Reviews

The Survivors by Jane Harper

andybee's review

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

davidb71's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.5

I thought this was brilliant. Right from the start I felt like I was in the hands of a skillful writer.  I thought the story, the setting, the cast of characters were all intriguing, and I was very impressed by how Jane Harper structured the book - the way the story unfolded, the way she chose to reveal information, I thought was beautifully balanced and well-judged. This is an intelligent crime mystery that respects and rewards the reader. 

*minor spoilers ahead*
One caveat I have is relating to the killer - specifically his second crime, which you could argue was really his first real crime, if you're giving him the benefit of the doubt about what happened 12 years earlier.  But even if you don't give him the benefit of the doubt about the earlier incident, the second crime is still a whole order of magnitude something different - it's straight up psychopathic.  My caveat is that the character didn't seem to be a psychopath, yet I didn't detect any changes in his behaviour to suggest he was struggling with his conscience in any way. But maybe those signs were there but they were just subtle and I missed them.  It bothers me when someone can commit such a heinous act yet then act like everything's normal.  A psychopath could do this, but a regular non-psychopathic person with a conscience? Surely he'd have been consumed by guilt and self-loathing?

And a second issue I have is really more about me than the book: I would have liked one more chapter.  The novel abruptly ends after we find out the truth of what happened to Gabby and Bronte. I would have liked to see the aftermath of these revelations.  I wanted to see what happened over the following day or two, as the news rippled through the community, how it affected different characters and the feeling in the community as a whole.   But I respect Jane Harper's decision to end the book where she did, and maybe, on reflection it is more powerful this way - leaving the aftermath to our own imaginations. It really is a testament to how vividly she wrote this community and these characters that I cared enough about them to want to read how the truth of the crimes would affect them all. 

Overall, a fabulous book. Intelligent, playful - at times I felt she was toying with the reader, in a very enjoyable way - and very satisfying. 

lyn_g's review

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

netflix_and_lil's review

Go to review page

3.0

My coworker insisted that I pick up a Jane Harper novel ASAP and The Survivors was the first I could find at my local library. I will say that I was hoping to read The Dry first since it's her earliest book but thats on a 6 month waitlist so... I'll work my way back. After all, the most recent book released should be the best, right? Right?

The Survivors follows Kieran Elliot as he returns to his hometown in Tasmania to assist him mother and ailing father with their impending move to the mainland. The homecoming is tainted by memories of an accident from his youth which killed two men, leaving Kieran riddled with guilt even as an adult.

And then there's the dead girl on the beach... it's an Australian contemporary, it's always got to have a dead girl in or near a body of water.

I loved the writing. Harper moulded the environment of Evelyn Bay in a way that felt familiar but eerie. The caves and the oceans were well on their way to becoming the villains of the hour, and the way she personified them created a palpable sense of dread in past and present. If you grew up on any Australian coastline, a fear of drowning has probably been drilled into you; Harper uses this familiarity to great effect.

I took issues with almost all the characters. The people we followed were dull in comparison to the setting. Kieran is an extremely passive protagonist, until the end which by that point felt like a betrayal of his observer character archetype. Despite what the blurb would try to convince you, he's not the catalyst for anything in the story; he's just a guy who was present for most of the plot beats by coincidence. The other men in the story felt underwritten and underdeveloped, mostly there to act as red herrings or memory capsules for Kieran. The women fared a little better - the nature of having a female author - but no one really stuck out to me. No one enraged me and no one endeared me; even the victims felt glossed over.

The story was pretty good, it kept me guessing and had a few good twists but I couldn't help but feel it was a little half-done. Maybe I'm a sucker for drama, but I felt like the book forewent a lot of potential stakes by doing things a little too naturalistically. What I crave in small-town murder mysteries is extremes; heightened paranoia, accusations, witchhunts, old wounds torn open and shady pasts dredged up from the depths... while I think this was attempted with the addition of the catty Neighbourhood Watch page, I felt it didn't go half as far as it could and it never spilled out into the real world. The commentary on toxic masculinity also felt crowbarred in to fit the final twist, with a dreaded 'tell don't show' approach to lad culture and insecurity. I didn't get the sense that things were toxic enough to roll over into climax, at least what was shown to us. Harper didn't have to go full 'The Guest List' on it, but it might have helped to lay it on a bit thicker.

The climax felt rushed to all hell, and the revelation of who/what/when/why felt... inconsequential? And again, Kieran being the one to put everything together after spending the whole book accidentally overhearing things and being sad felt off. Why didn't this story have Pendlebury as the POV character? Or Renn? Or even Olivia? They all had far more compelling backstories and I wondered why Kieran was choose to narrate when in any other book he would have been a sidelined red herring character like the rest of his dude-bro friends.

So three stars is what it gets; definitely not my favourite mystery/thriller of the year but a decent enough introduction to Jane Harper, at least from a writing perspective. I'm looking forward to reading more from her.

booksconnect's review

Go to review page

emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

jenniferw88's review

Go to review page

mysterious 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

4.75

rstump's review

Go to review page

Reading with husband, never got around to finishing

eyelit's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

lynnbettencourt's review

Go to review page

5.0

Book of the Month read: This book has stuck with me. The characters and the way we hold on to secrets in the past made for a powerful read.

lindseypeapod's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5