Scan barcode
thatloreads's review against another edition
4.0
this was actually SO good! i was connected with the characters and the outcomes the whole time! sometimes i get lost when going back and forward in time but it was actually done really well here!
redvelvetpenguins's review against another edition
4.0
Honestly didn't think I'd read or enjoy about this God awful situation we're still living through but the author did it fantastically. You truly have no idea what's going on at any point in time but that's in a good way. The timeline can take a few chapters to get ahold of but it's not overly disorienting
karenschlesser's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicide, Death of parent, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, and Toxic friendship
sunshine_lorena's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Not quite what I was expecting from a lockdown thriller. This was an average thriller but the concept was a good idea. I found that the story only really got more intense and interesting in the last third. There was a lot of jumping around in the timeline which whilst needed for the story I think for the title chapters they should have included which character's POV it was as well as the time.
emcrebbs's review against another edition
adventurous
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
4.0
afterplague's review
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
I know a lot of people really want to pretend the pandemic didn't happen. A lot of people don't want to read about stories set during the pandemic because they use reading as an escape. I thought the premise of 56 Days was really interesting, though. Could lockdown be the cover-up for the perfect murder?
Unfortunately, I think this book suffers from its premise. There isn't a lot to DO during lockdown, so a lot of this book takes place in people's heads or through conversation. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but when I talk about this novel I can't really talk about what HAPPENS. I can only talk about what the reveals are. I think that's maybe the sign of a not great mystery.
The other thing that 56 Days suffers from is in relation to its title. Maybe this was just my expectation, but I was expecting to get a linear timeline of what exactly happened over those days. Instead, the story travels from the present to the past, then forward, then the present, then back to the beginning of the past, then forward, and etc. It creates a really difficult to follow timeline to the point that I was losing track of when certain events were taking place in relation to each other.
Spoiler time
Our two main characters are basically the focus of the story. Ciara is a shy, lonely girl new to Dublin and Oliver is a private guarded man, a little less new to Dublin. For a lot of the story, Ciara comes across as really anxious, almost to the extreme. I had to put the book down and say out loud, "There better be a reason for this level of anxiety because it's getting ridiculous." Thankfully, there was a reason, but it didn't stop the beginning of the book from being slightly frustrating. Oliver is a much more interesting mystery.
When he first sees Ciara, he thinks she's a journalist following him around, but we've already seen Ciara's point of view of their introduction. So, we as the audience think we know her intentions and that he's just being paranoid. That's clever, and I liked it.
As their relationship progresses, we find out in the present day timeline that Oliver is a famous child murderer, both in the sense he murdered a child and that he was a child when the murder occurred. Not only that, but he was with another boy. I think this is a pretty good twist, and immediately my thought was that Oliver killed a relative of Ciara.
As we progress, however, we find that the boy that was killed wasn't Ciara's brother, the other killer was. Oliver tells her what he did in his past without knowing this about her, and he paints himself as just going along with what the other boy was doing. Right after this, he discovers that she's not who she says she is. Then he slips and falls in the shower. Ciara goes to save him, telling him who she is, but Oliver admits that he switched the roles in the story. Oliver was the instigator and the aggressor, but because he lied he got a shorter prison sentence. Ciara decides to leave him in the tub, and turns on the faucet so he'll drown.
It's so weird to type it all out. This happens in the last eighty pages, maybe? I don't think the book needed to be as long as it was, or it needed something more exciting to fill that runtime. The twists were pretty good, but the story itself was pretty boring. The atmosphere was fine, the writing was fine. It was just a very okay book.
I would recommend 56 Days if you enjoy a slower, more psychological kind of thriller. Again, there are some good twists and turns, but the meat of the book is a little bit lacking. Maybe if you have a free afternoon.
Unfortunately, I think this book suffers from its premise. There isn't a lot to DO during lockdown, so a lot of this book takes place in people's heads or through conversation. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but when I talk about this novel I can't really talk about what HAPPENS. I can only talk about what the reveals are. I think that's maybe the sign of a not great mystery.
