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3.09 AVERAGE
3.09 AVERAGE
The main character can be so overwrought that I honestly wondered if I was reading a satire about "murderinos", and what 24/7 true crime can do to the brain. Then I noticed the acknowledgements at the end - "Thank you to the true-crime podcast community, especially Brit and Ashley, Karen and Georgia, for creating a safe space for women in a scary world." Wut.
The descriptions are so vivid and the story was so captivating that I was scared to turn around and look behind me more than once
I think I've had one too many unreliable narrator/narrated books and this one pushed me over the limit. It's a shame as the premise if a fun one:
Rachel, a blogger of a popular murder mystery podcast goes missing. Sera, a devoted verging on obsessive listener, is beyond certain she can solve Rachel's disappearance. The ending is a huge cheat.
Rachel, a blogger of a popular murder mystery podcast goes missing. Sera, a devoted verging on obsessive listener, is beyond certain she can solve Rachel's disappearance. The ending is a huge cheat.
Rachel runs a podcast about missing women called Murder, She Spoke. When she suddenly goes silent - no social media activity, no new podcasts - her biggest fan, Sera, starts to suspect she's gone missing.
Sera decides to take matters into her own hands and find out what happened to Rachel. Afterall, it's what Rachel has been training her for with all of the information and tips provided through the podcasts. Sera heads to Rachel's family ranch in the wilderness of Northern California and pretends to be a drifter looking for work. But once a part of the daily life on the ranch, Sera realizes she may be the only person looking for Rachel making her question everyone and everything surrounding Rachel's mysterious disappearance.
I really enjoyed the mystery this book created. Brazier's writing evoked beautiful images of the countryside and painted some pretty unique and memorable characters. I didn't think it was overly predictable but I did find that there were a lot of loose ends that left me with questions. The novel ended without wrapping everything up which I thought worked well for the story but I know can leave some readers wanting more.
I love when a novel mixes formats and this included snippets of Rachel's podcast at the beginning of each chapter. Some of the snippets were incredibly intriguing and I wish those had been played up more as the story unfolded.
Sera, though in her mid-thirties, felt like a very young, immature and naive character to me. I found her obsession with Rachel over the top and I wish there had been more back story about how that came about. I think it would have made her character more relatable if her history had been fleshed out in more detail rather than sporadic and hazy references to a miscarriage and a loveless marriage.
The writing also took some getting used to as it felt to me like the novel was written as if it was a letter from Sera to Rachel, almost making the reader feel as though s/he is Rachel.
Overall this was a really enjoyable read and one I would definitely recommend if you like a good mystery, shady and quirky characters, and books that incorporate podcasts.
Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for an advanced copy of this novel.
Sera decides to take matters into her own hands and find out what happened to Rachel. Afterall, it's what Rachel has been training her for with all of the information and tips provided through the podcasts. Sera heads to Rachel's family ranch in the wilderness of Northern California and pretends to be a drifter looking for work. But once a part of the daily life on the ranch, Sera realizes she may be the only person looking for Rachel making her question everyone and everything surrounding Rachel's mysterious disappearance.
I really enjoyed the mystery this book created. Brazier's writing evoked beautiful images of the countryside and painted some pretty unique and memorable characters. I didn't think it was overly predictable but I did find that there were a lot of loose ends that left me with questions. The novel ended without wrapping everything up which I thought worked well for the story but I know can leave some readers wanting more.
I love when a novel mixes formats and this included snippets of Rachel's podcast at the beginning of each chapter. Some of the snippets were incredibly intriguing and I wish those had been played up more as the story unfolded.
Sera, though in her mid-thirties, felt like a very young, immature and naive character to me. I found her obsession with Rachel over the top and I wish there had been more back story about how that came about. I think it would have made her character more relatable if her history had been fleshed out in more detail rather than sporadic and hazy references to a miscarriage and a loveless marriage.
The writing also took some getting used to as it felt to me like the novel was written as if it was a letter from Sera to Rachel, almost making the reader feel as though s/he is Rachel.
Overall this was a really enjoyable read and one I would definitely recommend if you like a good mystery, shady and quirky characters, and books that incorporate podcasts.
Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for an advanced copy of this novel.
