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lexa's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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? No
4.0
Solid dark and twisty thriller. Some elements I saw coming, but most I didnt.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Violence, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, and Murder
Moderate: Dementia, Grief, Infidelity, and Racial slurs
Minor: Adult/minor relationship
podanotherjessi's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25
I don't read a lot of mystery, so my opinion here should be taken with a pinch of salt. But this book bored me. I felt like the whole thing could have been wrapped up in an hour long TV show instead of a full novel, and that's probably a good sign mysteries might not be for me.
Beyond that, I didn't care about the characters at all. The main characters were boring, and the background characters felt cartoonish. Every time someone new was introduced, we got a chunk of description about who they were - what they look like, what their personality is, how they're connected to the MC. It was very telling, not showing. And this happened for everyone, no matter how unimportant they are.
There were also a lot of extrenuous detail and flashbacks that felt pointless. Maybe they were meant to be red herrings or to distract the reader, but it all felt unneeded. Very mild spoilers, example:At one point the MC talks about not being able to stay with his aunt cause she has cats and he's allergic. Okay, small detail, not bad. But then the book flashes back to how he found out he was allergic, and there was no point to it.
Characters: 4
Plot: 7
Setting: 3
General appeal: 5
Writing style: 3
Originality 6
Ending: 7
Beyond that, I didn't care about the characters at all. The main characters were boring, and the background characters felt cartoonish. Every time someone new was introduced, we got a chunk of description about who they were - what they look like, what their personality is, how they're connected to the MC. It was very telling, not showing. And this happened for everyone, no matter how unimportant they are.
There were also a lot of extrenuous detail and flashbacks that felt pointless. Maybe they were meant to be red herrings or to distract the reader, but it all felt unneeded. Very mild spoilers, example:
Characters: 4
Plot: 7
Setting: 3
General appeal: 5
Writing style: 3
Originality 6
Ending: 7
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Grief, Murder, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Violence
Moderate: Car accident, Pregnancy, Adult/minor relationship, and Pedophilia
mydearwatsonbooks's review against another edition
3.0
(TW: sexual assault, pedophiles)
Matt Pine is a student at NYU. He’s playing chess outside when he hears the news: his entire family, save for his older brother, has died while on vacation in Mexico. It is first ruled as an accident…but was it really an accident? Or was it foul play? Could it have something to do with the father? Could it have something to do with the true crime documentary done of his older brother who is currently in prison? The story follows Matt and FBI agent Sarah Keller as they each try to find out what happened. It also uses flashbacks (and the eldest brother’s current point-of-view) to establish events.
A lot of this novel seems a tad…far-fetched, but I think that’s part of the fun of “regular” thrillers. It also tried to be part police procedural, which I liked. I would’ve liked more police procedural than Matt’s POV, but I did appreciate how Finlay showed the changing relationship between Matt and his hometown.
One thing I didn’t like about this book was that the writing felt really distant. I didn’t feel like I could connect with any of the present POVs at all; I connected more with the flashbacks and the brother’s POV. Also, side note: the documentary lady was awful (Finlay did a great job creating her personality).
I really wish I could give this book 3.5 stars. It was as psychologically thrilling as I wanted (my fault. This seems to be a common theme with me), but it kept me interested. If you like thrillers and/or true crime documentaries, you’ll probably like this novel.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
Publishing date is March 2.
Matt Pine is a student at NYU. He’s playing chess outside when he hears the news: his entire family, save for his older brother, has died while on vacation in Mexico. It is first ruled as an accident…but was it really an accident? Or was it foul play? Could it have something to do with the father? Could it have something to do with the true crime documentary done of his older brother who is currently in prison? The story follows Matt and FBI agent Sarah Keller as they each try to find out what happened. It also uses flashbacks (and the eldest brother’s current point-of-view) to establish events.
A lot of this novel seems a tad…far-fetched, but I think that’s part of the fun of “regular” thrillers. It also tried to be part police procedural, which I liked. I would’ve liked more police procedural than Matt’s POV, but I did appreciate how Finlay showed the changing relationship between Matt and his hometown.
One thing I didn’t like about this book was that the writing felt really distant. I didn’t feel like I could connect with any of the present POVs at all; I connected more with the flashbacks and the brother’s POV. Also, side note: the documentary lady was awful (Finlay did a great job creating her personality).
