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3.28 AVERAGE
3.28 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
When Jon Bronson disappears on the way to school one day, he leaves his best friend Chloe wondering what happened to him. Four years later, he wakes up in a basement, jacked up and with no memory of the past four years, only a copy of The Dunwich Horror with some notes written inside. Will Jon and Chloe be able to pick up where they left off?
This was a Netgalley pick. Edward Lorn and some other trusted reviewers have sung the praises of Caroline Kepnes in the past so I decided to take a chance.
Overall, I liked my first Caroline Kepnes experience. The shifting viewpoints between Jon, Chloe, and Eggs held my interest and a main character that gives people heart attacks is a pretty interesting hook in a story of unrequited love.
The book is promoted as a thriller but it's really about relationships and intimacy. Eggs and his wife, Jon and Chloe, Chloe and Carrig, all very different relationships between very different characters. Also, fuck Carrig! Since I've read a few hundred detective novels, I had a soft spot for Eggs and his obsession with The Beard.
And here's the part that I hated: fully 80% of the book could have been avoided if Jon had just emailed Chloe and said "I give people heart attacks. That's why I'm being a douche nozzle." Considering Jon mostly communicates by text and email anyway, this makes a lot more sense than torturing himself for the better part of a decade.
And now we're back at the other piece of bread in this complement sandwich of a review. While their situation was outlandish, I think Kepnes did a great job with the various characters. I had no trouble believing in Eggs, Chloe, or Jon. They were all very fleshed out acted like real people would in the situation, aside from the lack of communication I mentioned earlier. The Lovecraft connection was also well done. I've read the Dunwich Horror a couple times but I think someone could infer what they need to and not feel lost.
And here we are at the end of the review. I enjoyed Providence but it wasn't a game changer or something I felt like neglecting my health and/or personal hygiene to read. 3.5 out of 5 stars.
This was a Netgalley pick. Edward Lorn and some other trusted reviewers have sung the praises of Caroline Kepnes in the past so I decided to take a chance.
Overall, I liked my first Caroline Kepnes experience. The shifting viewpoints between Jon, Chloe, and Eggs held my interest and a main character that gives people heart attacks is a pretty interesting hook in a story of unrequited love.
The book is promoted as a thriller but it's really about relationships and intimacy. Eggs and his wife, Jon and Chloe, Chloe and Carrig, all very different relationships between very different characters. Also, fuck Carrig! Since I've read a few hundred detective novels, I had a soft spot for Eggs and his obsession with The Beard.
And here's the part that I hated: fully 80% of the book could have been avoided if Jon had just emailed Chloe and said "I give people heart attacks. That's why I'm being a douche nozzle." Considering Jon mostly communicates by text and email anyway, this makes a lot more sense than torturing himself for the better part of a decade.
And now we're back at the other piece of bread in this complement sandwich of a review. While their situation was outlandish, I think Kepnes did a great job with the various characters. I had no trouble believing in Eggs, Chloe, or Jon. They were all very fleshed out acted like real people would in the situation, aside from the lack of communication I mentioned earlier. The Lovecraft connection was also well done. I've read the Dunwich Horror a couple times but I think someone could infer what they need to and not feel lost.
And here we are at the end of the review. I enjoyed Providence but it wasn't a game changer or something I felt like neglecting my health and/or personal hygiene to read. 3.5 out of 5 stars.
A weird mix of You and Stranger Things. It's very busy, but not overwhelming. I was waiting for a big ball to drop but there were a bunch of smaller ones that kind of plopped down.
Left me feeling some king of way, a sorrow I didn’t expect from a supernatural mystery
I was intrigued both by the plot and that it's written by Caroline Kepnes, I've enjoyed her You series for the most part. The little worry i had going into this novel wasn't needed at all. I overall enjoyed the book. It's unique in it's own way but wasn't as over the top different as You was the first time I've read it.
