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aseel_reads's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Whelp, did not see the final twist at the end, but I did see some of the earlier ones. It got a little confusing, trying to keep all the different bits of evidence together and make the story coherent. It was a pretty cool premise though
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity, Death, Murder, Blood, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child abuse and Child death
catriona176's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I feel like I’m in the minority in that I was fully engaged for most of the plot, but then the ending completely lost me. There’s suspension of belief and then there’s that.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, and Alcohol
Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
drybay's review against another edition
dark
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
3.5
I was hooked! By the end, the book was going towards a dissapointing ending but then it had me pleasantly surprised.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Murder, Death, Forced institutionalization, Child death, Confinement, and Suicide
Moderate: Death of parent, Torture, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Mental illness
Minor: Addiction, Drug use, Misogyny, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Bullying
tigerkind's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Started off a bit weak, picked up pace in the middle and crashed and dragged somewhere before the end. A good read, but a tad convoluted for my taste.
The MC seems to be a self insert for the author – I don’t see any other reason why everyone (including himself) keeps going on about how handsome he is.
A big part of the narrative depends on the use of gender-neutral pronouns and assumptions about gender roles.As soon as Harriet refers to her partner by „they“, things were pretty clear and all the puzzle pieces fell into place as the narrative went on.
It’s a bit silly to expect the reader to be led astray by gendered assumptions in a book where all the leading figures are women.
(Ben is the MC but to call him leading would be a stretch)
The MC seems to be a self insert for the author – I don’t see any other reason why everyone (including himself) keeps going on about how handsome he is.
A big part of the narrative depends on the use of gender-neutral pronouns and assumptions about gender roles.
It’s a bit silly to expect the reader to be led astray by gendered assumptions in a book where all the leading figures are women.
(Ben is the MC but to call him leading would be a stretch)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Animal death, Medical content, Body horror, Gaslighting, Murder, Suicide, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Alcohol, Infidelity, Alcoholism, Drug use, and Torture
Minor: Bullying, Classism, and Misogyny
carolinefran's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Death of parent, Mental illness, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Stalking, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Alcohol, Blood, Animal death, Child death, Death, Infidelity, Grief, and Forced institutionalization
Minor: Pregnancy and Drug use
aileron's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Murder, Animal death, Blood, Death, and Suicide
Moderate: Confinement and Stalking
Minor: Alcoholism and Death of parent
daniallreads's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Doesn't this book synopsis sound fudging BOMB!?
A woman paralyzed into sleep for four years after found with the knife that killed her two best friends? Are we kidding, detective Dani said N E E D!
Thank you Libro.fm for the early listener copy of Anna.O!
Unfortunately, I was a little disappointed. Bro, the idea is *chef's kiss*... The execution, meh. Too many books are trying too hard to do the Colleen Hoover "Verity" and Alex Michaelides "Silent Patient" thing. I am already bored with it but don't get me wrong I was INVESTED in this story. How can you not be? This woman has been asleep for four years! Tell me everything!!!
I really loved the epistolary format. I was at the edge of my seat every single time we got to a section where a little bit more of Anna O was revealed to us from her journal entries. I thought that was a really creative way to introduce a past point of view without really disrupting the flow of the mystery. It really added to the story for me.
My biggest problem with this book isn't even that it was trying to mimic something that's already been done but I got 65% of the way through and I was so bored. *insert Judge Judy taping her watch gif here* It just started to drag. I needed the reveal 100 pages sooner. Part four...could have been an email. Truly, the main character might have repeated the same line about 75 times in that section. I get it that it shows his hysteria and mental breakdown but jeezum lets get to the juicy reveals!!!
I will say I did not guess the killer...so Matthew Blake did get me there. Detective Dani is off her game and she needs to WAKE UP!
Pros: The entire story idea is RAD! As soon as I saw someone post this book on Instagram, I knew I had to read it. The epistolary format with Anna O's journal entries adds to the story. The chapters are super short which L O V E! I think the complexity of the mystery makes reading this very entertaining.
Cons: It dragged toward the end of the book. It became repetitive and boring. It's unfortunate because the reveal is kind of shocking.
Now...the audiobook *sigh* The narrator for Ben was so monotone. His pacing was slow w w w w w w *insert me napping here* Seriously he did not do this story justice. I constantly was turning the speed up to 2x. It was honestly refreshing when the female narrators finally took over so I could get a break from how robotic Ben's character was portrayed but did it represent his personality and profession well...maybe but he could have given the thing more feeling. I want the narrator to make my heart race when I am taking in a mystery not bore me to sleep. Sorry not sorry.
😴 For fans of "The Silent Patient"
🔪 Story Based Around a Peculiar Crime
📁 Multiple POV
🌲 Short Chapters
😴 Calling Out to my True Crime Junkies
🔪 Epistolary
📁 Slow Burn & Complex
A woman paralyzed into sleep for four years after found with the knife that killed her two best friends? Are we kidding, detective Dani said N E E D!
