Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - Meisje zonder verleden

While the core mystery of this book was interesting (if not a bit procedural), I was very frustrated by the outlandish behavior of the main characters, which worsened as the book went on.

Our main character, Cyrus, is a clinical psychologist who experienced extreme trauma as a kid. Despite what the book suggests to be "good intentions," he repeatedly makes incredibly unethical decisions in his job with the police and also in his care of in-and-out of the system Evie, a teenager who has also experienced extreme childhood trauma (though arguably more extreme than Cyrus). I understand that this is the point of the story: in trying to help Evie, Cyrus himself learns also how to heal.

While poetic in theory, in practice, the book creates a false equivalency between Cyrus and Evie's experiences that really does a disservice to Evie's extremely recent and horrific abuse. Any clinical practitioner worth their salt would NEVER prioritize their personal relationship with a patient over the patients well-being, and would also take very great pains to avoid conflicts of interest such as being responsible for the care and treatment of a patient who then comes to live in your house! Especially when that patient is a very traumatized young woman!!! (BIG red flags here!)

As someone who works in a mental health-adjacent field, not only was I shocked at this representation of a psychologist, but it destroyed any possible credibility that the character of Cyrus had. I was more than a little disturbed that Evie's placement with Cyrus is presented to be basically her only option to leave in-patient ~~incarceration~~ treatment (the red flag alarm is deafening).

Of course, Evie living with Cyrus causes ~plot things~ to happen (some pretty silly things at that). Because the crimes committed against Evie are not the focus of the core mystery, I felt like her chapters read very sensationalist as a result. It leaves the sinking impression that Evie is more of a plot device for Cyrus's personal development, which is (in my view) the exacty opposite of what should be the priority.

I recognize that I am being pretty harsh with my criticism here. However, for a book about how the trauma that kids experience leaves them lost and often uncared for, I feel like the bare minimum isn't met here to even sort of handle this topic appropriately.

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rojo25's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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nadine7's review against another edition

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mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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rosann_a's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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sailortea_'s review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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snoonio's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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jasperoz's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I'm usually hesitant to read Michael Robotham's books when they aren't part of his Joe O'Loughlin series, however, I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I really liked the new main character Cyrus, and Robotham is very talented at writing very real characters, who have very real flaws and weaknesses, as well as strengths. The plot for this one was very interesting, and although somewhat predictable, the writing and the characters more than make up for it, to create a very well worth it read.

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betttyy8's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This is the first book in Robotham’s Cyrus Haven series, introducing us to Cyrus, a forensic psychologist with a traumatic history. In this first book, he works alongside the Nottingham police to investigate the murder of young ice skater Jodie Sheean. At the same time, Cyrus meets Evie Cormac, a troubled teenager with a mysterious past, and the story is split between their two perspectives as the investigation unfolds.

While this is certainly a very standard crime thriller, I did find this book compelling to listen to. The book switches between the perspectives of Cyrus and Evie and so there are, in essence, two mysteries unravelling throughout the story. I found that enjoyable and helped break up the fairly predictable case that is the central plot. I honestly found the politics of the police that threatened the investigation much more fascinating than the mystery itself.

Evie's story is much more interesting. Her narration has more depth than Cyrus's and I found her a much more compelling character. Her mystery was engaging enough that I will likely pick up the second book to keep unraveling her story.

There are some huge trigger warnings in this book and I would advise caution if you are sensitive to almost anything. These situations are also written with that slight clumsiness that betrays the fact that a man wrote them. Given it is a crime thriller I didn't judge this too harshly in and of itself but it's not careful and it's not nearly as clever as it thinks.

I would recommend this you're in the mood for a run of the mill crime thriller and if your tolerance for these is high.

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