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geraldine's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Was originally going to rate this a 3.5 but after thinking about it in the car AND half writing this review I think a 3 is more fair.
i did genuinely like a lot of it! i thought all the different character perspectives worked really well, even the "we" perspective. i thought all the characters and their reactions felt very real, especially constance, hers was the most harrowing and affecting to me. the voice of the book just really worked for me and i was engaged the whole time
however,
look. i said all the characters and reactions felt real, and i did mean that. and with that said i hated sarah. she was well written and felt like a real person i could meet! and i hated her. her and her cop buddy manipulating their suspects in order to arrest them, getting mad when people wouldn't talk to them without lawyers or without a warrant, misrepresenting the confidence of DNA evidence... really gross stuff.
i mean, to an extent i do think you're supposed to recognize that they're flawed individuals just like the rest of the cast, like... it's not like constance is perfect and the book knows that and expects you to realize that as well. but with sarah... she talks about how her exes (or women she expressed interest in that didn't go farther!) all hated that she was a cop and how her ex tried to get her to pull away from it, and she just dug in further and viewed it as an intrinsic part of herself.
plus the whole segment with her and amira's breakup and domestic violence... you can't remove this from the statistics that cops are much more likely than the general population to abuse their spouses/partners. when sarah was thinking "what if she tells my superiors" this was all i could think about! and it IS domestic violence even if it isn't in the same way that lewis's father terrorizes his family.
i also felt comparing sarah hurting amira with shel's drunk driving and esther's subsequent death rang false and left a bad taste in my mouth. i get the message of "sometimes tragic accidents happen when you make an emotional mistake" and how this can change the course of your life, but comparing "sarah getting mad that amira doesn't like that she's a cop, and then shoving her into a nightstand and hurting her" and "shel being triggered by seeing someone involved in her horrific trauma, a friend calling her a liar about it, drinking and then accidentally killing someone with her car" are apples and oranges. sarah wanted to shove amira out of anger. shel didn't want to kill a child. like yes i don't think sarah wanted amira to hit the nightstand and actually get physically hurt, but she did consciously choose to put her hands on her?? i mean i suppose you could make an argument about drunk driving, about it being always dangerous (and you would be right), but it's not a pointed, directed choice against a single person. i'm not even really arguing about either circumstance being in the book but the book directly calling a comparison between them feels so nasty to me.
thestorygraph only note: i do wish i had a better book club so we could actually discuss a book like this. i think there's a lot to discuss!!
the three stars really are for everything else not in my spoiler section. i really genuinely liked the rest, the story, the writing style, the characters...!
i did genuinely like a lot of it! i thought all the different character perspectives worked really well, even the "we" perspective. i thought all the characters and their reactions felt very real, especially constance, hers was the most harrowing and affecting to me. the voice of the book just really worked for me and i was engaged the whole time
however,
look. i said all the characters and reactions felt real, and i did mean that. and with that said i hated sarah. she was well written and felt like a real person i could meet! and i hated her. her and her cop buddy manipulating their suspects in order to arrest them, getting mad when people wouldn't talk to them without lawyers or without a warrant, misrepresenting the confidence of DNA evidence... really gross stuff.
i mean, to an extent i do think you're supposed to recognize that they're flawed individuals just like the rest of the cast, like... it's not like constance is perfect and the book knows that and expects you to realize that as well. but with sarah... she talks about how her exes (or women she expressed interest in that didn't go farther!) all hated that she was a cop and how her ex tried to get her to pull away from it, and she just dug in further and viewed it as an intrinsic part of herself.
plus the whole segment with her and amira's breakup and domestic violence... you can't remove this from the statistics that cops are much more likely than the general population to abuse their spouses/partners. when sarah was thinking "what if she tells my superiors" this was all i could think about! and it IS domestic violence even if it isn't in the same way that lewis's father terrorizes his family.