I really wish I could give this book 3.5 stars. It was as psychologically thrilling as I wanted (my fault. This seems to be a common theme with me), but it kept me interested. If you like thrillers and/or true crime documentaries, you’ll probably like this novel.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
Publishing date is March 2.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Pedophilia and Sexual assault
mjwilliamson's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Although there were times near the middle of the book where I felt unmotivated by the story, it was worth reading until the end. The characters were most certainly flawed and rough around the edges, but I think that is what makes them so compelling — they’re incredibly human. I liked the tendency to insert transcripts from the “docuseries” as I found it enchanted characters and message of that particular chapter. The overall stylistic intention of the book mimicking the documentary format was a nice touch too. I found that the parallel storylines of the ‘before’ and ‘after’ were the right narrative choice for Finlay to make as it not only provided non-info-dumped insight into characters and the details of Danny’s case, but it also kept the story rolling, unfurling each snippet when the explanations were required. Similarly, the switching narrators/perspectives added a nice holistic view of the case, its affect on various parties and the main plot as a whole.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Child death, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Dementia
sfbookgirl's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
If you’re looking for something quick to read, this is it! I was a big fan of the short chapters and the easy-to-follow storyline. I didn’t even predict the ending! Every Last Fear begins with NYU student, Matt Pine, learning that his family has been murdered in Mexico. The local police claim that the murder was an accident, but the FBI is skeptical. This isn’t the first time that the family has been in the spotlight. The scandal with Matt’s older brother (tldr: in prison for allegedly killing a girl) and a true-crime Netflix series is what first created headlines.
Matt, along with Agent Keller from the FBI, go on an adventurous chase to solve the murder of Matt’s family. Written from alternating perspectives, the reader won’t be able to guess the killer until the very end. And while though I didn’t predict the ending, the story didn’t give me that shocked "omg" reaction. The stereotypes presented about people in Mexico had no place in the book and some of the side storylines weren’t complete, but the book is a solid thriller for a reader looking for a quick thrill.
Thank you to the publisher for a gifted copy!
Matt, along with Agent Keller from the FBI, go on an adventurous chase to solve the murder of Matt’s family. Written from alternating perspectives, the reader won’t be able to guess the killer until the very end. And while though I didn’t predict the ending, the story didn’t give me that shocked "omg" reaction. The stereotypes presented about people in Mexico had no place in the book and some of the side storylines weren’t complete, but the book is a solid thriller for a reader looking for a quick thrill.
Thank you to the publisher for a gifted copy!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Murder, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
fictionmajorette's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Full thoughts: https://fictionmajorette.blogspot.com/2021/02/every-last-fear-alex-finlay.html
The first thing I want to address is the language used in this book when describing Mexico/Mexican people. I did read an ARC so there's a chance that some things may change in the finished copy but in the copy I read, I found the language negative, condescending, and judgemental. The town is Tulum, Mexico and is first described as a destination for celebrities because it isn't as crowded as the usual tourist spots. That description lead me to expect that when our protagonist, Matt, goes to Tulum that the beauty of the area would be in direct contrast with his grief. However, the descriptions that Matt gives to the reader are very negative to the point where I didn't understand how celebrities would be going to this place and the different images the book was giving the reader about Tulum didn't really make sense to me. Again, I was expecting Matt to not like it there because of the reason for his visit, but I didn't expect so many descriptions about how run down and corrupt everything was. As a white reader, these descriptions made me take pause so I looked at other reviews and there were a number of readers of color who explicitly called out the language in these scenes as problematic and offensive.
This book had a lot of potential to be a new favorite but there were a few pieces that fell flat for me and overall this ended up just being an okay read. My main issue is that this book is being marketed as a psychological thriller but I found it to be a pretty even 50% detective 50% domestic thriller. I kept hoping the narrative would take a twist to being more psychological but it never did. I think it did a good job at being a detective/domestic thriller but I was overall disappointed that this wasn't the type of story I was expecting.
This story was told in multi-POVs and dual timelines which I usually am a sucker for. In this case, however, I didn't absolutely love it. There were a number of chapters that just felt like filler. It wasn't as if a whole POV was unnecessary, but just the occasional chapter here and there that I didn't think was necessary. I can stand back and look at the chapters from a structural or plot standpoint and say "that chapter established X relationship" or "that chapter showed how Y changed" so I think all the chapters were technically needed for the plot, but I sure didn't care when I was reading some of them.
I thought the dual timeline was very well done and it was really interesting for the reader to know one thing from timeline A but then see the characters find out about it in timeline B a few chapters down the line. I also think showing the lead up of the family before they died made their on-page deaths really emotional because we've gotten to know them over the past 300 pages and we're hoping for a different outcome even though we know exactly how this is going to end.
