Reviews

The Night of the Storm by Nishita Parekh

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 

mynameisprerna's review against another edition

I’ve really been into mild thrillers and mysteries lately, so I had high hopes for this, and I was especially eager to read one by a South Asian author, but it just wasn’t very good. There was too much going on and it felt disjointed. The use of explanatory commas was weirdly inconsistent. The narration had a bunch of mispronunciations, including a major character’s name. It just didn’t keep me invested and it felt like a waste of time to keep going. 

melissaalgood's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

As a Houstonian that lived through hurricane Harvey, I did appreciate the attention to detail and the accuracy. I did also appreciate the fact that there was a murderer in a lot of house. Essentially, I really liked that trope… I just didn’t personally care for the main characters personality. She was very unlikable to me. However, I did give us an extra star just for the final chapter, which was really good

cpociask's review

2.0

*2.5

Family gets trapped under one roof during a hurricane and family drama ensues. Unfortunately it’s about 90% family drama—nothing “thrilling” about it until 200 pages in. The ending third saves it a bit, but it was generally kind of boring and predictable.

tansreads's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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

3.25

Kinda slow to get into and I couldn’t really get connected or attached to any of the characters, a lot of the side characters were pretty horrible and left a lot of open ended threads with an ending that kinda tied a bow on everything without feeling like all the interpersonal drama (that the book was focused on more than the mystery) got resolved tbh

read_with_zoe's review

This is a book about stupid people doing stupid things. I can’t explain how annoyed I am with how dumb every single character is in this. And if they aren’t dumb they’re aggressively weak starting with the lead character Jia.

I’ve never seen someone apologize and make so many excuses for someone than she does. There are so many insane things she does but the craziest one was <s> Her ex husband is essentially a predator and has an affair with a teenager</s> and she’s like “Well he doesn’t have to be a good husband to be a good dad.” Girl what ???

Literally at 85% when she sends the text I skipped to the ending to see how it would end because I was sooo annoyed. 

Also the entire last 15% is so out of character and moves so incredibly fast for no reason like oh my gosh this just made me so annoyed actually.

abbellire's review

adventurous dark emotional 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? It's complicated

3.0