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emperorcupcake's review
2.5
Oh man, I wanted to love this. It has one of my favourite kinds of plots, and look at this gorgeous cover!! And it was so close to being good, if only it hadn't tried to throw everything into the crockpot. It's like Fridge Clean Out Soup. This is how you end up with two week old celery in your soup. Random Chinese leftovers. And pickles, cause pickles are a vegetable, right?
I looove a "person returns to their small hometown and long buried secrets come out" story. So I was excited for this. And while I did enjoy the atmosphere and lived in feel of the small, upstate NY town, I could not keep track of all these characters and how they were related. And some of them had storylines that just went... nowhere? While the main mystery is solved, it felt like there were a lot of things left hanging that just didn't even need to be there. There was a whole reveal about the uncle that literally meant nothing and went nowhere. why???
And then there's the absolute chaos demon of a main character. This woman gets inexplicably horny whenever she's in the same room as a man. Which I mean fine, get it girl, but you're in town because your family was murdered and you just found out your sister might be alive. Right after the townie hunk she slept with* gets killed, she's making moves on the detective investigating her family's murder! Focus, here! She was so frustrating, like she seems to do all this random shit without any introspection at all. And yet she wasn't unhinged enough to be interesting. She was just... confusing.
*and by "slept with" I mean "grabbed him in the middle of an apple orchard and got down to business against a tree," bc this woman seriously has no impulse control.
There was some good stuff here, it just didn't come together for me.
I looove a "person returns to their small hometown and long buried secrets come out" story. So I was excited for this. And while I did enjoy the atmosphere and lived in feel of the small, upstate NY town, I could not keep track of all these characters and how they were related. And some of them had storylines that just went... nowhere? While the main mystery is solved, it felt like there were a lot of things left hanging that just didn't even need to be there. There was a whole reveal about the uncle that literally meant nothing and went nowhere. why???
And then there's the absolute chaos demon of a main character. This woman gets inexplicably horny whenever she's in the same room as a man. Which I mean fine, get it girl, but you're in town because your family was murdered and you just found out your sister might be alive. Right after the townie hunk she slept with* gets killed, she's making moves on the detective investigating her family's murder! Focus, here! She was so frustrating, like she seems to do all this random shit without any introspection at all. And yet she wasn't unhinged enough to be interesting. She was just... confusing.
*and by "slept with" I mean "grabbed him in the middle of an apple orchard and got down to business against a tree," bc this woman seriously has no impulse control.
There was some good stuff here, it just didn't come together for me.
bear_reads_books's review
5.0
So I'm browsing NetGalley when I see a title and cover that catches my eye. Then I see the author's name. Kara Thomas...the Kara Thomas? And she's written an adult novel?! To say I was thrilled is an understatement. Plus it was a read now title so I didn't have to request and hope, I could get my greedy paws on it now.. I obviously hyped this up for myself, Kara Thomas is one of my favorite YA authors. And I can honestly say she writes for adults just as well.
Now that I've established that I'm a fan of the author and had high expectations, let me tell you how I felt about Out of the Ashes. I thought it was well written, perfectly paced. Sam was a good protagonist, stopping at nothing to find out who really killed her family when she was a kid.
I will say it feels like there were a lot of characters in her sad hometown that I had to keep reminding myself who they were. Characters either related to her or just connected to her family but related to each other. So my brain struggled just a bit with that. But it did not take me out of the story, I blame my shoddy memory.
There are twists and turns galore, everyone Sam talks to is shady and has something to hide. You never know where it's going and kept on the edge of your seat. I was silently begging Sam to leave and continue having nothing to do with all these people. While also dying to know the truth as well. The reveal is shocking and the ending is quite satisfying.
I've kept my review vague in the hopes you'll go into it spoiler free and enjoy the ride knowing as little as possible. Out of the Ashes met my expectations and is a solid five star mystery novel. I do hope Kara Thomas continues to write for adults (while still writing YA of course!)
Thank you Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this e-ARC.
Review can also be found at A Good Mystery
Now that I've established that I'm a fan of the author and had high expectations, let me tell you how I felt about Out of the Ashes. I thought it was well written, perfectly paced. Sam was a good protagonist, stopping at nothing to find out who really killed her family when she was a kid.
I will say it feels like there were a lot of characters in her sad hometown that I had to keep reminding myself who they were. Characters either related to her or just connected to her family but related to each other. So my brain struggled just a bit with that. But it did not take me out of the story, I blame my shoddy memory.
There are twists and turns galore, everyone Sam talks to is shady and has something to hide. You never know where it's going and kept on the edge of your seat. I was silently begging Sam to leave and continue having nothing to do with all these people. While also dying to know the truth as well. The reveal is shocking and the ending is quite satisfying.
I've kept my review vague in the hopes you'll go into it spoiler free and enjoy the ride knowing as little as possible. Out of the Ashes met my expectations and is a solid five star mystery novel. I do hope Kara Thomas continues to write for adults (while still writing YA of course!)
Thank you Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this e-ARC.
Review can also be found at A Good Mystery
andrealage's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
mattgorski's review
Just didn't hit for me, and i had a lot other books to get to!
emily_hummel's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-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? Yes
2.5
with_hernosestuckinabook's review
5.0
I started this the day it came out and took just over a day to read it. I love the way this author writes. She gives us all the details and keeps us on the edge of our seat the whole time. I was looking for Lynsey on every page. Every single man in that town seemed like a suspect but man that plot twist was FIERCE. I never saw that coming. What a great book!