Thank you Libro.fm for the early listener copy of Anna.O!
Unfortunately, I was a little disappointed. Bro, the idea is *chef's kiss*... The execution, meh. Too many books are trying too hard to do the Colleen Hoover "Verity" and Alex Michaelides "Silent Patient" thing. I am already bored with it but don't get me wrong I was INVESTED in this story. How can you not be? This woman has been asleep for four years! Tell me everything!!!
I really loved the epistolary format. I was at the edge of my seat every single time we got to a section where a little bit more of Anna O was revealed to us from her journal entries. I thought that was a really creative way to introduce a past point of view without really disrupting the flow of the mystery. It really added to the story for me.
My biggest problem with this book isn't even that it was trying to mimic something that's already been done but I got 65% of the way through and I was so bored. *insert Judge Judy taping her watch gif here* It just started to drag. I needed the reveal 100 pages sooner. Part four...could have been an email. Truly, the main character might have repeated the same line about 75 times in that section. I get it that it shows his hysteria and mental breakdown but jeezum lets get to the juicy reveals!!!
I will say I did not guess the killer...so Matthew Blake did get me there. Detective Dani is off her game and she needs to WAKE UP!
Pros: The entire story idea is RAD! As soon as I saw someone post this book on Instagram, I knew I had to read it. The epistolary format with Anna O's journal entries adds to the story. The chapters are super short which L O V E! I think the complexity of the mystery makes reading this very entertaining.
Cons: It dragged toward the end of the book. It became repetitive and boring. It's unfortunate because the reveal is kind of shocking.
Now...the audiobook *sigh* The narrator for Ben was so monotone. His pacing was slow w w w w w w *insert me napping here* Seriously he did not do this story justice. I constantly was turning the speed up to 2x. It was honestly refreshing when the female narrators finally took over so I could get a break from how robotic Ben's character was portrayed but did it represent his personality and profession well...maybe but he could have given the thing more feeling. I want the narrator to make my heart race when I am taking in a mystery not bore me to sleep. Sorry not sorry.
😴 For fans of "The Silent Patient"
🔪 Story Based Around a Peculiar Crime
📁 Multiple POV
🌲 Short Chapters
😴 Calling Out to my True Crime Junkies
🔪 Epistolary
📁 Slow Burn & Complex
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Blood
Moderate: Suicide, Sexual content, and Stalking
coffeekitaab's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
After reading multiple books at the same time, I dedicated yesterday to finishing the second half of this book in one sitting and on reflection, still not sure how I feel about this. Some aspects are brilliantly written, the premise grips you from the blurb/first page and a gradual build up of the case/story has you on edge, the writing in certain parts is brilliant - I love how Blake references true crime in the UK (infamous cases which add to the mystery) Shakespeare within the story, even comparing the Greek God's of Death and Sleep (who are brothers) such a fine line and honestly pure genius. Special mention to that moment where Emily meets Anna after she finally opens her eyes and the nostalgia that ensues with Emily remembering how Anna was as a baby, the eyes being the part of the body that do not change, so even if 4 years have lapsed, that remains the same and all the moments shared over the years *chef's kiss*.
The cons: The punchline hit and missed me, to be honest. That moment where everything unravels and the reader is brought in on the twist... I was so ready for that moment but I guess I was waiting a while so when it eventually happened, the writing left me confused. I was expecting more from the second half in terms of exploration and investigation of the crime, as a reader alot of points where you expect follow through were missed eg the file Ben picks up from Bloom's office was not even looked at until I think 80% of the way through. There was more repetition in the second half which was unnecessary and the words could have been used to boost the storyline which didn't happen. I have told all my friends about the story (because it is brilliant) and yet as the book went on, as a thriller, it failed to deliver for me. I will look out for more from Matthew Blake because I did enjoy this in parts and he is a welcome voice to this genre, I can imagine the next one will be brilliant and there is massive potential based on the idea alone. Thank you @netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest unedited review.
The cons: The punchline hit and missed me, to be honest. That moment where everything unravels and the reader is brought in on the twist... I was so ready for that moment but I guess I was waiting a while so when it eventually happened, the writing left me confused. I was expecting more from the second half in terms of exploration and investigation of the crime, as a reader alot of points where you expect follow through were missed eg the file Ben picks up from Bloom's office was not even looked at until I think 80% of the way through. There was more repetition in the second half which was unnecessary and the words could have been used to boost the storyline which didn't happen. I have told all my friends about the story (because it is brilliant) and yet as the book went on, as a thriller, it failed to deliver for me. I will look out for more from Matthew Blake because I did enjoy this in parts and he is a welcome voice to this genre, I can imagine the next one will be brilliant and there is massive potential based on the idea alone. Thank you @netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest unedited review.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Blood, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Death, Suicide, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
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