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4.12 AVERAGE
4.12 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
This was certainly an interesting mystery as the story weaves around so many people in this small town. But the story in and of itself was quite sad. I struggled with some of the storyline in that it was just very difficult to read. However, the story itself was quite well written.
This book definitely felt like it was labouring at times in the lead up to its wild, page-turning climax.
I wouldn’t say I was a great fan of the author’s writing style. Though easy to read, it often felt like the author didn’t trust the intelligence of his audience. I get that there were many characters, but you don’t have to keep repeating the bios of your side characters—I remember them just fine from the first time.
The book failed to reward me for the time I spent reading it. Although the climax was riveting, it didn’t feel earned. Not enough of a case had been built throughout the book to warrant the waterfall of information Martha finally provided in the end. The murder case felt like a side plot. The police officers had ZERO evidence other than hunches as to how the murder went down, and Charlie was the only one with real leads, albeit with minimal payoff until the very end.
I wouldn’t say I was a great fan of the author’s writing style. Though easy to read, it often felt like the author didn’t trust the intelligence of his audience. I get that there were many characters, but you don’t have to keep repeating the bios of your side characters—I remember them just fine from the first time.
The book failed to reward me for the time I spent reading it. Although the climax was riveting, it didn’t feel earned. Not enough of a case had been built throughout the book to warrant the waterfall of information Martha finally provided in the end. The murder case felt like a side plot. The police officers had ZERO evidence other than hunches as to how the murder went down, and Charlie was the only one with real leads, albeit with minimal payoff until the very end.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, War
Minor: Suicide attempt
I tend to be critical of books that spend a lot of time describing the background of characters or the setting excessively but this book does it so well that I felt it was necessary. I wanted to really know everything about these characters, Angie Madison and Kyoko Bluestone in particular really grabbed at my heart. Krueger’s writing style is wonderful, he really caught my attention early on and had me gripped to the pages wondering what was going to happen. I am not a huge fan of happy endings, I like realistic, and this book ended on a heartbreaking but needed note. Highly recommend!
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Prompts reflection on small communities and the effects of prejudice and biases