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4.17 AVERAGE
4.17 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I thought the killer was obvious quite early on but also hoped that it wasn’t as he was good representation for the weird nice guys! Until he wasn’t…
I love the Will & Sara relationship stuff despite not being into romance - I also love Jeffrey and thought the confirmation of the other women was really sad. The two timelines running alongside each other was perfect and feel it closed Grant County perfectly - please no more Lena, she’s the worst
I love the Will & Sara relationship stuff despite not being into romance - I also love Jeffrey and thought the confirmation of the other women was really sad. The two timelines running alongside each other was perfect and feel it closed Grant County perfectly - please no more Lena, she’s the worst
Solid read. But I feel like I stepped into the middle of a conversation without knowing who is who, my fault read out of order. And all the sexual assault it's too much!!
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
I enjoyed this book. I give it 4 stars because I predicted the killer half way through. ( I won't spoil it for anyone).
You definitely need strong stomach to handle the graffic murder description in this book.
Please bare in mind if you go I to the book it has details or SA and rape if this is something you don't want to read about. Please don't read it.
Overall I enjoy it.
You definitely need strong stomach to handle the graffic murder description in this book.
Please bare in mind if you go I to the book it has details or SA and rape if this is something you don't want to read about. Please don't read it.
Overall I enjoy it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Domestic abuse
IF rape, domestic abuse affects you, please be careful reading this book
Such a great book! Loved hearing Jeffrey’s story from the past and reading Sara’s journey in the present. Couldn’t put this book down and loved all the twists and turns. Want to read again one day.
The Silent Wife, no. 10 in Karin Slaughter's Will Trent series, packs a punch. Its high-adrenaline, fast-paced plot can't really hide a couple of gaping plot holes and a whole lot of cops being unprofessional.
As much as I enjoyed reading this installment, there are a couple of things that put it lower on the list than some of Slaughter's previous novels (I much preferred 2019's The Last Widow). Here we get flashbacks to the past, so we see Sara's relationship with Jeffrey (they're estranged after he cheated) and Will side by side. After six Grant County books and ten Will Trent books, can I just say that being in a relationship with Sara Linton seems like a lot of hard work with little payoff? Sara's never been my favourite character but I don't mind her when she's in full corpse-cutting mode and she was downright badass in The Last Widow. It's when she starts whining about her relationship that I start rolling my eyes.
And then there's Lena. I know a lot of Slaughter's fan base hate her with a passion but I adore her. Yes, she's a mess. Yes, she screws up constantly. But for all her faults she's driven, smart and brave. She goes through so much that I find myself rooting for her. There's a scene in this book which has Lena being vicious, which, I guess, was added to make her look bad, but all I could think when I read it was HELL YEAH YOU TELL 'EM. Before talking to her Faith is all "I don't care if she's guilty but I'm going to nail her to the wall because she's mean to Sara" (because everyone in this book is an unprofessional jerk); afterwards, basically they just decide not to talk to Lena anymore because she's a big ol' meanie, or something, and she's never mentioned again. It makes NO sense.
And speaking of unprofessional - Jeffrey's always been a bit of a jerk, but with enough charm to keep everyone from noticing. Here, not so much. He's volatile, he breaks the rules, he cheats on his wife. He's a Monet of a character: looks good from a distance but up close, he's a mess. I also like that his solution to "hey, one of my staff keeps breaking the rules and not listening to what I say" is "better make her a detective. That'll show her." Meanwhile, Will keeps picking fights with another character because fragile masculinity, which is always a good way to solve crimes.l
All of that is down to personal preference but where the book really lost me is at how predictable it is, which isn't something I'm used to coming from this author. I had the culprit picked out pretty much at their first appearance. It's also overly gory and while I respect the way she tackles the subject of rape, just once I'd like to read a Slaughter book without sexual assault in it. Then there's the plot holes. The initial crime gets a big set-up but is never mentioned again. Lena's involvement is introduced with a lot of bombastic gasping but kind of peters out.
Does all of that matter? Honestly, I don't know. I enjoyed myself, finished the book in record time. It's the same volatile mix of adrenaline, familiar favourites and blood, guts and gore that we've come to expect. At the end of the day, I had fun reading it. It's just that there's a lot about this book that doesn't add up.
As much as I enjoyed reading this installment, there are a couple of things that put it lower on the list than some of Slaughter's previous novels (I much preferred 2019's The Last Widow). Here we get flashbacks to the past, so we see Sara's relationship with Jeffrey (they're estranged after he cheated) and Will side by side. After six Grant County books and ten Will Trent books, can I just say that being in a relationship with Sara Linton seems like a lot of hard work with little payoff? Sara's never been my favourite character but I don't mind her when she's in full corpse-cutting mode and she was downright badass in The Last Widow. It's when she starts whining about her relationship that I start rolling my eyes.