The other thing that 56 Days suffers from is in relation to its title. Maybe this was just my expectation, but I was expecting to get a linear timeline of what exactly happened over those days. Instead, the story travels from the present to the past, then forward, then the present, then back to the beginning of the past, then forward, and etc. It creates a really difficult to follow timeline to the point that I was losing track of when certain events were taking place in relation to each other.
Spoiler time
Our two main characters are basically the focus of the story. Ciara is a shy, lonely girl new to Dublin and Oliver is a private guarded man, a little less new to Dublin. For a lot of the story, Ciara comes across as really anxious, almost to the extreme. I had to put the book down and say out loud, "There better be a reason for this level of anxiety because it's getting ridiculous." Thankfully, there was a reason, but it didn't stop the beginning of the book from being slightly frustrating. Oliver is a much more interesting mystery.
When he first sees Ciara, he thinks she's a journalist following him around, but we've already seen Ciara's point of view of their introduction. So, we as the audience think we know her intentions and that he's just being paranoid. That's clever, and I liked it.
As their relationship progresses, we find out in the present day timeline that Oliver is a famous child murderer, both in the sense he murdered a child and that he was a child when the murder occurred. Not only that, but he was with another boy. I think this is a pretty good twist, and immediately my thought was that Oliver killed a relative of Ciara.
As we progress, however, we find that the boy that was killed wasn't Ciara's brother, the other killer was. Oliver tells her what he did in his past without knowing this about her, and he paints himself as just going along with what the other boy was doing. Right after this, he discovers that she's not who she says she is. Then he slips and falls in the shower. Ciara goes to save him, telling him who she is, but Oliver admits that he switched the roles in the story. Oliver was the instigator and the aggressor, but because he lied he got a shorter prison sentence. Ciara decides to leave him in the tub, and turns on the faucet so he'll drown.
It's so weird to type it all out. This happens in the last eighty pages, maybe? I don't think the book needed to be as long as it was, or it needed something more exciting to fill that runtime. The twists were pretty good, but the story itself was pretty boring. The atmosphere was fine, the writing was fine. It was just a very okay book.
I would recommend 56 Days if you enjoy a slower, more psychological kind of thriller. Again, there are some good twists and turns, but the meat of the book is a little bit lacking. Maybe if you have a free afternoon.
manderzreadz's review against another edition
4.0
Took a chance on this thriller, even though I was unsure how I felt about a book set during the COVID pandemic. Thankfully, this book surprised me. It was very interesting and COVID was not the forefront of the plot, just a way to set the scene for the events. Overall, a great book!
erinbrook's review against another edition
3.0
I really really wanted to love this book, but unfortunately it left me a little disappointed.
I was worried that it would get political, but thankfully it never sounded preachy. I thought this book was spot on in describing the beginning of the pandemic...at one point she even says something about being sick of hearing the word "unprecedented." That made me laugh, lol.
What i didn't like-- The time line. Holy cow, i hated the way it bounced around. I typically love multiple timelines, but this one didn't really make sense until the halfway point. I actually went back and read the first quarter in chronological order, which helped a little. It also made me realize how unnecessarily repetitive it was.
I also thought the detectives POV was unnecessary....specifically the chapter with the handcuffs (eyeroll.)
Overall, i thought it was a good book with a good plot twist. It was just the format that i couldn't get behind.
I was worried that it would get political, but thankfully it never sounded preachy. I thought this book was spot on in describing the beginning of the pandemic...at one point she even says something about being sick of hearing the word "unprecedented." That made me laugh, lol.
What i didn't like-- The time line. Holy cow, i hated the way it bounced around. I typically love multiple timelines, but this one didn't really make sense until the halfway point. I actually went back and read the first quarter in chronological order, which helped a little. It also made me realize how unnecessarily repetitive it was.
I also thought the detectives POV was unnecessary....specifically the chapter with the handcuffs (eyeroll.)
Overall, i thought it was a good book with a good plot twist. It was just the format that i couldn't get behind.