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jwilding's review against another edition
5.0
I squawked in surprise roundabout every tenth page in this book. Don’t know if I feel like a modern thriller has ever clutched me as this one did. Not even close.
“One of the things I had cause to reflect on, as I grew older, was that as we cast our net of love even wider we make ourselves stronger and weaker at the same time.”
“One of the things I had cause to reflect on, as I grew older, was that as we cast our net of love even wider we make ourselves stronger and weaker at the same time.”
bookph1le's review against another edition
2.0
This book took a long time to get off the ground and, in the end, I didn't much care for the ending. I thought it was all too contrived for me to really buy into it.
paulabrandon's review against another edition
1.0
Books this fucking stupid make me angry.
The blurb tells us that this is the story of Catrin, grief-stricken after the death of her two sons, planning revenge against her ex-best friend, Rachel, who she holds responsible for the deaths. (Rachel wasn't looking after them as she should have been, and the car they were in went over a cliff.)
This is actually only a small part of the story.
Set in the Falkland Islands in 1994, this also involves the disappearance of two boys over the last couple of years - and now another one has gone missing. The actual main thrust of the book is whether Catrin, Rachel or Falklands war vet Callum is responsible for
I had to make that a spoiler because for more than 50% of the book, it's not really clear what it's supposed to be about. There is a lot of padding here, much like the last book by Bolton that I read. I did so much skimming in this book over material that I did not feel was pertinent to the plot - and it wasn't, because I didn't miss a thing. For example, long descriptions of search parties, or Catrin and Callum exploring a boat. It's only there so that Bolton can spend ages describing the landscapes and presumably get that tax write-off, but it does nothing to serve the plot or characters. Of course you should establish the landscape of your book's setting, but not to the extent that we get here. It's just boring.
Then there's the mass whale beaching, resulting in the euthanasia of hundreds of whales. That scene didn't need to be there. Bolton seems to suggest it's so that we can believe Catrin could be a child murderer if she can kill hundreds of mammals, but at the exact same time, it's shown as being the humane thing to do - which any reader with half a brain would be able to tell. So, all we get is a distressing, unnecessary and overlong description of suffering whales that are then killed. (Believe me, you can skip it.)
Great, huh?
We get a ridiculous scene of vigilante islanders coming for Catrin, which seems to exist merely so we can get a never-ending description of the route Callum takes to hide her from them. We then proceed to a final stretch in which several people confess to murder for no good reason other than Bolton needs to find some way in which she can keep readers on their toes. It makes no sense for these characters to do this! Especially when police can easily unravel their stories!
Don't get me started on the fucking talking horse.
This was boring and really fucking stupid and it annoyed the absolute piss out of me. I've done two sweeps of my bookshelves to make sure I didn't own any other books by Sharon Bolton. Good thing I don't, otherwise they would have gone in the bin. I'll never read another book by this author again.
The blurb tells us that this is the story of Catrin, grief-stricken after the death of her two sons, planning revenge against her ex-best friend, Rachel, who she holds responsible for the deaths. (Rachel wasn't looking after them as she should have been, and the car they were in went over a cliff.)
This is actually only a small part of the story.
Set in the Falkland Islands in 1994, this also involves the disappearance of two boys over the last couple of years - and now another one has gone missing. The actual main thrust of the book is whether Catrin, Rachel or Falklands war vet Callum is responsible for
Spoiler
the disappearance and possible death of Rachel's youngest son.I had to make that a spoiler because for more than 50% of the book, it's not really clear what it's supposed to be about. There is a lot of padding here, much like the last book by Bolton that I read. I did so much skimming in this book over material that I did not feel was pertinent to the plot - and it wasn't, because I didn't miss a thing. For example, long descriptions of search parties, or Catrin and Callum exploring a boat. It's only there so that Bolton can spend ages describing the landscapes and presumably get that tax write-off, but it does nothing to serve the plot or characters. Of course you should establish the landscape of your book's setting, but not to the extent that we get here. It's just boring.
Then there's the mass whale beaching, resulting in the euthanasia of hundreds of whales. That scene didn't need to be there. Bolton seems to suggest it's so that we can believe Catrin could be a child murderer if she can kill hundreds of mammals, but at the exact same time, it's shown as being the humane thing to do - which any reader with half a brain would be able to tell. So, all we get is a distressing, unnecessary and overlong description of suffering whales that are then killed. (Believe me, you can skip it.)
Great, huh?
We get a ridiculous scene of vigilante islanders coming for Catrin, which seems to exist merely so we can get a never-ending description of the route Callum takes to hide her from them. We then proceed to a final stretch in which several people confess to murder for no good reason other than Bolton needs to find some way in which she can keep readers on their toes. It makes no sense for these characters to do this! Especially when police can easily unravel their stories!
Don't get me started on the fucking talking horse.
This was boring and really fucking stupid and it annoyed the absolute piss out of me. I've done two sweeps of my bookshelves to make sure I didn't own any other books by Sharon Bolton. Good thing I don't, otherwise they would have gone in the bin. I'll never read another book by this author again.
libwinnie's review against another edition
4.0
Intensifying pace until the crescendo, but then, really? The plot takes a silly turn and it seems to be nothing more than an amateur way to keep readers guessing. But then, in the last paragraph, the insinuation is like a mind grenade. Much of the story is bleak and hopeless and you just want Catrin to be not as bad as she appears. Some rather graphic description. Lots of suspense. Worth a read even if you feel manipulated at times.
mischievous_monkey's review against another edition
5.0
Sharon Bolton at her best! This book is a page turner.
d_hryniuk's review against another edition
5.0
The book is divided into three parts. Each one of them is told from the perspective of one of the main characters. I liked it a lot, it made the book more dynamic and added more suspense.
I liked that the author decided to unravel this story on the Falkland Islands. I knew very little information about them, so I enjoyed learning more about their history, people, and countryside.
The story about missing children was very interesting too. The author makes us believe a lot of versions. I was amazed at how skillfully she did that. I loved the whole book and I'd like to see it as a movie.
I liked that the author decided to unravel this story on the Falkland Islands. I knew very little information about them, so I enjoyed learning more about their history, people, and countryside.
The story about missing children was very interesting too. The author makes us believe a lot of versions. I was amazed at how skillfully she did that. I loved the whole book and I'd like to see it as a movie.