Providence. I finished the book about 12 hours ago and I still don’t know what to say. I guess I’ll start by saying it wasn’t for me. I love sci-fi, fantasy, thrillers, mystery’s. I generally don’t dwell on the “hows, why’s” of the genres. I accept it as part of the world the author creates but in Providence I can’t get past “wtf” what happened? How did it happen? What did Blair do? And those questions that never get answered really frustrated me. So much so that I wasn’t excited during more than half the story.
If I went into it knowing the story was about a love triangle with otherworldly circumstances maybe it would have been different but I didn’t. I went in thinking I was going to discover what happened to Jon. And I can’t get past not knowing.
All that said, I liked Chloe and Carrig for who they were. None of the characters were perfect. They make human mistakes, human decisions and I loved that. I think Jon had some interesting aspects but my annoyance with not understanding what happened and him not knowing made it hard for me to like him. I wanted to but it never happened.
Then there’s Eggs. Where hell did he come from? He just shows up 6 years later and it took me forever to figure out he wasn’t an old character with a new nickname, he was new. And he was terrible. I found myself skipping most of his chapters because I didn’t care about his story. The way he treated his family, his life, his job, I didn’t care. SO that probably didn’t help my opinion much.
I wouldn’t categorize the book as a thriller at all. There was nothing thrilling about it. Mystery fits and sci-fi fits but for me it just didn’t do it for me. ALL that said, I will still read Caroline Kepnes because I enjoy her writing and mind, this one just didn’t work for me and that’s okay.
Thank you to Random House Publishing and Net Galley for providing me with a copy of this book for my honest review.
If I went into it knowing the story was about a love triangle with otherworldly circumstances maybe it would have been different but I didn’t. I went in thinking I was going to discover what happened to Jon. And I can’t get past not knowing.
All that said, I liked Chloe and Carrig for who they were. None of the characters were perfect. They make human mistakes, human decisions and I loved that. I think Jon had some interesting aspects but my annoyance with not understanding what happened and him not knowing made it hard for me to like him. I wanted to but it never happened.
Then there’s Eggs. Where hell did he come from? He just shows up 6 years later and it took me forever to figure out he wasn’t an old character with a new nickname, he was new. And he was terrible. I found myself skipping most of his chapters because I didn’t care about his story. The way he treated his family, his life, his job, I didn’t care. SO that probably didn’t help my opinion much.
I wouldn’t categorize the book as a thriller at all. There was nothing thrilling about it. Mystery fits and sci-fi fits but for me it just didn’t do it for me. ALL that said, I will still read Caroline Kepnes because I enjoy her writing and mind, this one just didn’t work for me and that’s okay.
Thank you to Random House Publishing and Net Galley for providing me with a copy of this book for my honest review.
You can also find this review on my blog.
cw: animal death, ableism, domestic abuse, cancer
Spoiler-free Review
An advanced copy of this book was provided to me by the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I requested this title on Netgalley mainly because I saw that the main characters were from New Hampshire. I always want to read books that take place at least in part in places that I’ve lived. The plot also looked interesting, so I gave it a shot. I’m really glad I did because this ended up being a very good read.
People who live to know a sicko are very eager to tell you their story. There’s a pride, a sense of having survived something.
Caroline Kepnes is a great writer. This is the first work of hers that I’ve read, but immediately after finishing this, I added You to my TBR. She does a fantastic job of pulling the reader right into the story and creates interesting characters that you can really relate to. I really liked both Claire and Jon, as well as the relationship between them and how it changed over time. I also loved the Lovecraft references. I haven’t read much Lovecraft myself, but am really drawn to Lovecraftian stories.
When I die, if there is a place called hell, I will go there.
I did think, however, that the characters could have been given a little more complexity. Jon and Claire are both overwhelmingly “good” people and don’t really have any flaws (at least, none that they can control). I also didn’t really enjoy the addition of Eggs into the story. I understood how he functioned as far as the plot went, but felt like he didn’t add much to the story as a character. Maybe it’s just because I didn’t like him. He was constantly lying to his wife and essentially pretended that his autistic son didn’t exist. By the end there is some redemption, but I still really don’t think he deserved to be treated so well.
