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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Very dark, and doesn’t really resolve all the questions. Narrator is somewhat cringey. But the writing is great and I didn’t guess the ending.
slow-paced
i don't think i have ever been more disappointed in a book than this one here. I normally do not read first-person books, and this is exactly why. They are hard to write, and a cop-out. Sure, there are well-written first person books, but this is not one of them.
There are many ways to write a first-person perspective, and this is not it.
There are many ways to write a deeply flawed main character with unresolved trauma, and this is not it.
There are many ways to write a compelling and interesting murder mystery, and this is not it.
There are many ways to write an interesting and charismatic partner, whom romantic feelings form for, and this is not it.
Do you see a running theme here?
This book has so much potential. SO. MUCH. There were so many times during my reading of this book that I was rooting for Rob and rooting for Cassie, but ultimately it blew up in my face. Yes, I know that Rob is dealing with unresolved trauma, but he is the biggest fucking asshole i have ever had to read about. He uses Cassie as an emotional punching bag for all of his problems and is constantly sabotaging himself and he *knowingly* admits to doing so. There are moments of self-awareness that make me think he's going to change, but no... that doesn't happen. Of course it doesn't happen. I wouldn't be rating this a single star and writing a novel review out of anger if it did happen.
And the author creating Cassie to just be the punching bag of Rob's emotional, and verbal at time, abuse is sickening. I thought she was going to be a "Not like other Girls" character, which is annoying in it own right, but she had to put up with so much shit that it wasn't even necessary.
AND TO END UP WITH SAM?!
SAM?!?!
THAT WAS COMPLETELY OUT OF LEFT FIELD. The little bits at the last 40pages that even hinted at the romance were bullshit. And Rob getting pissed off at Sam for caring about Cassie when he had no room to talk after the way he treated her, after she came to him like a goddamn fucking adult, after they kissed/hooked up (this was very unclear).
I care more about a character that was introduced half-way through the book more than the two main characters.
and fucking ROSALIND. Of course she did it, but got away with it. Her motive was bullshit, and her obsession and manipulation of Rob, and her unnecessary anger towards Cassie, were stupid. She goes and does this to her family, and the detectives, but is just treated like nothing just pisses me off. Some type of temptress that Rob is lusting over and wants to fuck and destroyed his good friendship Cassie over was a bullshit move.
The author wants us to feel bad for Rob. To feel bad that he was left all alone by everyone, but I have no ounce of sympathy for him. Everything he did he deserved. He can wallow in his sadness for all i care. he only cared about himself until the very end and wanted to get some ounce of sympathy.
"I am intensely aware, by the way, that this story does not show me in a particularly flattering light. I am aware that, within an impressively short time of meeting me, Rosalind had me coming to heel like a well-trained dog: running up and down stairs to bring her coffee, nodding along while she bitched about my partner, imagining like some starstruck teenager that she was a kindred soul. But before you decide to despise me too thoroughly, consider this: she fooled you, too. You had as good a chance as I did. I told you everything I saw, as I saw it at the time. And if that was in itself deceptive, remember, I told you that, too: I warned you, right from the beginning, that I lie."
This pissed me off the most. Saying that Rosalind fooled us, the readers, when I didn't trust the girl from the beginning as there was obviously something fishy going on with her. The narrator is the one who is supposed to tell us the story, and i'm sorry that the author must have gotten confused as to how she was ending ass she wrote it and was trying to do damage control in the last 40 pages. One mystery is solved, great. But what about the mystery of Rob and his friends? That was THE central part of the first 3/4 of the book?? No conclusion to that??
Maybe Rob's mystery gets solved in the later books, but I won't be picking up the sequel any time soon... if at all.
I do not recommend this book. There is nothing satisfying about the ending and the only thing you'll be left with is anger stewing inside of you.
There are many ways to write a first-person perspective, and this is not it.
There are many ways to write a deeply flawed main character with unresolved trauma, and this is not it.
There are many ways to write a compelling and interesting murder mystery, and this is not it.
There are many ways to write an interesting and charismatic partner, whom romantic feelings form for, and this is not it.
Do you see a running theme here?
This book has so much potential. SO. MUCH. There were so many times during my reading of this book that I was rooting for Rob and rooting for Cassie, but ultimately it blew up in my face. Yes, I know that Rob is dealing with unresolved trauma, but he is the biggest fucking asshole i have ever had to read about. He uses Cassie as an emotional punching bag for all of his problems and is constantly sabotaging himself and he *knowingly* admits to doing so. There are moments of self-awareness that make me think he's going to change, but no... that doesn't happen. Of course it doesn't happen. I wouldn't be rating this a single star and writing a novel review out of anger if it did happen.
