Reviews with content warning for Murder - Meisje zonder verleden

I actually really liked this book. It's not that different from many other thrillers but the author build an interesting plot ( I didn't manage to guess the end for a change!) and the characters have depth.

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sarasbooks's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious medium-paced

4.5

A young girl is found hiding in a secret room after a terrible crime is discovered. She won't tell anyone what happened. She is filthy and shows signs of having suffered a lot. Nobody knows her name, who she is, where she came from.

Six years later, she still has no identity and lives in a secure children's home but is now called Evie.

Forensic psychologist Cyrus Haven, who is haunted by his own past, comes into her life when she demands to be released as an adult.

Meanwhile, Cyrus is investigating the murder of a high-school figure-skating champion, Jodie. One girl needs saving and another needs justice.

What a book! It's such an entertaining mystery with complex characters, that I cared about. As the story progressed, I kept trying to solve the mysteries and when the shocking truths were finally revealed I was still very surprised. I did not see the twists coming.

I also loved the psychological aspect of the novel. Cyrus' psychological reasoning of the suspect's behavior was very interesting. He pays attention to little details and that makes the reader want to notice those too.

Evie also has this incredible ability to tell if someone is telling the truth or lying, only by observing the person's body language.

Both make a great team, as they slowly get closer and help each other out.

I'm so excited to read the sequel, 'When she was good'!

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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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