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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
I’m not sure how to rate this one. Firstly, I love the anthropology angle and the female lead. The lonely English coastal setting, the interesting supporting cast. I really enjoyed the first half of the book and loved Ruth as the main character. Then right at the 60% mark there’s this huge shift between two characters that completely derailed things for me—WHYYYY!? It was completely out of character for both of them and absolutely unnecessary for plot development. Then we got back to the mystery and kind of swept that event under the rug (thank you) but in the last couple paragraphs of the book there’s another revelation that I think is completely unwarranted! For some reason this is threatening to spoil the series for me but there was enough material that I loved to keep me reading…maybe Griffiths has a reason for shoehorning this in…
I’ll have to keep reading to find out!
I’ll have to keep reading to find out!
I didn't think I was going to like this at first. The writing style is in the present tense, which I found a little jarring. I also didn't really like the way the protagonist went on about how fat she was. But the story was really good, and it definitely grew on me. I'll probably read at least one more to see if the series is worth while.
I'd give it 2 1/2 stars. I thought I'd like this novel much more than I did. It's not terrible and it has some good features. However, I find it a bit disappointing overall being slow and never really seem to get going.
I'm a latecomer to this series and I look forward to continuing, but, to be perfectly honest, I thought this first mystery was a little overdone and predictable. Still, I like Ruth as a strong, intelligent, fallible character.
medium-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
I enjoyed parts of this - the mystery was interesting and there were parts that gripped me as the main characters were solving said mystery. Also I love the sort of dark, wintry English setting (though I am perhaps a bit biased since I love the UK).
However, I had one major issue with this book that made it hard to really love it: how many times we hear about Ruth being overweight, and how often it’s viewed as a negative thing. I’m all for a plus size female protagonist, but it was frustrating how often it referenced her weight, and how often it was as her being resigned to it, or comparing herself to other people, and saying none of the men in her life looked at her romantically because she wasn’t skinny and beautiful, or even one particular character who is surprised about being attracted to her. As a plus size woman I get the anxiety around weight and comparing yourself to others, but it really bothered me how this was framed overall and it wasn’t ever really resolved.
However, I had one major issue with this book that made it hard to really love it: how many times we hear about Ruth being overweight, and how often it’s viewed as a negative thing. I’m all for a plus size female protagonist, but it was frustrating how often it referenced her weight, and how often it was as her being resigned to it, or comparing herself to other people, and saying none of the men in her life looked at her romantically because she wasn’t skinny and beautiful, or even one particular character who is surprised about being attracted to her. As a plus size woman I get the anxiety around weight and comparing yourself to others, but it really bothered me how this was framed overall and it wasn’t ever really resolved.
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Total: 3.5⭐
-1 ⭐ Annoying midlife crisis drama/obsession with body type and comparisons
-0.5 ⭐ The perspective shifts didn't work for me
Despite Ruth being annoying, I thought the writing was good and the mystery was entertaining. The best part of this book is the setting - this desolate place of beauty is a character onto itself.
-1 ⭐ Annoying midlife crisis drama/obsession with body type and comparisons
-0.5 ⭐ The perspective shifts didn't work for me
Despite Ruth being annoying, I thought the writing was good and the mystery was entertaining. The best part of this book is the setting - this desolate place of beauty is a character onto itself.
This is, in the main, a book about people who don't go to parties.
I myself do not go to parties. At the last party I went to I had a panic attack and abandoned my husband to fend for himself while I drove home, changed into my pj's, and lay down with a good book. This behavior, btw, is code to the dogs for "Swarm!" which they helpfully did.
Sometimes people do still invite me to parties, so I inevitably have to decline on the grounds that one of the dogs is sick. The dogs are not sick, of course, but I will be making the "Look sick! Like bleh!" sign at them in the background.
Pickles the TBI Pug can be reliably counted on to look sick because his sick look looks a lot like *worried* or *gassy*, which are his default expressions.
("No, not like that!" I hiss. "That's too Pooped on the Floor. Think Pre-Raphaelite! Think fainting couch! Fainting couch!")
And so I make my excuse and we all try to look sad about not going to parties and then I lie back down with a good book. The dogs swarm. Someone farts. Life is magnificent.
Ruth loves living at the end of the universe, at the edge of a salt marsh. She has cats, books, archeology and comfy trousers. Nelson loves being a dogged policeman and rushing about shouting at people while solving cases that take a very long time to solve. They are both very good at living their lives, despite all the people around them who take umbrage at the way they live. They're both grand at ignoring those people and getting on with living. The coast of Norfolk is also very good at what it does, which is be bleak and desolate and dangerous, and it too ignores people and gets on with this. Wonderfully, the author captures all these strands together and ties in the ends.
We lost a star-plus here for the ending, however, which is the typical mishmash of every last person in Norfolk running around trying to rescue Ruth instead of getting on with the washing up. Honestly, there's only so many people that can do rescuing, and if that's been nowhere in a character's line for the entire book, having them dart about yelling Ruth's name and running towards the ocean, unlike avoiding parties, makes no sense.
(tw:)
I myself do not go to parties. At the last party I went to I had a panic attack and abandoned my husband to fend for himself while I drove home, changed into my pj's, and lay down with a good book. This behavior, btw, is code to the dogs for "Swarm!" which they helpfully did.
Sometimes people do still invite me to parties, so I inevitably have to decline on the grounds that one of the dogs is sick. The dogs are not sick, of course, but I will be making the "Look sick! Like bleh!" sign at them in the background.
Pickles the TBI Pug can be reliably counted on to look sick because his sick look looks a lot like *worried* or *gassy*, which are his default expressions.
("No, not like that!" I hiss. "That's too Pooped on the Floor. Think Pre-Raphaelite! Think fainting couch! Fainting couch!")
And so I make my excuse and we all try to look sad about not going to parties and then I lie back down with a good book. The dogs swarm. Someone farts. Life is magnificent.
Ruth loves living at the end of the universe, at the edge of a salt marsh. She has cats, books, archeology and comfy trousers. Nelson loves being a dogged policeman and rushing about shouting at people while solving cases that take a very long time to solve. They are both very good at living their lives, despite all the people around them who take umbrage at the way they live. They're both grand at ignoring those people and getting on with living. The coast of Norfolk is also very good at what it does, which is be bleak and desolate and dangerous, and it too ignores people and gets on with this. Wonderfully, the author captures all these strands together and ties in the ends.
We lost a star-plus here for the ending, however, which is the typical mishmash of every last person in Norfolk running around trying to rescue Ruth instead of getting on with the washing up. Honestly, there's only so many people that can do rescuing, and if that's been nowhere in a character's line for the entire book, having them dart about yelling Ruth's name and running towards the ocean, unlike avoiding parties, makes no sense.
(tw:
Spoiler
animal death
This is firmly a 3.5, but I would feel bad rounding it down to a 3. I think the story is a little predictable, but a good one all the same, and the characters are interesting and distinct. I sympathise a lot with the main characters and think they're fairly realistic. An enjoyable read all around, and I think I'll be reading this series over the coming months.
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book was kinda hard for me to get through - hence it taking longer than other books. It picked up a lot at the end which I was grateful for, but most of it was very slow paced.
The main character was constantly talking about her weight which annoyed me and took me out of the main plot, and there was a lot of religious talk which for me did the same.
The main character was constantly talking about her weight which annoyed me and took me out of the main plot, and there was a lot of religious talk which for me did the same.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder