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oliveclogs's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
revisorium's review against another edition
5.0
Oh my god. I couldn’t put this down. THE TWIST??? i am sobbing. I’m glad Jerry and Manny had happy endings but JESUS
kimblefairy1989's review against another edition
5.0
This novel was excellent. Although it lacked any of the usual tension associated with this kind of novel, the characterisation and plot twists kept me hooked till the very last page.
billymac1962's review against another edition
5.0
I recently read and loved Distress Signals by Catherine Ryan Howard, which was her debut novel.
On the cover of the book, there's a mention that it was shortlisted for the CWA Debut New Blood Dagger award
(https://thecwa.co.uk/awards-and-competitions/the-daggers/john-creasey-new-blood-dagger). So I thought I would check out what actually won that year and it was this one.
I was surprised that it was Chris Whitaker because I do have We Begin At The End on my Kindle library (my wife had read it) but I hadn't heard of Tall Oaks. Not one mention of it on the book podcasts I listen to. So, immediately interested, I bought it and dove it. And I freaking loved it.
There aren't a lot of times where humour can blend in well with psychological suspense and to be honest I was quite wary going in.
But wow, did it ever work. I can't recall another novel that covered such a wide range of emotions in me: humour, rage, disgust, empathy, and I was fully engaged throughout all aspects of the story.
Not to say that this there is a lot of humour, the story is quite dark, but it was done in a way that wasn't forced and really fit it. The story is totally my jam: it centers around a missing child in a small, affluent town.
It follows a few sets of characters, and of course everyone has secrets in a small town. I felt like I was reading a season of Fargo.
To put it simply, the story was told expertly. Just like Distress Signals, and this means that with the discovery of the CWA awards website, I just may have found an amazing resource for crime novel recommendations!
And I am also looking forward to We Begin at the End.
Five stars! WooHoo!
On the cover of the book, there's a mention that it was shortlisted for the CWA Debut New Blood Dagger award
(https://thecwa.co.uk/awards-and-competitions/the-daggers/john-creasey-new-blood-dagger). So I thought I would check out what actually won that year and it was this one.
I was surprised that it was Chris Whitaker because I do have We Begin At The End on my Kindle library (my wife had read it) but I hadn't heard of Tall Oaks. Not one mention of it on the book podcasts I listen to. So, immediately interested, I bought it and dove it. And I freaking loved it.
There aren't a lot of times where humour can blend in well with psychological suspense and to be honest I was quite wary going in.
But wow, did it ever work. I can't recall another novel that covered such a wide range of emotions in me: humour, rage, disgust, empathy, and I was fully engaged throughout all aspects of the story.
Not to say that this there is a lot of humour, the story is quite dark, but it was done in a way that wasn't forced and really fit it. The story is totally my jam: it centers around a missing child in a small, affluent town.
It follows a few sets of characters, and of course everyone has secrets in a small town. I felt like I was reading a season of Fargo.
To put it simply, the story was told expertly. Just like Distress Signals, and this means that with the discovery of the CWA awards website, I just may have found an amazing resource for crime novel recommendations!
And I am also looking forward to We Begin at the End.
Five stars! WooHoo!
mslourens's review against another edition
dark
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
ladyr's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
corlaine's review against another edition
2.0
I enjoyed the characters and their development and mostly enjoyed the book. It's an easy read and attention grabbing enough to make 33hrs travel time home pass more quickly. I'm only giving 2 stars because of the ending. I'm burnt out on the recent trend of a "whodunnit" twist in the end demonstrating something awful in human nature and the "true" culprit who you really weren't expecting all along. Rather the ending coming as a surprise, it becomes an expected disappointment in the character and their evil nature. I don't enjoy ending books like that. Gone Girl made me angry. The Girl on the Train was a lesser version of the same. The Dinner was about depravity all the way through and ended just as ugly. Now this. I don't plan to read anymore books touted along these lines.