Reviews

The Night of the Storm by Nishita Parekh

sassybooks's review

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

4.0

jessiemurphy's review

dark mysterious tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

kindlebabe's review

4.0

Book : The Night Of The Storm
Author : Nishita Parekh
Pub Date : 16 Jan 2024

Thank you NetGalley, Penguin Group Dutton & the author for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Do you enjoy:
- Murder Mystery
- Locked Room Concept
- 3rd Person POV

This was a great summer thriller. I didn’t realize how much I would enjoy the murder mystery locked room aspect of this book. It gave some heart pumping page turning excitement! A great debut

moonlitchapters's review against another edition

3.0

Thank you to netgalley and dutton group (penguin) for sending me an arc of this book for an exchange of my honest review

rating: 2.5/5 stars

While I was drawn in by the cover and synopsis, the book just wasn't for me. I struggled through a huge chunk of it. It was more of family drama than actual thriller and some of the characters were just incredibly difficult to connect with. The end was good, though it took a lot for me to get there. I'd give this author a second chance because the writing style is good, the story just was not my cup of tea.

cassiebartelme's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Locked door mystery set against a hurricane. Throw in cultural and familial obligations to mix it up. Not the best thriller I’ve ever read but it was enjoyable enough

xliterati's review

2.5

Predictable but still a fun ride 

musingsbynitika's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

Not my cup of tea. I hate giving bad reviews, I truly do. Maybe my hopes were too high for a thriller about an Indian migrant family by an Indian author. Maybe I've read too many brilliant thrillers to be thrilled or satisfied by this poorly-executed one. Maybe I need to learn how to commit to DNF books. If a slow burn thriller is your thing, then maybe you'll love it? 

I put this down way too many times for a thriller. I was really rooting for it to get better, or have a big satisfying twist.  But sadly, I was disappointed. I didn't connect with the characters and despised the poor parenting. The ending makes no sense to anyone with TV-level knowledge of the legal system, and I'm a lawyer so... 

And I just can't forgive 2 things: 
1. Minimising / forgiving paedophilia???

the MC'S ex husband literally preyed on the teenage girl who she was a second mother to and then towards the end, she was thanking him and saying he can still be a good father even if he's not a good husband??? Sorry??

2. Some of the bizarre and upsetting South Asian representation like calling dosa "rice crepe" without using the correct word AT ALL or correct ingredients (it's not just rice) or explaining anything correctly  about one of my favourite foods.  

P.S. I'm Indian 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Bullying

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Vomit, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, and Pedophilia

manderzreadz's review

2.0

First off, thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Group Dutton for granting me early access to this book in exchange for an honest review.
The Night of the Storm feels like a discounted version of a locked room, whodunit mystery with familial tension. While the bones are good (ideal atmosphere, several characters with motives), the execution fell short. You never connect to the characters and the overall flow is bad changing between timelines to fill in the blanks of the characters' histories.
My biggest pet peeve was how the author ended the chapters. Each chapter she tried to end using suspense, acting like something big was going to happen so you would start the next chapter and turn the page....but nothing ever happened.
All in all, the last 40 pages helped redeem the book to 2 stars, but I would not recommend this book sadly.

laurashley's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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

2.75

readwithayle's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This book drew me in as soon as I saw the setting was in Houston, Texas during Hurricane Harvey. That was a catastrophic event that I lived through, and I was interested to see this story would unfold. My expectations were high!

_______________________________________

This book was MESSY! There was family drama from start to finish, and when the murder was introduced things went from bad to worse! This was a locked-room Who Dunnit with some plot twists that I honestly would’ve never suspected. 

Some of the characters are lovable, but there are a few that will make you “🙄” including the MC at times. I feel like some there were a few moments in the book where the MC acted kind of unrealistically. 

This book was really slow burn most of the action happened within the last 85% of the book. Slow burns aren’t really my favorite, but if you love a slow thrill you may enjoy this one! I’m still working on being patient and enjoying the build up. Overall I liked the plot, but throughout the book I wanted a little more. 

 

• Locked-room Mystery 
• Family Drama
• Plot Twists
• Extremely slow burn