Detective thrillers are one of my favorite types and I think the FBI investigation portions of this book were really well done. Looking back, I would have preferred if this same plot was handled as a pure detective story since I didn't really enjoy the domestic side of the story as much with Matt grieving and going back to his hometown. My favorite character was FBI Agent Keller and I would read more books following her specifically. I found her to have the most well-rounded characterization in the book. Everyone else I felt like we know one or two main aspects of their personality and that's it. For example, we know Matt likes movies. He's going to NYU to study film and he is constantly making movie references and his friends make comments about how he is constantly making movie references.
This story did finish really strongly which I think is one of the most important parts of any thriller. The last 20% or so was really great and when the puzzle pieces started falling into place, I couldn't read fast enough to figure out all the different connections. From a plot perspective, the big reveals were pretty standard for a domestic thriller but it was still a satisfying conclusion. The ending was a little bittersweet for reasons I can't go into because of spoilers but the chapters in this last section were very short and we were jumping in between POVs very quickly which really ramped up the tension as well.
I really liked how the docu-series was integrated into the story. There would be some chapters where we would read the script from a scene from the documentary. We also got different character's perspectives on the documentary and it was interesting to see the after effects especially since true-crime documentaries/podcasts/etc are very popular. The documentary scenes served as nice little breaks in the narrative so I could get a moment before jumping back into the investigation.
Thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the ARC.
Expected publication date: March 2, 2021.
The first thing I want to address is the language used in this book when describing Mexico/Mexican people. I did read an ARC so there's a chance that some things may change in the finished copy but in the copy I read, I found the language negative, condescending, and judgemental. The town is Tulum, Mexico and is first described as a destination for celebrities because it isn't as crowded as the usual tourist spots. That description lead me to expect that when our protagonist, Matt, goes to Tulum that the beauty of the area would be in direct contrast with his grief. However, the descriptions that Matt gives to the reader are very negative to the point where I didn't understand how celebrities would be going to this place and the different images the book was giving the reader about Tulum didn't really make sense to me. Again, I was expecting Matt to not like it there because of the reason for his visit, but I didn't expect so many descriptions about how run down and corrupt everything was. As a white reader, these descriptions made me take pause so I looked at other reviews and there were a number of readers of color who explicitly called out the language in these scenes as problematic and offensive.
This book had a lot of potential to be a new favorite but there were a few pieces that fell flat for me and overall this ended up just being an okay read. My main issue is that this book is being marketed as a psychological thriller but I found it to be a pretty even 50% detective 50% domestic thriller. I kept hoping the narrative would take a twist to being more psychological but it never did. I think it did a good job at being a detective/domestic thriller but I was overall disappointed that this wasn't the type of story I was expecting.
This story was told in multi-POVs and dual timelines which I usually am a sucker for. In this case, however, I didn't absolutely love it. There were a number of chapters that just felt like filler. It wasn't as if a whole POV was unnecessary, but just the occasional chapter here and there that I didn't think was necessary. I can stand back and look at the chapters from a structural or plot standpoint and say "that chapter established X relationship" or "that chapter showed how Y changed" so I think all the chapters were technically needed for the plot, but I sure didn't care when I was reading some of them.
I thought the dual timeline was very well done and it was really interesting for the reader to know one thing from timeline A but then see the characters find out about it in timeline B a few chapters down the line. I also think showing the lead up of the family before they died made their on-page deaths really emotional because we've gotten to know them over the past 300 pages and we're hoping for a different outcome even though we know exactly how this is going to end.
Detective thrillers are one of my favorite types and I think the FBI investigation portions of this book were really well done. Looking back, I would have preferred if this same plot was handled as a pure detective story since I didn't really enjoy the domestic side of the story as much with Matt grieving and going back to his hometown. My favorite character was FBI Agent Keller and I would read more books following her specifically. I found her to have the most well-rounded characterization in the book. Everyone else I felt like we know one or two main aspects of their personality and that's it. For example, we know Matt likes movies. He's going to NYU to study film and he is constantly making movie references and his friends make comments about how he is constantly making movie references.
This story did finish really strongly which I think is one of the most important parts of any thriller. The last 20% or so was really great and when the puzzle pieces started falling into place, I couldn't read fast enough to figure out all the different connections. From a plot perspective, the big reveals were pretty standard for a domestic thriller but it was still a satisfying conclusion. The ending was a little bittersweet for reasons I can't go into because of spoilers but the chapters in this last section were very short and we were jumping in between POVs very quickly which really ramped up the tension as well.
I really liked how the docu-series was integrated into the story. There would be some chapters where we would read the script from a scene from the documentary. We also got different character's perspectives on the documentary and it was interesting to see the after effects especially since true-crime documentaries/podcasts/etc are very popular. The documentary scenes served as nice little breaks in the narrative so I could get a moment before jumping back into the investigation.
Thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the ARC.
Expected publication date: March 2, 2021.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Minor: Sexual assault
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