Scan barcode
sebarose's review
4.0
A five star book all the way to the last half of the last chapter. A very well written story, and even the switch from first person to second person was deftly handled. A perfect book save for the Matlock ending.
momlovesbooks17's review
4.0
Took me a long time to get through this book. It was confusing some of the time because some of it was the thoughts of a woman with Alzheimer's. I was afraid that the mystery would not be revealed in the end but it was and it was worth the wait.
marshaskrypuch's review
5.0
I consumed this novel in a matter of hours. The premise is similar to Before I Go To Sleep. In this novel, an orthopedic surgeon who now has Alzheimer's is accused of committing a murder. The story is revealed entirely from the point of view of Dr. Jennifer White as her mind deteriorates. What a fine juggling act Alice LaPlante does to pull this off so seamlessly.
africreole's review
4.0
A very accurate depiction...
...of a person who has Alzheimer's / dementia. This story accurately relayed the ups and downs of a mind that is no longer holding on to what is real and what is not and what has happened a few minutes prior. Dr. Jennifer has her moments of lucidness and when she did not, she was very difficult to deal with. This story was a very well-done murder mystery, whose solving of the murder of Jennifer's best friend was held to the very end.
NOTE: This book was read in conjunction with Audible for the ICCC Book Club.
...of a person who has Alzheimer's / dementia. This story accurately relayed the ups and downs of a mind that is no longer holding on to what is real and what is not and what has happened a few minutes prior. Dr. Jennifer has her moments of lucidness and when she did not, she was very difficult to deal with. This story was a very well-done murder mystery, whose solving of the murder of Jennifer's best friend was held to the very end.
NOTE: This book was read in conjunction with Audible for the ICCC Book Club.
novelesque_life's review
3.0
3 STARS
(Read for Book Club)
"Dr. Jennifer White, a brilliant former surgeon in the early grips of Alzheimer's, is suspected of murdering her best friend, Amanda. Amanda's body was found brutally disfigured - with four of her fingers cut off in a precise, surgical manner. As the police pursue their investigation and Jennifer searches her own mind for fractured clues to Amanda's death, a portrait emerges of a complex relationship between two uncompromising, unsentimental women, lifelong friends who were at times each other's most formidable adversaries." (From Amazon)
A really fascinating suspense novel - how do you defend yourself against murder when you don't even remember where you were or any current details. This novel made an excellent book club selection as there was a lot to discuss and the ending alone is worth it.
(Read for Book Club)
"Dr. Jennifer White, a brilliant former surgeon in the early grips of Alzheimer's, is suspected of murdering her best friend, Amanda. Amanda's body was found brutally disfigured - with four of her fingers cut off in a precise, surgical manner. As the police pursue their investigation and Jennifer searches her own mind for fractured clues to Amanda's death, a portrait emerges of a complex relationship between two uncompromising, unsentimental women, lifelong friends who were at times each other's most formidable adversaries." (From Amazon)
A really fascinating suspense novel - how do you defend yourself against murder when you don't even remember where you were or any current details. This novel made an excellent book club selection as there was a lot to discuss and the ending alone is worth it.
readingwithhippos's review
3.0
Alice LaPlante's debut novel from 2011 is narrated by Dr. Jennifer White, a retired orthopedic surgeon afflicted with Alzheimer's. Her mind is already fragmented, her memory and perception unreliable, but we find out through her conversations with her caretaker and children that her best friend Amanda has been murdered, and the police believe Jennifer knows something about it.
Does she? Well, that depends on when you ask. Most of the time, Jennifer is too addled to contribute anything coherent to the investigation. Her lawyer advises her not to talk to the police, as they may consider her a suspect. Even though the narration is first-person and we're inside Jennifer's head, her inner monologue is garbled enough to obscure the truth. LaPlante keeps the tension high and the central mystery pleasingly convoluted until the very end.
In a way, this is two books in one. First, it's a mystery—we're eager to find out what happened to Amanda, and whether Jennifer could possibly have murdered her friend and then forgotten all about it. But it's also an unsettling expedition into a failing mind, providing a front-row seat for Jennifer's decline from an intelligent, capable surgeon to someone who doesn't remember to take off her nightgown before showering. LaPlante's portrayal of Jennifer is sensitive and insightful, making her bizarre behavior almost comprehensible, but it's still hard to read about a disease laying waste to a once-keen mind. Those who have known friends or relatives with Alzheimer's may find this book rubs a raw spot.
Full text of this recommendation and many others at www.readingwithhippos.com
Does she? Well, that depends on when you ask. Most of the time, Jennifer is too addled to contribute anything coherent to the investigation. Her lawyer advises her not to talk to the police, as they may consider her a suspect. Even though the narration is first-person and we're inside Jennifer's head, her inner monologue is garbled enough to obscure the truth. LaPlante keeps the tension high and the central mystery pleasingly convoluted until the very end.
In a way, this is two books in one. First, it's a mystery—we're eager to find out what happened to Amanda, and whether Jennifer could possibly have murdered her friend and then forgotten all about it. But it's also an unsettling expedition into a failing mind, providing a front-row seat for Jennifer's decline from an intelligent, capable surgeon to someone who doesn't remember to take off her nightgown before showering. LaPlante's portrayal of Jennifer is sensitive and insightful, making her bizarre behavior almost comprehensible, but it's still hard to read about a disease laying waste to a once-keen mind. Those who have known friends or relatives with Alzheimer's may find this book rubs a raw spot.
Full text of this recommendation and many others at www.readingwithhippos.com
mandyherbet's review
4.0
This is a very cleverly written thriller. Using an entirely unreliable narrator and keeping the reader in the dark the whole way through, this is an engaging and thrilling journey for the reader. Highly recommended, but be aware, once you start reading, you'll be out of commission until you're finished. I spent my entire weekend reading!
halibut's review
3.0
An interesting premise and start becomes bogged down in implausible expository dialogue in which characters announce their motivations and emotions. One of the key characters, Amanda, just doesn't feel plausible at all. The reader isn't really faced with the problem of disorientation the book seems to want to convey, the narrative is basically linear and even when the narrator doesn't know who or where or what it is abundantly clear to the reader. It's a really interesting concept, which perhaps is just exceedingly difficult to pull off and hasn't quite worked here.
alibi313's review against another edition
3.0
Ultimately, kind of a "meh" book. It was one of those I might not have finished if I were reading it, but listening to it on my iPod without my full attention was OK. Sold as a murder mystery, it's much more a meandering firsthand account of the effects of Alzheimer's on the narrator than a compelling whodunit (even with the catchy hook of the victim's missing fingers). The mystery is actually kind of anticlimactic when finally solved, and since the victim (as well as the primary suspect and pretty much all the characters) isn't particularly likable, the resolution of her murder wasn't that satisfying.