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3.59 AVERAGE
3.59 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3.5 stars. This was an interesting read and different than the things I've read lately. The drawback was that parts in the middle seemed to drag a bit for me, but other than that it was a decent horror novel.
Wow
Very interesting intense thriller. I wasn't sure I liked the way the story jumped around at first but by the end I didn't notice. It kept my attention and managed to fit in some surprises along the way. The monastery was fascinating.
Very interesting intense thriller. I wasn't sure I liked the way the story jumped around at first but by the end I didn't notice. It kept my attention and managed to fit in some surprises along the way. The monastery was fascinating.
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a ride!
Right at the top, I want to say that I love this book. It definitely had a few problems here and there, which I will discuss, but overall it was one of the best thrillers I've read in awhile. And interestingly enough, I actually almost gave up on it about 1/3 of the way through. It reminded me of another book I read a couple years ago(The Marriage Pact by Michelle Richmond) and as a result of how I felt about that book I seriously considered DNFing this one, but I'm incredibly glad I didn't. Yes it had some similar elements that I'm not a fan of generally(namely plots revolving around massive secret organizations that are committing crimes all over the world and getting away with it), but it also gave me something that The Marriage Pact didn't: characters whose fates I actually cared about. I wanted to know what happened to the people in this book and felt invested and hopeful that some of them might be able to make it out alive.
The rest of my review will contain at least some spoilers, so I'm gonna put it in a tag. This will mostly consist of the things I didn't care for in the book. A lot of them are very nitpicky, which is why I'm still giving the book 5 stars.
First, there was at least one continuity error that I picked up on. At one point, Gray mentions that while he was high the first night after Evie left, he called all of her friends and then finally her mother. A few chapters later, he claims that he had only ever called her twice, when each of the girls had been born. Fairly small detail, but it was enough to momentarily take me out of the story to go back and check his previous chapters to see if I was mistaken.
Second, I'm willing to overlook some level of stupidity in characters in mystery/suspense/thriller/horror books because it comes with the territory and if all the protagonists were geniuses, they would be pretty boring. However, at one point the stupidity reached a level that I just could not abide. After they had discovered literal dead and tortured people in the basement of the monastery, why did all the contestants still assume that the mentors were good people? I actually thought at one point that Evie and Richard might have caught on to the fact that they were in on it, but that turned out to not be the case until they were essentially slapped in the face with it.
Lastly, and this is the only complaint I had that seriously made me consider knocking off a star, is that I cannot stand when authors use mental health terminology inaccurately. Psychopathy and sociopathy are not interchangeable. In some ways they are similar, but they are still separate afflictions. I know that different characters used different words to describe the "Saviours" but I would just prefer if authors could be a bit more mindful when it comes to using stigmatized terms. Also, one of the characters claimed that "psychopathy is not regarded as a mental illness" which means they're not insane. First of all, yes psychopathy is no longer an illness on its own, but it is a symptom of more than one. Also insanity =/= mentally ill. Insanity is a legal term, not a medical one.
The rest of my review will contain at least some spoilers, so I'm gonna put it in a tag. This will mostly consist of the things I didn't care for in the book. A lot of them are very nitpicky, which is why I'm still giving the book 5 stars.
Spoiler
First, there was at least one continuity error that I picked up on. At one point, Gray mentions that while he was high the first night after Evie left, he called all of her friends and then finally her mother. A few chapters later, he claims that he had only ever called her twice, when each of the girls had been born. Fairly small detail, but it was enough to momentarily take me out of the story to go back and check his previous chapters to see if I was mistaken.
Second, I'm willing to overlook some level of stupidity in characters in mystery/suspense/thriller/horror books because it comes with the territory and if all the protagonists were geniuses, they would be pretty boring. However, at one point the stupidity reached a level that I just could not abide. After they had discovered literal dead and tortured people in the basement of the monastery, why did all the contestants still assume that the mentors were good people? I actually thought at one point that Evie and Richard might have caught on to the fact that they were in on it, but that turned out to not be the case until they were essentially slapped in the face with it.
Lastly, and this is the only complaint I had that seriously made me consider knocking off a star, is that I cannot stand when authors use mental health terminology inaccurately. Psychopathy and sociopathy are not interchangeable. In some ways they are similar, but they are still separate afflictions. I know that different characters used different words to describe the "Saviours" but I would just prefer if authors could be a bit more mindful when it comes to using stigmatized terms. Also, one of the characters claimed that "psychopathy is not regarded as a mental illness" which means they're not insane. First of all, yes psychopathy is no longer an illness on its own, but it is a symptom of more than one. Also insanity =/= mentally ill. Insanity is a legal term, not a medical one.
Great Action and Suspense
I loved reading this book. It was so much fun in the way that Jack Reacher novels are fun, with exciting action, and tense suspense that made me not want to put it down. I signed up for Anni's newsletter so I won't miss out on her upcoming work, and I'm headed to Amazon now to get started on one of her two other novels!
I loved reading this book. It was so much fun in the way that Jack Reacher novels are fun, with exciting action, and tense suspense that made me not want to put it down. I signed up for Anni's newsletter so I won't miss out on her upcoming work, and I'm headed to Amazon now to get started on one of her two other novels!
This book was hard to rate. The dialogues sounded quite unnatural and the style was always the same although the story was told by four narrators. But the plot was just perfect. The whole idea, the background of the characters, the tension, the twists - it's one of those books that you just can't put down. I kept skimming the pages just to see what's going to happen and then coming back to thoroughly read everything. So, I just couldn't give less than five stars to such an exciting (and sometimes even spooky!) book. Absolutely recommended to everybody who enjoys a good creepy mystery
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
14% is all I could stand on this book. I can't get into it at all.
dark
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