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3.53 AVERAGE
3.53 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Maybe it was just the edition I read, but there were a lot of rather distracting errors missed in proofreading (incorrect names, sentences with words omitted or phrases doubled, etc). A couple chapters toward the end felt like conversations/situations were being repeated. Overall though it was still a decent read, and I felt like I wanted to know how it was going to wrap up for the characters.
Content Warnings
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Rape, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Death of parent
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I actually really enjoyed this book despite how much it repeats itself thru to the end.
Penny has been without a true sense of identity for most of her life, but a surprise discovery leads her to a renewed search for her parents.
Billed as a standalone, this book is almost two stories in one. On the one hand, we have a quite beautiful tale of Penny who is desperately seeking her family. And on the other, we have Tess McClintock, a journalist, and Michael Carter, recently of the FBI, who are wrapping up their investigations into serial killers and human trafficking rings. In the beginning, when I was reading about Penny, I was completely involved in the story but then we hit the McClintock-Carter portion and, for me, the wheels came off. I would have thought that since it was a) a standalone and b) the first of a series that I would not have to play catch up as I often do when starting a series in the middle. This was not the case. As a spinoff from a previous series, there was so much backstory that my head spun. I double-checked to make sure I was reading Book Number One (and I was!), but I was still at sea (pardon the unintentional pun) because of the incredible amount of history I was missing.
The spin-off confusion was just the first in my litany of complaints. Since a good percentage of the story was told via phone texts that needlessly repeated information. Additionally, the resolution to the story was telegraphed far too early in the story so I had a pretty good idea where we were going but it took oh so long to get there. Finally, the setting was not used to its advantage. I am biased: I live in this beautiful part of the world and I would have loved to see it shine.
The opening chapters to this book had me drop something else I was reading. It was engrossing. Alas, the remaining two-thirds were mildly disappointing. As I'm a sucker for anything set in the Pacific Northwest, I'll read the next in the series...but cautiously...
Billed as a standalone, this book is almost two stories in one. On the one hand, we have a quite beautiful tale of Penny who is desperately seeking her family. And on the other, we have Tess McClintock, a journalist, and Michael Carter, recently of the FBI, who are wrapping up their investigations into serial killers and human trafficking rings. In the beginning, when I was reading about Penny, I was completely involved in the story but then we hit the McClintock-Carter portion and, for me, the wheels came off. I would have thought that since it was a) a standalone and b) the first of a series that I would not have to play catch up as I often do when starting a series in the middle. This was not the case. As a spinoff from a previous series, there was so much backstory that my head spun. I double-checked to make sure I was reading Book Number One (and I was!), but I was still at sea (pardon the unintentional pun) because of the incredible amount of history I was missing.
The spin-off confusion was just the first in my litany of complaints. Since a good percentage of the story was told via phone texts that needlessly repeated information.
Spoiler
I heard about that darn foot waaaay too many times.The opening chapters to this book had me drop something else I was reading. It was engrossing. Alas, the remaining two-thirds were mildly disappointing. As I'm a sucker for anything set in the Pacific Northwest, I'll read the next in the series...but cautiously...