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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
tense
medium-paced
emotional
mysterious
sad
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:
Yes
dark
mysterious
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
I think this was an interesting concept for a thriller/mystery and I definitely didn’t see the very last twist coming.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Abortion, Murder
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
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:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infertility
The way the prologue was written made me think of DNFing. I suppose it was meant to reflect the thoughts of a disturbed mind. The rest of the writing is better. But the plot is bad.
The cops confront Park because DNA on the dead woman shows it belongs to his biological son. Park decides to talk about former lovers who might have gotten pregnant and the police just say “ok, we’ll talk later. Your privacy is more important than finding a killer.”
The sperm bank sold Park’s semen far more than they were supposed to. Scarlet has found 28 half- siblings with the same donor as her. But her brother Peyton couldn’t be one because this same unethical place claimed the mother that Peyton had a different donor. Peyton is obviously Scarlet’s full brother and the murderer less than 1/3 into the book. But nobody even suspects this. It’s a big surprise much later for even the police.
When Scarlet finds out her donor is the father of the killer, she sends a message to the “halves” group “it’s one of us”. Maybe the book is going to get interesting, getting into the suspect list of all these donors. Nope. The police would just need to get a search warrant to get the DNA samples and match to the killer. That would have outed Payton. But it would have spoiled the “twist” so no investigation is done. Peyton is identified later from a sketch and then his DNA is tested.
A minor issue is in chapter 34. Olivia has earlier trashed Park’s laptop. But the first sentence of the chapter says “Park has retrieved his laptop from his office” and then uses it. A few pages later, “(Park) retrieved the pieces of the laptop and sets them gingerly on the desk.” Nice trick
I am not really a fan of psychological thrillers with a lot of introspective thoughts where the characters ramble through their pasts and hint at secrets. So that may have affected my appreciation of the book. I did read the whole thing and some aspects of the story were fine. There is a twist I didn’t expect at the end.
The problems of infertility, miscarriage and mental illness are real and serious and the author convers them well with sensitivity.
The cops confront Park because DNA on the dead woman shows it belongs to his biological son. Park decides to talk about former lovers who might have gotten pregnant and the police just say “ok, we’ll talk later. Your privacy is more important than finding a killer.”
The sperm bank sold Park’s semen far more than they were supposed to. Scarlet has found 28 half- siblings with the same donor as her. But her brother Peyton couldn’t be one because this same unethical place claimed the mother that Peyton had a different donor. Peyton is obviously Scarlet’s full brother and the murderer less than 1/3 into the book. But nobody even suspects this. It’s a big surprise much later for even the police.
When Scarlet finds out her donor is the father of the killer, she sends a message to the “halves” group “it’s one of us”. Maybe the book is going to get interesting, getting into the suspect list of all these donors. Nope. The police would just need to get a search warrant to get the DNA samples and match to the killer. That would have outed Payton. But it would have spoiled the “twist” so no investigation is done. Peyton is identified later from a sketch and then his DNA is tested.
A minor issue is in chapter 34. Olivia has earlier trashed Park’s laptop. But the first sentence of the chapter says “Park has retrieved his laptop from his office” and then uses it. A few pages later, “(Park) retrieved the pieces of the laptop and sets them gingerly on the desk.” Nice trick
I am not really a fan of psychological thrillers with a lot of introspective thoughts where the characters ramble through their pasts and hint at secrets. So that may have affected my appreciation of the book. I did read the whole thing and some aspects of the story were fine. There is a twist I didn’t expect at the end.
The problems of infertility, miscarriage and mental illness are real and serious and the author convers them well with sensitivity.
A true roller-coaster of insanity - in the best way. Highly enjoyable/super unique story.