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3.04 AVERAGE
3.04 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
mysterious
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:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I really wanted to love this, but it just didn't work for me...
Full Review with more detail on my blog
I liked the premise of it, where a woman is heartbroken after her engagement falls apart and moves in with another couple and the three eventually become intertwined romantically. Add to that a former partner of the couple who is missing, and it was a good set up. I also liked that it got moving quickly (we didn't spend a long time on set up).
Unfortunately, that also meant that we were missing most of the relevant back story to make the ending work for the reader. As written, we are really blindsided by an entirely different set of facts about the time leading up to the events of the novel. The main character Kelly is so unlikable, but not in an intentional way. I think we are supposed to root for her but I didn't. I found her self-absorbed, naive, not very intuitive to what is going on, and selfish. She also became weirdly sex-obsessed which is fine but we dwelled on that too long.
I also didn't think the COVID lockdown worked as the technique it was intended to, since the events of the novel went on for a long time and it was set in the US. Those of us here know that most cities lifted the worst restrictions on and off during this time and people weren't completely isolated (particularly people like this who were healthy and had no preexisting conditions). Kelly absolutely could have left to stay elsewhere. I think a better tactic would have just been to lean into Nathan's job and security concerns. The COVID message at the end drove me bonkers. This might be a me-thing, but I'm just not at a place where I'm ready to dive into the worst of how people felt during the pandemic, nor have a happy "isn't it great the lockdown ended and we are free and life is good" when the pandemic took the lives of so many and ruined the lives of countless more.
Anyways... I loved her first book! I don't think this one was for me.
Full Review with more detail on my blog
I liked the premise of it, where a woman is heartbroken after her engagement falls apart and moves in with another couple and the three eventually become intertwined romantically. Add to that a former partner of the couple who is missing, and it was a good set up. I also liked that it got moving quickly (we didn't spend a long time on set up).
Unfortunately, that also meant that we were missing most of the relevant back story to make the ending work for the reader. As written, we are really blindsided by an entirely different set of facts about the time leading up to the events of the novel. The main character Kelly is so unlikable, but not in an intentional way. I think we are supposed to root for her but I didn't. I found her self-absorbed, naive, not very intuitive to what is going on, and selfish. She also became weirdly sex-obsessed which is fine but we dwelled on that too long.
I also didn't think the COVID lockdown worked as the technique it was intended to, since the events of the novel went on for a long time and it was set in the US. Those of us here know that most cities lifted the worst restrictions on and off during this time and people weren't completely isolated (particularly people like this who were healthy and had no preexisting conditions). Kelly absolutely could have left to stay elsewhere. I think a better tactic would have just been to lean into Nathan's job and security concerns. The COVID message at the end drove me bonkers. This might be a me-thing, but I'm just not at a place where I'm ready to dive into the worst of how people felt during the pandemic, nor have a happy "isn't it great the lockdown ended and we are free and life is good" when the pandemic took the lives of so many and ruined the lives of countless more.
Anyways... I loved her first book! I don't think this one was for me.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
These people are messed up. Their lifestyle is not my cup of tea, and that's the author's intent.
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
dark
emotional
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:
Complicated
Kelly takes some time away from her partner Mike when he says the need to take a step back. She moves in with her classmate Sabrina and husband Nathan. Feelings start developing and eventually there’s a murder.
This book was a verrrry slow burn. It’s not that I completely hated it, but nothing really happened until the very end. The main character Kelly was quite annoying. Constantly questioning and second guessing everything. I get that it was supposed to throw suspicion on everyone, but it didn’t necessarily feel that way to me. Overall, it was a super quick read, but not one I’d pick up again.
This book was a verrrry slow burn. It’s not that I completely hated it, but nothing really happened until the very end. The main character Kelly was quite annoying. Constantly questioning and second guessing everything. I get that it was supposed to throw suspicion on everyone, but it didn’t necessarily feel that way to me. Overall, it was a super quick read, but not one I’d pick up again.
I haven't read Bartz' previous novels but heard good things about them, which is why I was excited to read her newest novel. The blurb sounded very interesting, too. In the end, I think this book mostly fell flat for me because I was expecting something else.
While this is marketed as a thriller, it only really becomes in the last few chapters, basically. More than that it's an exploration of our protagonists needs, relationships, sexuality. Which is all good and well, and the author herself tells us how important and personal of a subject that is for her. I adore stories that focus the often forgotten fact that exploration of oneself, of one's sexuality, does not stop after your teenage years. It's an important conversation to have, it just didn't really work for me in this book. The polyamorous relationship at the center of it never felt organic and at times problematic, though the characters do acknowledge that themselves. While there was sexual chemistry, I didn't feel any romance blossoming there. And then there's the mystery of the missing woman that was the couple's lover just before our protagonist, Kelly, starts her relationship with them. There is very little actually going on with that mystery, and Kelly acts completely moronic most of the time, actively ignoring reveals that would make any person with a brain just leave. Instead, she just shares her discoveries with the clearly lying couple over and over again and lets them tell her whatever they want in order to make her stay. Suspension of disbelief to the max..
When this finally does turn into a thriller, I didn't really care about the big mystery, or this story as a whole, that much anymore. The twists and turns and reveals are okay and exciting enough, though I didn't like the final twist and the solution after the reveal.
So in conclusion, this book is too long and barely a thriller, and because I didn't care about the protagonist I wasn't invested in her personal journey nor her fate. 2,5 stars, rounding up to 3.
Many thanks to Random House and Netgalley for the arc!
While this is marketed as a thriller, it only really becomes in the last few chapters, basically. More than that it's an exploration of our protagonists needs, relationships, sexuality. Which is all good and well, and the author herself tells us how important and personal of a subject that is for her. I adore stories that focus the often forgotten fact that exploration of oneself, of one's sexuality, does not stop after your teenage years. It's an important conversation to have, it just didn't really work for me in this book. The polyamorous relationship at the center of it never felt organic and at times problematic, though the characters do acknowledge that themselves. While there was sexual chemistry, I didn't feel any romance blossoming there. And then there's the mystery of the missing woman that was the couple's lover just before our protagonist, Kelly, starts her relationship with them. There is very little actually going on with that mystery, and Kelly acts completely moronic most of the time, actively ignoring reveals that would make any person with a brain just leave. Instead, she just shares her discoveries with the clearly lying couple over and over again and lets them tell her whatever they want in order to make her stay. Suspension of disbelief to the max..
When this finally does turn into a thriller, I didn't really care about the big mystery, or this story as a whole, that much anymore. The twists and turns and reveals are okay and exciting enough, though I didn't like the final twist and the solution after the reveal.
So in conclusion, this book is too long and barely a thriller, and because I didn't care about the protagonist I wasn't invested in her personal journey nor her fate. 2,5 stars, rounding up to 3.
Many thanks to Random House and Netgalley for the arc!