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3.59 AVERAGE
3.59 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
This was a pretty straightforward thriller without a ton of crazy plot twists. I will say that the only negative part of this book was everything felt expected and there really wasn’t a shock factor which was slightly annoying. This of course could be totally different for someone else so it’s the worst thing a book has done.
The characters were surprisingly well rounded for a thriller. I appreciated their uniqueness as it helped add depth to the overall plot. Some of the writing felt basic which I felt neutral about. For thrillers I don’t expect a literary masterpiece, but I wish there was some indication of a higher vocabulary and overarching literary themes.
The characters were surprisingly well rounded for a thriller. I appreciated their uniqueness as it helped add depth to the overall plot. Some of the writing felt basic which I felt neutral about. For thrillers I don’t expect a literary masterpiece, but I wish there was some indication of a higher vocabulary and overarching literary themes.
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
I am impressed with Hazel. Despite the extreme time crunch that Madeline gives her in which to find the missing Mia, she works fast, finds leads and despite some scary threats from scarred men, keeps at it and with this fast reading thriller, solves the case in the nick of time. It does get pretty dark and there are a few dead bodies but is a good mystery thriller that flows well. Hazel is quite the interesting character and I think her private detective agency will go far, especially when Kenny is added to the team. I cannot wait to see what their next case will be and though I do not see the charm of living in the big city, I wish Hazel the best luck in finding a parking space and solving her next case and maybe finding a guy that is right for her (even if her parents don't approve).
mysterious
medium-paced
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
What a fantastic book! I couldn’t draw my eyes away! Eagerly awaiting The Red Letter
I started The Orphanage By The Lake with high hopes, because I love a good private eye mystery case! Hazel Cho, 30 year old private investigator from Manhattan, is hired by a mysterious WASPy woman from upstate whose goddaughter has gone missing from an all girls orphanage. Hazel has 8 days to do what 6 private detectives before her failed to do and find the missing Mia.
Yeah, so I got about half a page into this book and immediately hated the writing style. I should have known better, but I decided to power through! Sometimes books that aren't to my usual taste still end up being great, ya know?
...Not this one. It became painfully clear within a chapter or two that there is absolutely no way a grown woman wrote this. I looked, expecting this was a teen's writing, and instead found another perfectly good explanation: a middle aged man is the author. Don't get me wrong, I fully don't think that automatically is a bad thing! Writing outside of your own perspective is great... if it's done in a way that isn't painfully clear that it was written by someone with absolutely zero concept of the point of view of the person they write.
Everything Hazel does in this story is the antithesis of what an adult woman would do. She has no survival instincts at all. She's supposed to be a private detective, but she doesn't even have the natural fear of men that any woman over the age of like 20 has, nonetheless one that's intimately aware how dangerous bad men can be to a woman. She has a tazer that she never has her hands on except when it's not needed, she constantly follows strange men into solitary situations where nobody would know if something happened to her, and she isn't suspicious of any women even though she as a detective should know damn well that there's almost always a woman involved in trafficking little girls.
Every single detail ended up being predictable. I don't try to guess the endings, I hate guessing the endings, but this one telegraphed every single 'twist' along the way. The only reason I'm giving this a 2* instead of 1* is because it wasn't absolutely terrible. I think that a teen girl would probably really like this. It's not marketed to teens, but I think it would work well. This is not disparaging teen girls' reading habits, this is speaking as a former teen girl who knows I would have totally been fine with this book when I was about 14.
Yeah, so I got about half a page into this book and immediately hated the writing style. I should have known better, but I decided to power through! Sometimes books that aren't to my usual taste still end up being great, ya know?
...Not this one. It became painfully clear within a chapter or two that there is absolutely no way a grown woman wrote this. I looked, expecting this was a teen's writing, and instead found another perfectly good explanation: a middle aged man is the author. Don't get me wrong, I fully don't think that automatically is a bad thing! Writing outside of your own perspective is great... if it's done in a way that isn't painfully clear that it was written by someone with absolutely zero concept of the point of view of the person they write.
Everything Hazel does in this story is the antithesis of what an adult woman would do. She has no survival instincts at all. She's supposed to be a private detective, but she doesn't even have the natural fear of men that any woman over the age of like 20 has, nonetheless one that's intimately aware how dangerous bad men can be to a woman. She has a tazer that she never has her hands on except when it's not needed, she constantly follows strange men into solitary situations where nobody would know if something happened to her, and she isn't suspicious of any women even though she as a detective should know damn well that there's almost always a woman involved in trafficking little girls.
Every single detail ended up being predictable. I don't try to guess the endings, I hate guessing the endings, but this one telegraphed every single 'twist' along the way. The only reason I'm giving this a 2* instead of 1* is because it wasn't absolutely terrible. I think that a teen girl would probably really like this. It's not marketed to teens, but I think it would work well. This is not disparaging teen girls' reading habits, this is speaking as a former teen girl who knows I would have totally been fine with this book when I was about 14.
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes