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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
this is my second Riley Sager and I loved it! I’m big into the small community gossip and secrets angle of the plot so that made it fun. The author definitely kept me guessing until the end!
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Making my way through Riley Sager’s catalogue and I haven’t been disappointed yet.
Ethan Marsh’s life was forever changed the day his bestfriend Billy disappeared from his tent, never to be seen again. This experience has followed him throughout his life impacting him in different ways. Down to the fact that he doesn’t want to have children himself, which causes tension between him and his wife Claudia. He consistently has this reoccurring dream about that night which makes him feel like maybe he knows more about that night than he initially thought. He’s in his forties now and still weighed down by incredible grief and guilt about that night. Now that Billy’s body has been discovered he’s more determined than ever to not only remember but find out what really happened to his bestfriend that night.
This book had no shortage of suspects 😭 I was looking at everyone crazy but the actual culprit caught me by surprise. What becomes clear as you make your way through this story is that almost everyone from that neighborhood has a secret. Something they feel guilty about the night Billy disappeared. It’s hard not to become a little more than frustrated as well because if everyone was more forthcoming during the initial investigation, this would’ve been resolved.
Although Ethan carried a lot of guilt on his own shoulders, I liked seeing him in his relentless pursuit to get justice for his friend. Facing his feelings about Billy and his wife Claudia was a huge hurdle for him. The only way to heal from trauma is to face it head on, which you see him eventually come to terms with.
Looking forward to my next Riley Sager book 🙂↔️
I have read all of Riley Sagers' books. This one just wasn't my favorite. I found that I was forcing myself to keep reading rather than getting lost in the story.
The writing at the very beginning didn't read as his best work. But I noticed that less as I continued. But I did listen to the audiobook, and the narration wasn't great. Any dialog between two characters was distracting. The narrator had two voices that were used throughout. One was their normal voice for the current POV character, then a raspy old-man smoker voice for the other character. It had me confused as to who the character was and their relationship to Ethan Marsh (main character).
The writing at the very beginning didn't read as his best work. But I noticed that less as I continued. But I did listen to the audiobook, and the narration wasn't great. Any dialog between two characters was distracting. The narrator had two voices that were used throughout. One was their normal voice for the current POV character, then a raspy old-man smoker voice for the other character. It had me confused as to who the character was and their relationship to Ethan Marsh (main character).
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Toxic friendship
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Dementia, Alcohol
Minor: Violence, Forced institutionalization