I hit the road, New Hampshire bound, I’m a typical Rhodie in the sense that I think we’re the best. In Massachusetts, you have all these sweet-toothed Massholes stuffing their face with ice cream covered in jimmies, all puffed up with self-righteousness they get out of that little rock down in Plymouth. Never mind Maine; try being a woman in that state, let me know how it works out. Vermont has the worst Italian food I ever had in my life. And New Hampshire, all you gotta know is that they take pride in rocks, granite, tax-free shopping, and bottle rockets, their handles of grain alcohol so they can go home and light themselves on fire.
Otherwise, this was a fantastic read. I almost missed my train stop multiple times while reading and I kept getting so sucked in that I wasn’t sure how I could put the book down. I may end up grabbing a physical copy of this for myself, but at the very least I will certainly recommend this book to others. This will be good for fans of thrillers, contemporary sci-fi pieces, and/or the writings of Lovecraft.
I settle on a little pink dress but then I remember Carrig’s family, the wall of them, why are you so dressed up? That should be the state fucking slogan of New Hampshire.
cw: animal death, ableism, domestic abuse, cancer
Spoiler-free Review
An advanced copy of this book was provided to me by the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I requested this title on Netgalley mainly because I saw that the main characters were from New Hampshire. I always want to read books that take place at least in part in places that I’ve lived. The plot also looked interesting, so I gave it a shot. I’m really glad I did because this ended up being a very good read.
People who live to know a sicko are very eager to tell you their story. There’s a pride, a sense of having survived something.
Caroline Kepnes is a great writer. This is the first work of hers that I’ve read, but immediately after finishing this, I added You to my TBR. She does a fantastic job of pulling the reader right into the story and creates interesting characters that you can really relate to. I really liked both Claire and Jon, as well as the relationship between them and how it changed over time. I also loved the Lovecraft references. I haven’t read much Lovecraft myself, but am really drawn to Lovecraftian stories.
When I die, if there is a place called hell, I will go there.
I did think, however, that the characters could have been given a little more complexity. Jon and Claire are both overwhelmingly “good” people and don’t really have any flaws (at least, none that they can control). I also didn’t really enjoy the addition of Eggs into the story. I understood how he functioned as far as the plot went, but felt like he didn’t add much to the story as a character. Maybe it’s just because I didn’t like him. He was constantly lying to his wife and essentially pretended that his autistic son didn’t exist. By the end there is some redemption, but I still really don’t think he deserved to be treated so well.
I hit the road, New Hampshire bound, I’m a typical Rhodie in the sense that I think we’re the best. In Massachusetts, you have all these sweet-toothed Massholes stuffing their face with ice cream covered in jimmies, all puffed up with self-righteousness they get out of that little rock down in Plymouth. Never mind Maine; try being a woman in that state, let me know how it works out. Vermont has the worst Italian food I ever had in my life. And New Hampshire, all you gotta know is that they take pride in rocks, granite, tax-free shopping, and bottle rockets, their handles of grain alcohol so they can go home and light themselves on fire.
Otherwise, this was a fantastic read. I almost missed my train stop multiple times while reading and I kept getting so sucked in that I wasn’t sure how I could put the book down. I may end up grabbing a physical copy of this for myself, but at the very least I will certainly recommend this book to others. This will be good for fans of thrillers, contemporary sci-fi pieces, and/or the writings of Lovecraft.
I settle on a little pink dress but then I remember Carrig’s family, the wall of them, why are you so dressed up? That should be the state fucking slogan of New Hampshire.
This was the kind of book I was alternatively trying to read as fast as possible to see what would happen next and stopping to take a break so that I could prolong the joy of reading. It only would have been better had it been named "Pawtucket." (aka my hometown). J/k. Kepnes really captured the city of Providence. Her characters were beautiful, flawed, and realistic. I think I would have given it 5 stars except Jon's situation wasn't realistic enough for me. I kept wanting to know how he got a cel phone, how he could afford to pay his rent, buy a car, etc. I know it's fiction, suspension of disbelief and all that but that part wasn't clicking for me and it was a little distracting. Still, Kepnes is a genius and one of my greatest regrets in life is having been out of town when she was in my city doing a book event at Comic-Con.