i also felt comparing sarah hurting amira with shel's drunk driving and esther's subsequent death rang false and left a bad taste in my mouth. i get the message of "sometimes tragic accidents happen when you make an emotional mistake" and how this can change the course of your life, but comparing "sarah getting mad that amira doesn't like that she's a cop, and then shoving her into a nightstand and hurting her" and "shel being triggered by seeing someone involved in her horrific trauma, a friend calling her a liar about it, drinking and then accidentally killing someone with her car" are apples and oranges. sarah wanted to shove amira out of anger. shel didn't want to kill a child. like yes i don't think sarah wanted amira to hit the nightstand and actually get physically hurt, but she did consciously choose to put her hands on her?? i mean i suppose you could make an argument about drunk driving, about it being always dangerous (and you would be right), but it's not a pointed, directed choice against a single person. i'm not even really arguing about either circumstance being in the book but the book directly calling a comparison between them feels so nasty to me.
thestorygraph only note: i do wish i had a better book club so we could actually discuss a book like this. i think there's a lot to discuss!!
the three stars really are for everything else not in my spoiler section. i really genuinely liked the rest, the story, the writing style, the characters...!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Car accident, Child death, Sexual assault, Rape, and Domestic abuse
samsearle's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse
Moderate: Physical abuse, Car accident, Homophobia, Rape, and Child death
prittypeaches's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
This is a bleak book... if you are here on Storygraph you know, but this is one that you should check the triggers for.
Written like a near-history historical fiction (set in early 2000s small town Australia), it's a very dark thriller - like Southern Noir only it's Outback Noir. It's great if you like to be reminded of Dunkaroos and Nokia 3310s while you read your thriller novel.
This book was long and a bit slow in setting out. I didn't know going in how I'd deal with a child missing/dead but it was hard work. I'm glad I read it but I'm not sure I can recommend it unless people want to read dark and bleak. There are many crimes in this book that keep the bleakness coming throughout, is isn't ONLY a book about a missing girl case.
Written like a near-history historical fiction (set in early 2000s small town Australia), it's a very dark thriller - like Southern Noir only it's Outback Noir. It's great if you like to be reminded of Dunkaroos and Nokia 3310s while you read your thriller novel.
This book was long and a bit slow in setting out. I didn't know going in how I'd deal with a child missing/dead but it was hard work. I'm glad I read it but I'm not sure I can recommend it unless people want to read dark and bleak. There are many crimes in this book that keep the bleakness coming throughout, is isn't ONLY a book about a missing girl case.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, and Animal cruelty
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Car accident, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Murder, Misogyny, Homophobia, and Bullying
Minor: Animal death and Alcoholism
madluck's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Car accident, Medical content, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Grief, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Death, Child death, and Bullying
Moderate: Rape
serendipitysbooks's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Dirt Creek is set in a small Australian town and is centred around the disappearance of twelve year old Esther who never makes it home from school one day. It unfolds via multiple points of view including a couple of her friends, her mother, a detective sergeant in charge of the investigation, and a Greek chorus representing the local children. I found this to be a propulsive read with the twists and foreshadowing at the end of chapters enticing me to continue reading, even though I already knew Esther’s fate, since it was revealed in the first chapter. The fact that many local secrets were revealed over the course of the investigation kept my interest high as well. The small town vibe felt very realistic. Socially it reflected my experiences growing up in a small town, and physically I felt transported to rural Australia with the heat, dust and wide empty roads. Not all authors get children right but I felt the depiction of Ronnie and Lewis, their reactions and understanding were spot on. Like Lewis I have an intellectually disabled sibling and that aspect of the book was handled sensitively, yet still felt fully authentic. This was not a faced paced, tense, dramatic, gore-ridden mystery/thriller that will get your heart racing. It was slower paced, focussed very much on character and community and I liked it all the more for that.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Car accident, and Child death
Moderate: Homophobia and Rape
shutupiamreading's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-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? No
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Child death, and Car accident
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Addiction, Homophobia, and Drug abuse
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