/4 was a bit confusing as the story switched between POV's. The story progressed and the pieces started lining up. I thought the pacing of the timeline switches worked well overall. Then there were a couple of good twists. I really felt for Catherine. I was unnerved for her as her suspicion grew that someone knew about her past. I would recommend to a friend. It was worth pushing through the slower first quarter of the book. I felt that it had good payoff in the end.