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xojackiedaniels's review
tense
fast-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
1.5
**no spoilers**
As a former true crime enthusiast, I was intrigued by the premise of this thriller. It reminded me of this unsolved case of a toddler abduction I heard about a while ago. I was kind of excited to figure this one out and get some closure (I hate cold cases lol).
The setup was meh, with very low stakes set at the beginning. Main characters aren't much different by the end of the book, which is deeply disappointing:
• the mother has no backbone and is either sobbing or in a trance-like state throughout the whole story.
• the father is so unintelligent and immature, it made me cringe outwardly.
Both make the stupidest decisions a character in a thriller could make.
As for the secondary characters,
• one is described as a tramp with no personality beyond having a sexy body and liking money. Her and the mother used to be genuine friends according to the author, yet it seems like there wasn't a single reason why they'd get along.
• the motives of the perpetrator are implied but we don't get to hear from them or see what led up to their decision of kidnapping the baby. It really felt like the author introduced way too many characters that all had better motives for the kidnapping than the actual criminal.
• there is also a character with Dissociative Identity Disorder that I thought would be a good representation of DID at first... boy, was I mistaken!
• questionable representation of how mental illness affects violence towards others in general... I am so over thriller authors using disorders as plot devices!!! >:(
The plot itself was scarce, diluted with constant unrelated tangents and head-hopping just to describe the same scene all over again.
And what on EARTH was that atrocious ending? I would say the book was perfectly wrapped up and salvaged BEFORE the last couple of pages happened.
⭐1.5 for the intrigue and the genuine potential that was not done any justice.
TWs: child abduction, ableism, intrusive thoughts typical to postpartum depression, semigraphic violence descriptions, a character being gaslit while in a vulnerable mental state, themes of infidelity.
As a former true crime enthusiast, I was intrigued by the premise of this thriller. It reminded me of this unsolved case of a toddler abduction I heard about a while ago. I was kind of excited to figure this one out and get some closure (I hate cold cases lol).
The setup was meh, with very low stakes set at the beginning. Main characters aren't much different by the end of the book, which is deeply disappointing:
• the mother has no backbone and is either sobbing or in a trance-like state throughout the whole story.
• the father is so unintelligent and immature, it made me cringe outwardly.
Both make the stupidest decisions a character in a thriller could make.
As for the secondary characters,
• one is described as a tramp with no personality beyond having a sexy body and liking money. Her and the mother used to be genuine friends according to the author, yet it seems like there wasn't a single reason why they'd get along.
• the motives of the perpetrator are implied but we don't get to hear from them or see what led up to their decision of kidnapping the baby. It really felt like the author introduced way too many characters that all had better motives for the kidnapping than the actual criminal.
• there is also a character with Dissociative Identity Disorder that I thought would be a good representation of DID at first... boy, was I mistaken!
• questionable representation of how mental illness affects violence towards others in general... I am so over thriller authors using disorders as plot devices!!! >:(
The plot itself was scarce, diluted with constant unrelated tangents and head-hopping just to describe the same scene all over again.
And what on EARTH was that atrocious ending? I would say the book was perfectly wrapped up and salvaged BEFORE the last couple of pages happened.
⭐1.5 for the intrigue and the genuine potential that was not done any justice.
TWs: child abduction, ableism, intrusive thoughts typical to postpartum depression, semigraphic violence descriptions, a character being gaslit while in a vulnerable mental state, themes of infidelity.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Dysphoria, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Ableism, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Dysphoria, Fatphobia, and Sexual assault
Minor: Death of parent
amndaj's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
3.5
It definitely was a fast and engaging read, but the characters are not very likeable and there was something about the writing style that irked me occasionally.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping and Grief
Moderate: Fatphobia, Gaslighting, and Mental illness
Minor: Vomit
leahsbooks's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
My first thought was that I was going to hate this audiobook, but I figured it deserved more than half a chapter. I'm glad that I didn't listen to that first thought, because it turned out to be much better than I initially expected.
It's the quintessential story of what lies beneath - the secrets that families hold. And it seems like the more money people have, the more secrets they have, and the more closely these secrets are guarded. So when Anne and Marco's baby is kidnapped while they are at a dinner party at their neighbor's house, these secrets are about to be unearthed.
It all seems pretty straightforward at first - find out who kidnapped baby Cora. But as Detective Rasbach investigates, it seems like everyone has secrets and no one wants to fess up to any of them. The only one that comes out right away is that Anne and Marco left their 6 month old baby at home alone while they went to the party; but they brought a baby monitor and checked on her every half hour.
None of the main characters were easy to like (outside of Detective Rasbach), although some are a little less deplorable than others. Just when I thought that I had things figured out, some new plot twist appeared and I wasn't ever really sure of anything until the end. It was fast moving and I couldn't stop listening, even as I started despising the vast majority of the characters. I especially didn't like how focused Anne was on her weight/body, not losing baby weight fast enough, and comparing her body to the body of her neighbor who hasn't had a child. If it was mentioned once, it wouldn't have been too bad, but it came up frequently and felt a bit fatphobic, especially since no one else mentioned it other than Anne herself.
I wasn't a huge fan of the narrator, and found that her voice didn't necessarily match with what I would have personally pictured Anne's voice to sound like. However, she did a great job with conveying Anne's thoughts and frantic emotions throughout the kidnapping. My other main issue was with the writing style. The author used "he/she says" so frequently that it often felt like that was the only term that was used during dialogue, and it quickly became incredibly repetitive. It began to become distracting with how often it was used.
It's the quintessential story of what lies beneath - the secrets that families hold. And it seems like the more money people have, the more secrets they have, and the more closely these secrets are guarded. So when Anne and Marco's baby is kidnapped while they are at a dinner party at their neighbor's house, these secrets are about to be unearthed.
It all seems pretty straightforward at first - find out who kidnapped baby Cora. But as Detective Rasbach investigates, it seems like everyone has secrets and no one wants to fess up to any of them. The only one that comes out right away is that Anne and Marco left their 6 month old baby at home alone while they went to the party; but they brought a baby monitor and checked on her every half hour.
None of the main characters were easy to like (outside of Detective Rasbach), although some are a little less deplorable than others. Just when I thought that I had things figured out, some new plot twist appeared and I wasn't ever really sure of anything until the end. It was fast moving and I couldn't stop listening, even as I started despising the vast majority of the characters. I especially didn't like how focused Anne was on her weight/body, not losing baby weight fast enough, and comparing her body to the body of her neighbor who hasn't had a child. If it was mentioned once, it wouldn't have been too bad, but it came up frequently and felt a bit fatphobic, especially since no one else mentioned it other than Anne herself.
I wasn't a huge fan of the narrator, and found that her voice didn't necessarily match with what I would have personally pictured Anne's voice to sound like. However, she did a great job with conveying Anne's thoughts and frantic emotions throughout the kidnapping. My other main issue was with the writing style. The author used "he/she says" so frequently that it often felt like that was the only term that was used during dialogue, and it quickly became incredibly repetitive. It began to become distracting with how often it was used.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Kidnapping, and Mental illness
Moderate: Fatphobia
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