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timewornpages's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
qu33nofbookz's review against another edition
1.0
It was a bit hard getting into the story at first and it just kind of plods along from there. Multiple POV's don't help and are a bit jarring as well as the large amount of characters to keep track of.
None of the characters are all that likable or relate-able and they are all deeply flawed and their problems seem to take over part of the story and distract from crime and the work to solve it. Edit:There are way, way to many side tangents for all the characters flaws and it takes away from the story and stops momentum on the real case. You could cut the book in half by taking out all the useless back/side bits from all the numerous characters that don't have to do with the main plot line of the crime this book was supposed to be about.
I get that everyone has stuff going on in their lives but if it's not related to the case why do we get every irrelevant detail? Side problems include the small-town female detective who gets no respect from her male counterparts (why she is even a main character is beyond me since she has absolutely no power to investigate anything in her own town. How did she ever get hired, no one respects her or ANY of the women in this town) and has problems at home with the husband and kids, the lawyer and his wife have issues together and apart from the past, and the local bigoted deacon stirring up trouble because of his narrow mindedness and I am holier than thou attitude to everyone because HE is a man of god and they are beneath him, the male detective who swoops in to take over the crime who ignores the female detective who's town he's in has parents in bad health issues as well as being an ass in thinking he's right because he has seen more crime then his counterpart.
ALL the men besides the small town detective's husband (whom she treats like crap) are bigots and misogynists. (This is a personal issue with me. I know it's a small town but it is the 21st century for fuck sake. I know some man can be this way, I have personal experience in this, but to have ALL the male characters this way is beyond belief and annoying enough to make my blood boil. You need some tension when talking about once taboo subjects but it's maddening, annoying and slightly depressing that authors think they have to make entire towns stand still in time in the moral aspect. It's not the 1950's anymore and a lot of those pricks are thankfully dying off or to old to care or have been able to adapt to the times. Pick something else to get tension or certain views along. Seriously I am sick of reading about tons of close-minded, bigoted, misogynistic assholes everywhere when I have to deal with them from time to time in reality. Enough!)
I didn't like that the author chose to go back and forth constantly on what to call his main character. Call her either Sonja or Test not one of them every other time someone talks to her or she talks/thinks to/about herself. Also who the hell refers to themselves in the third person and why if they do use their last name? This has become a trend and it needs to stop.
Also, they (the characters) keep alluding to The Case... (as in is this because of or connected to The Case)but never we never get to know what it really is except that it has to do with Gay Marriage. No one is straight forward about anything....they keep leading up to something important and then going "you know, or I know you know, and you did it, but never saying what it is or what they know. Very annoying and frustrating. To top it all off it irked me that they kept referring to the murdered TEENAGER as a CHILD, stop that. She is either the teenager (who by the way is having sex in her employer's house) or a child in which case she shouldn't have been there at that time of night. EDIT: The murder victim is a PRETEEN about 14 in which case why the hell is a prominent lawyer and his high society wife who need a nanny/babysitter for late nights hiring an inexperienced girl. And that also makes the sex with an older male creepy because it sounds like he is an older teen bordering on young adult. Yuck.
At least the chapters are short (although sometimes choppy) making it seem like a quick read. Edit: As the story goes on the POV changes grow as does the character list until you can't keep track of them all. Here the short chapters don't help and make the book harder to get through. Edit: Towards the end of the story this flipping POV and short chapter shit is getting out of hand. The last bit of the book is confusing with the numerous characters and POV changes within the short chapters as well as with each short chapter change. It made me have to put the book down several times with the dread of picking it back up again.
The ending drove me crazy and pissed me off.
None of the characters are all that likable or relate-able and they are all deeply flawed and their problems seem to take over part of the story and distract from crime and the work to solve it. Edit:There are way, way to many side tangents for all the characters flaws and it takes away from the story and stops momentum on the real case. You could cut the book in half by taking out all the useless back/side bits from all the numerous characters that don't have to do with the main plot line of the crime this book was supposed to be about.
I get that everyone has stuff going on in their lives but if it's not related to the case why do we get every irrelevant detail? Side problems include the small-town female detective who gets no respect from her male counterparts (why she is even a main character is beyond me since she has absolutely no power to investigate anything in her own town. How did she ever get hired, no one respects her or ANY of the women in this town) and has problems at home with the husband and kids, the lawyer and his wife have issues together and apart from the past, and the local bigoted deacon stirring up trouble because of his narrow mindedness and I am holier than thou attitude to everyone because HE is a man of god and they are beneath him, the male detective who swoops in to take over the crime who ignores the female detective who's town he's in has parents in bad health issues as well as being an ass in thinking he's right because he has seen more crime then his counterpart.
ALL the men besides the small town detective's husband (whom she treats like crap) are bigots and misogynists. (This is a personal issue with me. I know it's a small town but it is the 21st century for fuck sake. I know some man can be this way, I have personal experience in this, but to have ALL the male characters this way is beyond belief and annoying enough to make my blood boil. You need some tension when talking about once taboo subjects but it's maddening, annoying and slightly depressing that authors think they have to make entire towns stand still in time in the moral aspect. It's not the 1950's anymore and a lot of those pricks are thankfully dying off or to old to care or have been able to adapt to the times. Pick something else to get tension or certain views along. Seriously I am sick of reading about tons of close-minded, bigoted, misogynistic assholes everywhere when I have to deal with them from time to time in reality. Enough!)
I didn't like that the author chose to go back and forth constantly on what to call his main character. Call her either Sonja or Test not one of them every other time someone talks to her or she talks/thinks to/about herself. Also who the hell refers to themselves in the third person and why if they do use their last name? This has become a trend and it needs to stop.
Also, they (the characters) keep alluding to The Case... (as in is this because of or connected to The Case)but never we never get to know what it really is except that it has to do with Gay Marriage. No one is straight forward about anything....they keep leading up to something important and then going "you know, or I know you know, and you did it, but never saying what it is or what they know. Very annoying and frustrating. To top it all off it irked me that they kept referring to the murdered TEENAGER as a CHILD, stop that. She is either the teenager (who by the way is having sex in her employer's house) or a child in which case she shouldn't have been there at that time of night. EDIT: The murder victim is a PRETEEN about 14 in which case why the hell is a prominent lawyer and his high society wife who need a nanny/babysitter for late nights hiring an inexperienced girl. And that also makes the sex with an older male creepy because it sounds like he is an older teen bordering on young adult. Yuck.
At least the chapters are short (although sometimes choppy) making it seem like a quick read. Edit: As the story goes on the POV changes grow as does the character list until you can't keep track of them all. Here the short chapters don't help and make the book harder to get through. Edit: Towards the end of the story this flipping POV and short chapter shit is getting out of hand. The last bit of the book is confusing with the numerous characters and POV changes within the short chapters as well as with each short chapter change. It made me have to put the book down several times with the dread of picking it back up again.
The ending drove me crazy and pissed me off.
j_h_'s review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
First read of anything by this author. This was a fast moving story that kept you guessing along the way. I liked the detectives involved in hunting down the person responsible, hindered along the way by small town politics, secrets, and religious nutters with their own agendas. Definitely looking forward to the next book in the series.
sar_she_her's review
Awful writing, un-self-aware, with tackily gratuitous violence and misogyny.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Sexism, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Misogyny
wanderlustqueen's review
4.0
I liked "The Silent Girls" better, but since there's no option to give half stars, here we are. Another good murder mystery, ending wasn't entirely expected.