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3.01 AVERAGE
3.01 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
mysterious
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:
Complicated
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
Feel like there was such a huge buildup and then the end was so confusing and not worth it really
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC. This book started off gathering my interest and attention until about the halfway point. Once I got there, I have no idea where the story went or what I just read. The story is able to keep interesting but felt like it had too many aspects to understand what was happening. The ending alone was disappointing.
This sounded great from the synopsis, roughly a third of it I was pretty bought into this storyline despite it feeling very confusing bouncing from the main character having zero memory of who they are or how they're doing their job, to fully functioning in a court room. Her monologuing was chaotic which you'd honestly expect if you woke up not knowing who you were or how you got to work that morning. Sadly this is about as far as I got to before it started to become apparent this really wasn't the story for me.
The court case itself sounds really interesting, but coupled with Lila's continuous chaotic monologue and becoming seemingly less competent lawyer, I'm frankly surprised no one took her off of the case long before she made it back to the court room. It became less and less believable she would still be in post.
I'm probably rounding up because 2 stars feels too low, I'd have probably given this half marks. Overall I found myself getting a little lost towards the end and almost hoping this was shorter in the final quarter, which is a stark contrast to how I started out.
Thank you to Netgalley for an ELC in exchange for an honest review.
The court case itself sounds really interesting, but coupled with Lila's continuous chaotic monologue and becoming seemingly less competent lawyer, I'm frankly surprised no one took her off of the case long before she made it back to the court room. It became less and less believable she would still be in post.
I'm probably rounding up because 2 stars feels too low, I'd have probably given this half marks. Overall I found myself getting a little lost towards the end and almost hoping this was shorter in the final quarter, which is a stark contrast to how I started out.
Thank you to Netgalley for an ELC in exchange for an honest review.
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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
The Trials of Lila Dalton by L.J. Shepherd is one of the more layered debuts that I have read in a minute, and I was hooked from the very first chapter! The premise of a barrister standing at the front of a courtroom with no idea of how she got there or who she is was incredibly intriguing to me and the execution was well done. I initially rated this a 3, but after thinking about it more, it is probably more of a 4 star read for me. It is very complex and while I didn’t love the far-right aspect of the story I have to be fair to the author who literally put it in the note at the beginning that I failed to read first for fear of spoilers, so that’s on me.
I did love this book on audio and I thought Ella Lynch made for an amazing narrator. She was pleasant to listen to, easy to understand, and she totally took on the persona of our FMC Lila. The anxiety ridden moments especially as we get to the end were excellently expressed by Lynch and I could feel her voice radiating the tension I myself was feeling for Lila. I loved the isolated location setting as well as the scraps of memory and déjà vu that Lila experiences throughout as she tries to figure out how she got to where she is while at the same time trying to win the case for her client. This ended up being very twisty and I was so glad there was a conversation with the author (not in the audiobook) that confirmed it was what I thought it was. Very freaky and added a bit of an otherworldly twist I wasn't expecting.
Read this if you enjoy intricate debuts that are based on far-right conspiracy theorists, heaps of red herrings, and courtroom dramas!
Book Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Audiobook Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Thank you to the publishers for my advanced listening and reader copies of this book. All opinions and thoughts are my own.
I did love this book on audio and I thought Ella Lynch made for an amazing narrator. She was pleasant to listen to, easy to understand, and she totally took on the persona of our FMC Lila. The anxiety ridden moments especially as we get to the end were excellently expressed by Lynch and I could feel her voice radiating the tension I myself was feeling for Lila. I loved the isolated location setting as well as the scraps of memory and déjà vu that Lila experiences throughout as she tries to figure out how she got to where she is while at the same time trying to win the case for her client. This ended up being very twisty and I was so glad there was a conversation with the author (not in the audiobook) that confirmed it was what I thought it was. Very freaky and added a bit of an otherworldly twist I wasn't expecting.
Read this if you enjoy intricate debuts that are based on far-right conspiracy theorists, heaps of red herrings, and courtroom dramas!
Book Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Audiobook Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Thank you to the publishers for my advanced listening and reader copies of this book. All opinions and thoughts are my own.