And then there's Lena. I know a lot of Slaughter's fan base hate her with a passion but I adore her. Yes, she's a mess. Yes, she screws up constantly. But for all her faults she's driven, smart and brave. She goes through so much that I find myself rooting for her. There's a scene in this book which has Lena being vicious, which, I guess, was added to make her look bad, but all I could think when I read it was HELL YEAH YOU TELL 'EM. Before talking to her Faith is all "I don't care if she's guilty but I'm going to nail her to the wall because she's mean to Sara" (because everyone in this book is an unprofessional jerk); afterwards, basically they just decide not to talk to Lena anymore because she's a big ol' meanie, or something, and she's never mentioned again. It makes NO sense.
And speaking of unprofessional - Jeffrey's always been a bit of a jerk, but with enough charm to keep everyone from noticing. Here, not so much. He's volatile, he breaks the rules, he cheats on his wife. He's a Monet of a character: looks good from a distance but up close, he's a mess. I also like that his solution to "hey, one of my staff keeps breaking the rules and not listening to what I say" is "better make her a detective. That'll show her." Meanwhile, Will keeps picking fights with another character because fragile masculinity, which is always a good way to solve crimes.l
All of that is down to personal preference but where the book really lost me is at how predictable it is, which isn't something I'm used to coming from this author. I had the culprit picked out pretty much at their first appearance. It's also overly gory and while I respect the way she tackles the subject of rape, just once I'd like to read a Slaughter book without sexual assault in it. Then there's the plot holes. The initial crime gets a big set-up but is never mentioned again. Lena's involvement is introduced with a lot of bombastic gasping but kind of peters out.
Does all of that matter? Honestly, I don't know. I enjoyed myself, finished the book in record time. It's the same volatile mix of adrenaline, familiar favourites and blood, guts and gore that we've come to expect. At the end of the day, I had fun reading it. It's just that there's a lot about this book that doesn't add up.
2,5*
I liked the crime bit in The Silent Wife, but I didn't like the rest much. And there's a lot of rest.
The romance felt utterly annoying, as two people having one problem that could be solved with basically one sentence each, and having than span out for days on end and so much page time, just had me roll my eyes. God damn it just speak to each other for one second, and don't silk like a toddler who expects the other side to read your mind.
The crime part contains horrendous tapes and sexual violence, and I thought it was written well enough. There's plenty of little clues and puzzle pieces, that you slowly put together. Having two time lines interwoven makes it a bit more complex, and I'm happy to say I did not guess who the actual murderer is, which is always a bonus point!
However the "fiction" part felt way more edgy in prose than the gruesome murders. There's a lot of who's fucking whom, and who enjoyed fucking around, and while there are no actual sex scenes in the book it gets mentioned all the time.
As does a lot of shot. How it smells, how it looks, what sort of bucket you're supposed to use to shit in if your loo breaks.
We get to know that when shopping in Walmart, the character also buys a big pack of batteries as her vibrator likes period sex.
I mean all of these are fine if they feel like a natural part of the story or add to it - but it just felt random and unnecessary (especially in the amount it's used) and I found it strange that the language in the non crime part of the book was worse than the gruesome crimes...
Add to that a lot of repetition, that just annoyed me. Yes, you said that already, I remember. I don't need a constant reminder to keep up with the different time lines.
All in all it was an ok book, but definitely far from a favourite.
I liked the crime bit in The Silent Wife, but I didn't like the rest much. And there's a lot of rest.
The romance felt utterly annoying, as two people having one problem that could be solved with basically one sentence each, and having than span out for days on end and so much page time, just had me roll my eyes. God damn it just speak to each other for one second, and don't silk like a toddler who expects the other side to read your mind.
The crime part contains horrendous tapes and sexual violence, and I thought it was written well enough. There's plenty of little clues and puzzle pieces, that you slowly put together. Having two time lines interwoven makes it a bit more complex, and I'm happy to say I did not guess who the actual murderer is, which is always a bonus point!
However the "fiction" part felt way more edgy in prose than the gruesome murders. There's a lot of who's fucking whom, and who enjoyed fucking around, and while there are no actual sex scenes in the book it gets mentioned all the time.
As does a lot of shot. How it smells, how it looks, what sort of bucket you're supposed to use to shit in if your loo breaks.
We get to know that when shopping in Walmart, the character also buys a big pack of batteries as her vibrator likes period sex.
I mean all of these are fine if they feel like a natural part of the story or add to it - but it just felt random and unnecessary (especially in the amount it's used) and I found it strange that the language in the non crime part of the book was worse than the gruesome crimes...
Add to that a lot of repetition, that just annoyed me. Yes, you said that already, I remember. I don't need a constant reminder to keep up with the different time lines.
All in all it was an ok book, but definitely far from a favourite.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3.5 stars. Some unnecessary plot pieces imo, but good mystery. Called it somewhere around the half way point, but kept me intrigued.