I found it incredible how the writing really puts you right inside Sera's head. I felt just as paranoid and confused and isolated as she did, a truly immersive experience. While there are not a ton of reveals before the very end, it kept up the right amount of anticipation and suspense through out. Also, while I don't normally look to thrillers for grand morals and societal commentary, this had a really thought provoking message about internal misoginy and the patriarchy/sexism on a whole which I found refreshing. Over all, highly, highly recommend.
cw: animal death, blood, gruesome descriptions of violence, mentions of suicide
cw: animal death, blood, gruesome descriptions of violence, mentions of suicide
crazy book, crazy main character, crazy characters all around. Thank you for this wild ride.
Ok. This is a long one. My first stay-up-till-midnight-or-later-to-finish read of 2023. I wish I’d chosen better (possible spoilers?):
If I Disappear by Eliza Jane Brazier
⭐️⭐️
So. Two things, and I won’t even get into the plot holes, inconsistencies, or unanswered questions. First, I think this is the only book I’ve read written in second person and it was very jarring to me. I wanted to enjoy the unique style of writing but it just kept pulling me out of the story because I didn’t really understand the purpose of it here.
More than anything else though, I didn’t love the conflicting messages that society views women as eccentric, not to be believed and made out to be crazy. But… then the main character definitely needed psychiatric help lol. (This is the main premise, so I feel like it’s not a spoiler, but read at your own risk) She really obsessed so hard over a woman she didn’t know that she went to investigate why she hadn’t posted a new podcast episode by just busting into her family home. I just think there’s a better way to portray that women are often wrongfully painted as overreacting or being dramatic. And if you want to write a story about a woman who’s half lost her mind, please do! I would love to read it! If you want to write a story about a woman who has been beaten down by the world and painted as silly or unhinged by the general public- when she’s actually in complete control of her faculties- write that too. But don’t try to convince me that any sane person should have listened to a stranger who came out of nowhere and starts shouting foul play- And then insinuate that the fact that they didn’t listen should be chalked up to misogyny and the patriarchy!! I love a good feminist tale but this book just perpetuated all of the things it complained about.
I just cringed through the majority of the dialogue and spent the rest of the time wondering if the plot holes from previous chapters were deliberate.
I’m usually very generous with my ratings, but I just couldn’t do it this time. I love strong women. I love thrillers. I did not love this book. Lol.
If I Disappear by Eliza Jane Brazier
⭐️⭐️
So. Two things, and I won’t even get into the plot holes, inconsistencies, or unanswered questions. First, I think this is the only book I’ve read written in second person and it was very jarring to me. I wanted to enjoy the unique style of writing but it just kept pulling me out of the story because I didn’t really understand the purpose of it here.
More than anything else though, I didn’t love the conflicting messages that society views women as eccentric, not to be believed and made out to be crazy. But… then the main character definitely needed psychiatric help lol. (This is the main premise, so I feel like it’s not a spoiler, but read at your own risk) She really obsessed so hard over a woman she didn’t know that she went to investigate why she hadn’t posted a new podcast episode by just busting into her family home. I just think there’s a better way to portray that women are often wrongfully painted as overreacting or being dramatic. And if you want to write a story about a woman who’s half lost her mind, please do! I would love to read it! If you want to write a story about a woman who has been beaten down by the world and painted as silly or unhinged by the general public- when she’s actually in complete control of her faculties- write that too. But don’t try to convince me that any sane person should have listened to a stranger who came out of nowhere and starts shouting foul play- And then insinuate that the fact that they didn’t listen should be chalked up to misogyny and the patriarchy!! I love a good feminist tale but this book just perpetuated all of the things it complained about.
I just cringed through the majority of the dialogue and spent the rest of the time wondering if the plot holes from previous chapters were deliberate.
I’m usually very generous with my ratings, but I just couldn’t do it this time. I love strong women. I love thrillers. I did not love this book. Lol.
I kept waiting for it to get better but it never did. The story was all over the place and the characters were a mess.
Welp, this book was incredibly...average. The premise had me so excited, as an avid true crime podcast listener I thought this book would be a wild ride. Unfortunately I just felt slightly annoyed most of the time. The narrator was irritating beyond belief, constantly contradicting herself and telling her story to a person she had never met in real life. She could clearly sense her behavior was erratic but never attempted to take a step back and assess the information from a different angel, leaving you as the reader feeling as if you are reading a character who could never truly exist. I had a lot of hope for this book and spent a lot of time frustrated that I just didn't enjoy it more.