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3.45 AVERAGE
3.45 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I listened to this book rather than read it, and I think that was a mistake.
I felt the book was hard to get into and that may have had to do with all the different characters, it may have just been too much to listen.
Lastly, the ending was just predictable for me.
I felt the book was hard to get into and that may have had to do with all the different characters, it may have just been too much to listen.
Lastly, the ending was just predictable for me.
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Es un buen libro, genera duda, curiosidad, intriga porque todo parece sospechoso y por querer saber más sobre la historia del pozo. En lo personal me atrapó porque es un género distinto a lo que siempre leo. Podría darle 5 estrellas (lo leí en 2 día) pero le daré 4 porque son muchos personajes, muchas voces y narrativas. Si planeas leerlo ten en cuenta que es importante memorizar los nombres, ocupaciones, relaciones familiares o de amistad entre los personajes para que puedas hilar la trama y no tengas que regresar como yo, a las primeras páginas en donde se presentan a los personajes.
The next sentence is probably the most important in this review.
I have never read "The girl on the train" nor have I seen the film. The next book an author writes after a 20 million bestseller is going to draw lots of comparisons but not this one. The dustjacket biography mentions that this is Hawkins' second stand-alone thriller and it's important to note that this is stanalone - as far as I am aware there are no continuities with any characters.
Nel Abbot dies just before the start of the book, drowned at a location known as the Drowning Pool. The pool has claimed several victims over the centuries, all women ("troublesome women" as one character describes them). Nel was obsessed with these women and the water and was researching for a book on them - research that seems to have got too close to uncovering secrets.
Nel's estranged sister, Jules, travels to Northumberland to look after Nel's troubled teenage daughter. It's a return to the scene of her childhood and many uncomfortable memories.
Each chapter is told from the perspective of one of the many characters in the vicinity. Most, but not all, are in the first person. Even those chapters written in the third person still divulge inner thoughts and feelings of the character an it's these half remembered, half told thoughts that reveal a very twisted mystery. It's a mystery that goes back several decades and covers each death.
The plot thickens and stirs. Many twists are revealed throughout the book and a whole history of a small area gradually reveals itself. The chapters are short and intense, jumping from character to character and sometimes going over the same scene from several viewpoints - it's a style that is mastered and for me keeps a perfect pace. I was happy to move the plot on as a personality is gradually revealed over the course of the book, some are quite plain until the very end.
A criticism is the number of characters - there are a number to keep up with. Several are similar - quite and loyal wives who take some reading to discern which wife is which. A bit sexist of me? This is a very patriarchal book - the men control the women throughout the plots and not always through explicit aggressive dominance. This harkens back to the earliest vignette of a witch trial and the first girl to drown in the pool, men subjugating women. Despite the number of characters I did find enough depth to keep me in the story, a story that kept me guessing and gasping until the very end.
It's inevitable that there will be calls for this to be made into a film like Hawkins' first book. I don't think it's suited to that. I see this as a series that gradually reveals itself over its course. I hope they keep it in Northumberland too - any sighting of Craster is a good one.
So there you go - a standalone review of a standalone thriller. No comparison to the Girl on the Train at all, I hope that helps.
I have never read "The girl on the train" nor have I seen the film. The next book an author writes after a 20 million bestseller is going to draw lots of comparisons but not this one. The dustjacket biography mentions that this is Hawkins' second stand-alone thriller and it's important to note that this is stanalone - as far as I am aware there are no continuities with any characters.
Nel Abbot dies just before the start of the book, drowned at a location known as the Drowning Pool. The pool has claimed several victims over the centuries, all women ("troublesome women" as one character describes them). Nel was obsessed with these women and the water and was researching for a book on them - research that seems to have got too close to uncovering secrets.
Nel's estranged sister, Jules, travels to Northumberland to look after Nel's troubled teenage daughter. It's a return to the scene of her childhood and many uncomfortable memories.
Each chapter is told from the perspective of one of the many characters in the vicinity. Most, but not all, are in the first person. Even those chapters written in the third person still divulge inner thoughts and feelings of the character an it's these half remembered, half told thoughts that reveal a very twisted mystery. It's a mystery that goes back several decades and covers each death.
The plot thickens and stirs. Many twists are revealed throughout the book and a whole history of a small area gradually reveals itself. The chapters are short and intense, jumping from character to character and sometimes going over the same scene from several viewpoints - it's a style that is mastered and for me keeps a perfect pace. I was happy to move the plot on as a personality is gradually revealed over the course of the book, some are quite plain until the very end.
A criticism is the number of characters - there are a number to keep up with. Several are similar - quite and loyal wives who take some reading to discern which wife is which. A bit sexist of me? This is a very patriarchal book - the men control the women throughout the plots and not always through explicit aggressive dominance. This harkens back to the earliest vignette of a witch trial and the first girl to drown in the pool, men subjugating women. Despite the number of characters I did find enough depth to keep me in the story, a story that kept me guessing and gasping until the very end.
It's inevitable that there will be calls for this to be made into a film like Hawkins' first book. I don't think it's suited to that. I see this as a series that gradually reveals itself over its course. I hope they keep it in Northumberland too - any sighting of Craster is a good one.
So there you go - a standalone review of a standalone thriller. No comparison to the Girl on the Train at all, I hope that helps.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
It keeps you on your toes. Do you think you know what was going on? No, you don't. It was a little slow the first half, but definitely catches your attention with little details. The details!
I enjoyed this so much more than Girl On a Train. At the start of the book it is quite confusing; so many characters it was hard to keep them straight. Once I had the characters figured out it was an enjoyable, suspenseful book.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced