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beckyyreadss's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This is my book club’s choice for November. I had heard of Freida McFadden and have been wanting to read her books for the longest time and I think this is a sign to read more of her work.
This book is based on Brooke Sullivan, and she is the new nurse practitioner at a men’s maximum-security prison and there are three rules she must always follow: 1) Treat all prisoners with respect. 2) Never reveal any personal information 3) Never EVER become too friendly with the inmates. But none of the staff at the prison knows Brooke has already broken the rules. Nobody knows about her intimate connection to Shane Nelson, one of the penitentiary’s most notorious and dangerous inmates. And they certainly don’t know that Shane was Brooke’s high school sweetheart – the star quarterback who is now spending the rest of his life in prison for a series of grisly murders. Or that Brooke’s testimony was what put him there. But Shane knows. And he will never forget.
This was an easy read with the fact that I had a guess on who it was from the beginning, I'm going to put that down to the fact that I've read a lot of thrillers and mystery books from Christ Carter to Alice Feeney, so when I got a feel of the chapters I knew who it was. The only thing that had me shocked from the epilogue from Josh, I was ready to rate this book three stars and then the epilogue happened. I would have loved this book to have multiple POV from Shane, Tim and Josh because they were key characters throughout the book. Once the answers started falling into place, the book moved quite quickly along, and it didn’t take me that long to read.
Brooke was way too trusting, for a small town where everyone knew what happened and she was still getting crap for it, why on earth would you come back and then just let the guys from that night into your house and around your child? Again, she came back from New York, did she not think to ask around about the Nanny to see if she was not a creep? I just had so many questions? Did Shane break the inmate fingers? Who was beating him? Is this how he was being manipulative? Why was Tim worried about the police going down to his basement if he didn’t kill Kelli? We knew it was going to be one of the people from the night in the house, but I would have loved for it to be like someone’s ex-partner or family member or something that would have shocked me.
This was an easy read with the fact that I had a guess on who it was from the beginning, I'm going to put that down to the fact that I've read a lot of thrillers and mystery books from Christ Carter to Alice Feeney, so when I got a feel of the chapters I knew who it was. It was an entertaining read, but I wasn’t shocked or freaked out like I usually am with psychological thriller, but I will give Freida another chance to surprise me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Gun violence, Blood, and Death of parent
Minor: Sexual content, Car accident, and Abortion
j_pink23's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Physical abuse, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Medical content
zavia_v's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
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? It's complicated
3.0
3⭐️
I initially thought I guessed the twist very early on. The book earned points for proving me wrong and also being a pretty easy read. The protagonist was really annoying to read, though, and the actual twists seemed a little unrealistic and gimmicky. Especially the last one.
It's not a bad book, but I think 3 stars represents that it was very sub-par. I do want to give this author another chance though because I've heard good things.
I initially thought I guessed the twist very early on. The book earned points for proving me wrong and also being a pretty easy read. The protagonist was really annoying to read, though, and the actual twists seemed a little unrealistic and gimmicky. Especially the last one.
It's not a bad book, but I think 3 stars represents that it was very sub-par. I do want to give this author another chance though because I've heard good things.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Murder
joisaddler's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol
meg1241's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.5
Once again, Freida brings the twists and rollercoaster. Couldn't put this one down. Great book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
jadencove's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Gun violence, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, and Murder
sarahchampion's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Car accident, and Death of parent
Minor: Gun violence
alizee_'s review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I absolutely loved it, and she's slowly becoming one of my favorite authors. I love how her books are thrillers and tense and you feel like it's gonna end badly but the ending is always super satisfying and disturbing. This book gave me so many theories to think about and I was on the edge of my sit the entire time. Truly a gem
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Gaslighting
shania_siobhan's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Bullying and Death of parent
lilymaexx's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
5.0
such a good read, enjoyed this book so much. i love freida’s style of writing and i highly recommend this book. felt on edge the whole time
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence and Murder