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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
tense
fast-paced
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Okay, so the oral of the story is that this book really shows that I'm easily manipulated....lol.... during the whole entire time, the MC was being manipulated by Shane, but turned out I'm manipulated by the book. Towards the end, when I was around 70% finished, I thought the book was pretty bad, honestly, since everything was super predictable. Each chapter always includes the MC questioning who choked her that night, and she kept affirming that it was Shane who choked her. The book continued that through EVERY SINGLE CHAPTER and leads in the direction that Tim might be the suspect, and it draws the reader into the thinking of Brooke. I actually started thinking as if I'm brooke between the dilemma of who the killer is. All the crazy plot twists were left to the end, around 10 percent of the book left, and I was honestly bewildered and overstimulated. I had thought the book was so bad since everything was predictable, but BAM! towards the end it hit me like a truck.....
Still, as the chapter progressed, hints of Tim being the suspect crept up until there was this one incident where MC found a body (Elli) in the wine basement of Tim's house. Tim was then arrested and imprisoned in place of Shane, who is now released. MC, feeling guilty about "wrongfully" imprisoning Shane, felt responsible for the mess she had created, so she welcomed him back into her life, letting him live with her and incorporating him back into the family as he got back on his feet. One day, Shanerevealed that he got his farmhouse back (the place where the incident from 11 years ago took place) and wanted to come back and resettle there. Brooke, obviously having severe trauma, refused to go back, but she had to since Shane no longer had his license to drive. After getting to the house, Josh wanted to come in and explore (as encouraged by Shane), so she had to follow suit. After they were done cleaning, Shane persuaded Josh to go out to the woods to play with the snow and showed him around. Brooke was hesitant but succumbed to guilt since Shane was Josh's father, and she knew she had to trust him if she wanted to rebuild their relationship. As Shane and Josh went to the woods, Brooke went into Shane's room to rest, but had a vivid flashback of the incident and realized that it was 100% Shane who tried to choke her since his body was stronger than Tim's, who was lanky. She realized that as she was getting choked, Chelsea was also screaming, so she concluded that both Tim and Shane were in it (flashback to their ominous conversation), and one of them betrayed the other. Brooke realized the horrible mistake she had made and tried patting down her key, but Josh took it. Long story short, she realized Shane took it after calling him, and Shane said he was going to make it pay by killing her and taking away what's most important to her. She went outside and saw Margie, and was delighted, and explained that Josh was in danger. Margie revealed that her real name wasn't actually Margie but Palma Nelson (Shane's mom). She pulled out a Glock and pointed at Brooke, but Brooke grabbed it and dodged a bullet. Long story short, Palma had an affair with Brooke's father and harbored resentment for it, taking revenge, she revealed it to Shane, who "would do anything for his mom," and planned to kill Brooke. It was Palama who stabbed Chelsea and the others, and Tim was actually innocent. Anyway, after Palma was shot, Chelsea saw Josh running after her and said that Shane was lying on the snow floor since an ice cube fell on him. Brooke realized Shane was dead. A chapter afterward, from a POV of Josh, he recounted the incident and revealed that before, Tim told him that if he came across anyone whose name "was Shane Nelson," he was super dangerous. Josh, remembering this, wanted to protect his mom, so he had one chance when Shane and he were out alone. He had shaken a tree branch that knocked Shane down, but didn't kill him, so Josh grabbed an ice cube nearby and stabbed him to death, because according to him, "he would do anything for his mom". This is ironic because throughout the book,similaritiess between Shane and Josh have been pointed out several time,s s and this one hammered it home as both of them would do "anything for their mom" and both moms were single motherOkayk,that'shat all I wrote to solidify my understanding and to hopefully prevent memory loss of this book after reading it, so hopefully, future me can recap this if she forgets.
Definitely didn't expect that one but I wish it was a little bit faster paced lwk
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
slow-paced
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I work in forensic/ corrections mental health. So I think that’s why this one and Ward D fell short for me. I think too literally when reading these and often feel like “that would never happen”. I think my mindset and my job ruins these reads for me. For the right audience, this one is great. One of her better books if you’re not biased. Some points are far too unrealistic for me to get on board with. The twists were definitely twisty as usual though.