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3.45 AVERAGE
3.45 AVERAGE
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A little slow at first, I had put together one connection, but then she blew my mind with the ending. I couldn’t put it down at the end.
My Thoughts: The premise of Our House is what first drew me in. Can you imagine coming home from a trip and finding strangers moving into YOUR house? Terrifying! I had to know how this happened to Fiona Lawson and what she’d do about it. That story involved a crumbling marriage, an unconventional parenting plan, and a completely feckless husband. Said feckless man, Bram, nearly tanked Our House for me. Candlish’s story was completely dependent on Bram making one awful decision after another. The seventh grade boys I teach have more foresight and impulse control than Bram did. This quickly grew frustrating and was THE major flaw with Our House.
I really enjoyed the way Candlish chose to build suspense with the structure her latest book. Told mainly in first person by both Fiona and Bram, the story also slipped into third person for some parts. Fiona told her story via a Serial-like podcast called “The Victim” and Bram told his through a very long Word document that formed his suicide note. I liked the back and forth and seeing the view each character had of their lives. I knew from reading another review that the ending of Our House had a surprising twist and found myself revising my theory of what that would be over and over again. Had I not been awaiting this twist, I may have given up on Bram’s antics. So, in the end was the twist worth the 12+ hours of this audiobook? Yes, it was! (But I also think the book could have been a little more tightly edited.) Grade: B-
Narrators: Elizabeth Knowelden did a great job reading Fiona’s side of the story, but Eliot Hill fell a little short for me. It can be hard to separate a character you don’t like from its narrator and that is likely part of the problem here, however pace was another. I found Hill’s reading slow and listened to the last half of the book on 1.25 speed which was fast for Knowelden’s parts, leaving me a little unsatisfied with either speed.
Original Source: https://novelvisits.com/audiobook-mini-reviews-a-domestic-suspense-edition/
I really enjoyed the way Candlish chose to build suspense with the structure her latest book. Told mainly in first person by both Fiona and Bram, the story also slipped into third person for some parts. Fiona told her story via a Serial-like podcast called “The Victim” and Bram told his through a very long Word document that formed his suicide note. I liked the back and forth and seeing the view each character had of their lives. I knew from reading another review that the ending of Our House had a surprising twist and found myself revising my theory of what that would be over and over again. Had I not been awaiting this twist, I may have given up on Bram’s antics. So, in the end was the twist worth the 12+ hours of this audiobook? Yes, it was! (But I also think the book could have been a little more tightly edited.) Grade: B-
Narrators: Elizabeth Knowelden did a great job reading Fiona’s side of the story, but Eliot Hill fell a little short for me. It can be hard to separate a character you don’t like from its narrator and that is likely part of the problem here, however pace was another. I found Hill’s reading slow and listened to the last half of the book on 1.25 speed which was fast for Knowelden’s parts, leaving me a little unsatisfied with either speed.
Original Source: https://novelvisits.com/audiobook-mini-reviews-a-domestic-suspense-edition/
I'm not really sure what to say here without spoilers except that this is a kind of mystery that I feel satisfies the reasons I want to read mysteries.
Great set up - Fi returns to her home after a few days away to find another family moving in, having apparently bought it from Fi's husband. There's some nifty twists, a nice sting in the tail, and a whole lot of tension along the way as we know (or suspect) things the characters don't.
I just wasn’t caring about his story or how he got framed to do it all.
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Oof I don't know where to start with this one. I felt like it was too long. I get what the writer was going for but the storytelling was so drawn out.
For the ending... I had already pretty much guessed. I mean there were a few small surprises but very small in my opinion. I don't think this one will be very memorable other than the major plot which was too bad.
For the ending... I had already pretty much guessed. I mean there were a few small surprises but very small in my opinion. I don't think this one will be very memorable other than the major plot which was too bad.
Bram is blackmailed into depriving his wife and children of their home. The story moves relatively quickly and there's a lot which kept me going and guessing. I really enjoyed the couple of twists at the end.
There a twists and turns throughout, but nothing really gripping. When all was said and done it was actually a quite unbelievable story. All in all, this book was a quick read and despite the dissatisfying ending I can see this as a summer read for someone on vacation looking to relax.
Thanks to Netgalley and Berkley Publishing group for allowing me an egalley to read and give my honest review.
Read my full review on this and other books at www.booklovinalicia.blogspot.com
Thanks to Netgalley and Berkley Publishing group for allowing me an egalley to read and give my honest review.
Read my full review on this and other books at www.booklovinalicia.blogspot.com