Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - A Boa Filha

This novel was my favorite Karin Slaughter book I’ve read so far. After really enjoying Pretty Girls I picked this up and was surprised when I liked it even more. I think this book has just the right amount of twists and turns, I loved all the main characters (even rusty was enjoyable), the sister’s relationship was complex and interesting and they had a great dynamic. I really have nothing to complain about here except that maybe I would’ve liked a little more time with Kelly. We heard a lot about Kelly through the lenses of other people but didn’t often hear her experiences articulated straight from her. I am now rereading this book and I am caught surprised by all the tiny seeds being planted from the very first chapter that I think would almost be impossible to catch before a second read, I can really appreciate the author’s writing style in that way. Some very effective writing techniques where used to make you feel a certain way about characters before they were even introduced.

Such as choosing not to bring Rusty into the story until much later because he was often described as an absent father who put work first, and in that way he was even absent to the reader for quite awhile. Or that Sam was treated as if she was dead up until her intro to the story a few chapters in, because to Charlie she might as well have been dead.

I will warn that this story can be graphic at times (though it doesn’t hold a candle to Pretty Girls) but I do think the violence served a purpose in explaining why characters acted the way they did in their adult lives and even gave some insight on relationships between the sisters and parents.

Like Rusty asking Charlie to lie about being assaulted or how Sam told Charlie she was able to see when she couldn’t to comfort Charlie.

I also really enjoyed the banter between Charlie and Sam, sometimes even Rusty. I think this was a super solid read and has made me excited to work my way through more Karin Slaughter books!

Content Warnings