I honestly went into this book thinking it would be a straightforward thriller. I thought that Jon would have died and the investigation to find out who kidnapped would begin. However, that premise is just scratching the surface on what this book is about.
The story follows three particular people; Jon, the victim. Chloe, his best friend. And Eggs, an investigator from Rhode Island that's looking into the mysterious heart attacks in his area. However, the main character and the glue that pulls both Eggs and Chloe into the story is Jon.
The story feels both character and plot driven. A lot of what you're going to read is feelings and thoughts of what these characters were all going through and there are a few moments of plot-driven story. But this book felt super literary in comparison to other thrillers I've read before. Then again, this is also my first Kepnes book and I do want to check out YOU in the future.
You read exactly who kidnaps Jon and you see where Jon shows up in the future. I was surprised that he woke up on his own in a secluded room. From the outside, it looks like he was one of those lucky victims who walk away from a dangerous situation unscathed. However, once you start getting into the story you see that there is something much more seriously wrong with Jon.
Jon turns out to have a supernatural power; he's able to kill people by just being in the same room with them. This is what happened to him when he was locked up for four years. He is somehow transformed into a mutant like this was some dark X-Men movie. And in an effort to keep those he loves safe, he runs away from his family and friends. One particular friend being Chloe.
I felt like Chloe was basically there to be Jon's love interest. She's the Lois Lane to his Clark Kent. She's the Mary Jane to his Peter Parker. And while Caroline Kepnes does a great job with shaping her into more than just the love interest, I do feel like there could have been a little bit more depth to her. It seemed like everything she did was connected back to Jon in some way. Whether it's creating life-like portraits of him or spending two years watching her phone to see if he calls, it just doesn't seem like she's anything more than just a love interest.
The feeling is different for Eggs. He's a detective that's a little on the older side, so he's a little mocked by the rest of the police force. He's got a complicated relationship with his wife because their son has Autism and he's not winning any awards for being Father of the Year. He's looking into the mysterious death and his character definitely gave you the vibe that this could be crime fiction or a thriller. Watching Eggs work felt realistic. He goes by his hunches and even ignores his wife because he's so obsessed with the case. You get a really good sense of the type of person he is, the work he does, and how all of that effects his world. You also get the reason why everyone calls him Eggs (which, tbh is the worst nickname anyone can have).
The last thing I want to mention is H.P. Lovecraft. If you're not aware, H.P. Lovecraft is a post-humous author who was famous for writing horror fiction (specifically the Chthulhu). The main story is centered around Lovecraft's novel The Dunwich Horror, which is about a young man who is chastized by the world because he's a monster. This was the book left by Jon's kidnapper after he woke up from his four-year coma.
But Lovecraft's work and life is all throughout the story. For example he was born and raised in Providence, Rhode Island, which is where some of this story takes place. Jon also wears a "I Am Providence" hat, which is a quote from Lovecraft's novel. His "Frankenstein's monster" self is based off a character from Lovecraft's book. And then there are smatterings of Lovecraft as well throughout the book. It's kind of interesting how much Lovecraft is mentioned here and as a person who has never read Lovecraft, I found it quite interesting. I actually learned a lot about Lovecraft and I'm not even sure if that was Caroline Kepnes' intention.
Overall, it's a great story for those literary folks out there. Don't expect it to adhere to one genre over another and if you like character-driven stories then this one will be right up your alley. I know that I read this in a couple of days so it's definitely quite interesting to me and my genre faves.
I received a copy of this book from Random House for free in exchange for an honest review. My opinions have not been influenced by the publisher or the author.
If you are a H P Lovecraft fan, you might like this book. I, however, am NOT! It did check several boxes on a book challenge and THAT is the ONLY reason that I suffered through it.