And the author creating Cassie to just be the punching bag of Rob's emotional, and verbal at time, abuse is sickening. I thought she was going to be a "Not like other Girls" character, which is annoying in it own right, but she had to put up with so much shit that it wasn't even necessary.
AND TO END UP WITH SAM?!
SAM?!?!
THAT WAS COMPLETELY OUT OF LEFT FIELD. The little bits at the last 40pages that even hinted at the romance were bullshit. And Rob getting pissed off at Sam for caring about Cassie when he had no room to talk after the way he treated her, after she came to him like a goddamn fucking adult, after they kissed/hooked up (this was very unclear).
I care more about a character that was introduced half-way through the book more than the two main characters.
and fucking ROSALIND. Of course she did it, but got away with it. Her motive was bullshit, and her obsession and manipulation of Rob, and her unnecessary anger towards Cassie, were stupid. She goes and does this to her family, and the detectives, but is just treated like nothing just pisses me off. Some type of temptress that Rob is lusting over and wants to fuck and destroyed his good friendship Cassie over was a bullshit move.
The author wants us to feel bad for Rob. To feel bad that he was left all alone by everyone, but I have no ounce of sympathy for him. Everything he did he deserved. He can wallow in his sadness for all i care. he only cared about himself until the very end and wanted to get some ounce of sympathy.
"I am intensely aware, by the way, that this story does not show me in a particularly flattering light. I am aware that, within an impressively short time of meeting me, Rosalind had me coming to heel like a well-trained dog: running up and down stairs to bring her coffee, nodding along while she bitched about my partner, imagining like some starstruck teenager that she was a kindred soul. But before you decide to despise me too thoroughly, consider this: she fooled you, too. You had as good a chance as I did. I told you everything I saw, as I saw it at the time. And if that was in itself deceptive, remember, I told you that, too: I warned you, right from the beginning, that I lie."
This pissed me off the most. Saying that Rosalind fooled us, the readers, when I didn't trust the girl from the beginning as there was obviously something fishy going on with her. The narrator is the one who is supposed to tell us the story, and i'm sorry that the author must have gotten confused as to how she was ending ass she wrote it and was trying to do damage control in the last 40 pages. One mystery is solved, great. But what about the mystery of Rob and his friends? That was THE central part of the first 3/4 of the book?? No conclusion to that??
Maybe Rob's mystery gets solved in the later books, but I won't be picking up the sequel any time soon... if at all.
I do not recommend this book. There is nothing satisfying about the ending and the only thing you'll be left with is anger stewing inside of you.
Left it at home and emigrated to a different country
I enjoyed this immensely and will be reading the rest of the series!
i very much enjoyed this one (and not just because it included a badass detective named cassie) - solid murder mystery for the summertime.
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Rape, Kidnapping, Murder
A beautifully written and riveting mystery that appealed strongly to my tastes. Psychologically complex. Empathetic. Slow-burn. Tana French puts full trust in her readers, which I appreciate very much. The fact that Rob Ryan is not the most likable of protagonists was actually a plus for me. Watching his personal spiral and the unfortunate consequences of his decisions was one of the best parts of this book, as was the way that French so deftly traced the ways in which his biases impacted the investigation.
I loved Cassie (I'm glad she is the star of the next book) and I loved everything involved in the actual investigation. I love reading suspect/witness interviews and putting clues together and I think that was all handled very well. The conclusion was strong, in my opinion. I liked how the whole book delved into everyday psychopaths and how they aren't bogeymen or movie monsters, but very real, very disturbed individuals. I also liked how so much of this book was colored by perspective. Reading about this exact same investigation from anyone's POV other than Rob's would have been a different experience. Even the fact that he dismisses Sam as third-wheeling him and Cassie, when in fact that doesn't seem to have been the case at all.
The fact that we never find out what happened to Peter and Jamie is a pretty famously hated aspect of this book and I thought it would bother me more than it did. It felt honest to me, and the right decision for French to make. Rob/Adam will never really know, and he makes the point more than once in the book that the not knowing is worse than anything.
I loved Cassie (I'm glad she is the star of the next book) and I loved everything involved in the actual investigation. I love reading suspect/witness interviews and putting clues together and I think that was all handled very well. The conclusion was strong, in my opinion. I liked how the whole book delved into everyday psychopaths and how they aren't bogeymen or movie monsters, but very real, very disturbed individuals. I also liked how so much of this book was colored by perspective. Reading about this exact same investigation from anyone's POV other than Rob's would have been a different experience. Even the fact that he dismisses Sam as third-wheeling him and Cassie, when in fact that doesn't seem to have been the case at all.
The fact that we never find out what happened to Peter and Jamie is a pretty famously hated aspect of this book and I thought it would bother me more than it did. It felt honest to me, and the right decision for French to make. Rob/Adam will never really know, and he makes the point more than once in the book that the not knowing is worse than anything.