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beckyyreadss's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I wanted to read this book as I was gifted the second book which is Rachel’s Holiday and the sixth book which is Again, Rachel by Michael Joseph Penguin Publishing. So, me being me, had to read the whole series. I went and brought this book after reading the first four book in the series and I need to stop doing this. Besides the Rachel’s Holiday, this series has been a long struggle with no reward.
This book is based on the youngest Walsh sister, Helen. She doesn’t believe in fear – it's just a thing invented by men to get all the money and good job – yet she’s sinking. Her work as a Private Investigator has dried up, her flat has been repossessed and now some old demons have resurfaced. Not least in the form of her charming but dodgy ex-boyfriend Jay Parker, who shows up with a missing persons case. Money is tight – so tight that Helen’s had to move back in with her parents – and Jay is awash with cash. The missing person is Wanye Diffney, the ‘wacky one’ from the boyband Laddz. He’s vanished from his house in Mercy Close and it’s vital that he’s found – Laddz have a sell-out comeback gig in five days’ time. Things have ended messily with Jay and she’s never going back there. Besides she has a new boyfriend now, the very sexy detective Artie Devlin and it’s all going well, even though his ex-wife isn’t quite ‘ex’ enough for Helen’s liking and his teenage son hates her. But the reappearance of Jay is stirring up all kinds of stuff she thought she’d left behind.
As always with this series, I will start with what I liked. Wayne’s mystery. I wanted to know where he was and how he couldn’t have been found and who was lying. He was the only reason, I needed to know if this dude was dead or not. As much as I hated that we didn’t find out what happened to Wayne until the second to last chapter and then had a massive epilogue where he is happy, I understand why she did, because if we found out what happened to Wayne by chapter thirty, I would have DNF’d it after that.
I really don’t like how big the book was especially when nothing happened. Half of the time was Helen sleeping in Wayne’s house and debating what to do. I understand that this book’s focus was supposed to be about Helen’s journey with her mental health and the fact that we were teetering on her suicidal thoughts, but I just felt like it fell flat. I’ve read several books on mental health and suicidal thoughts, and I get that journey is different, but by this point all of her sisters have struggled with mental health and they all knew this because they all end up helping each other during their own books but for some bizarre reason, Helen was being dramatic for wanting to go to the mental hospital or as the famous and very annoying Mammy Walsh says “the crazy house”. The other members of the band didn’t care about Wayne, they just wanted to get paid and the fact that he had that much of a breakdown to check himself into the mental hospital.
This book and series drove me nuts, I'm glad it’s over. This makes me nervous to started another series where I thought the first book was strong because this is the second time where I've enjoyed the first book in the series and the rest of them was poor (The Rosie Project, I am looking at you.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Mental illness
Moderate: Self harm, Transphobia, and Suicide
Minor: Animal cruelty, Cursing, Eating disorder, and Fatphobia
glencoco's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Islamophobia and Transphobia
Minor: Animal cruelty, Fatphobia, and Eating disorder
_sarah_key's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Alcohol, Cancer, Cursing, Eating disorder, and Pregnancy
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