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saira98's review against another edition
3.0
I am in love with a good mystery at the moment, so when I saw this title pop up on Netgalley I had to request it. I was so excited when I got accepted for it. I started reading it straight away and suffice to say, I found it hard to put down after that.
This murder mystery follows a young woman as she tries to put the pieces together after her older sister's disappearance quite a few years ago. It's something that always played on her mind and she finally managed to get her prime suspect to go on a road trip with her. She's determined to get any and all information our of him that she is sure he has on her sister.
I did love the mystery part of this book. I was in a constant argument with myself as to whether Carl was actually a murderer or whether he genuinely had no clue as to what was going on. It was a really well paced book I thought. Nothing was dragged out too much and I didn't get bored reading it. There were small pieces to the puzzle that you were given in each chapter but I still couldn't help wondering what was going to happen.
It was a race for me to get to the end of the book. Not because I didn't enjoy it but because I really needed to know what the truth was. There were so many things that pointed towards Carl being a killer and then some thing that didn't;t make any sense at all. However, one thing I did find was that it was hard to connect all of the characters. They seemed so cold and detached from everything and it made it hard to empathise. It was the main thing that did put me off of this book.
The plot as a whole was great though. The only thing that I think ruined it was the ending. I really didn't like the epilogue at all. I felt like it was a little bit of a cop out. There were things that I felt were a little too unrealistic at the end and it didn't make sense to me. I just feel like it let down the book a little.
Overall, this wasn't my favourite mystery/suspense book that I've read but it wasn't too bad. I guess I just had higher hopes for it was all.
This murder mystery follows a young woman as she tries to put the pieces together after her older sister's disappearance quite a few years ago. It's something that always played on her mind and she finally managed to get her prime suspect to go on a road trip with her. She's determined to get any and all information our of him that she is sure he has on her sister.
I did love the mystery part of this book. I was in a constant argument with myself as to whether Carl was actually a murderer or whether he genuinely had no clue as to what was going on. It was a really well paced book I thought. Nothing was dragged out too much and I didn't get bored reading it. There were small pieces to the puzzle that you were given in each chapter but I still couldn't help wondering what was going to happen.
It was a race for me to get to the end of the book. Not because I didn't enjoy it but because I really needed to know what the truth was. There were so many things that pointed towards Carl being a killer and then some thing that didn't;t make any sense at all. However, one thing I did find was that it was hard to connect all of the characters. They seemed so cold and detached from everything and it made it hard to empathise. It was the main thing that did put me off of this book.
The plot as a whole was great though. The only thing that I think ruined it was the ending. I really didn't like the epilogue at all. I felt like it was a little bit of a cop out. There were things that I felt were a little too unrealistic at the end and it didn't make sense to me. I just feel like it let down the book a little.
Overall, this wasn't my favourite mystery/suspense book that I've read but it wasn't too bad. I guess I just had higher hopes for it was all.
shanajade's review
3.0
I don't know. I kept waiting for this to be more exciting and it left me with more questions... I guess this just wasn't it for me. I feel like it was lacking something.
nicolekey's review
2.0
I wanted to like this more than I did, it just left me feeling a little...whelmed.
booklovewithmelanie's review against another edition
4.0
The premise of this book hooked me from the beginning. Loved the introduction of Barfly, it made our narrator develop deeper feelings for everything (and everyone) around her. The pictures throughout the book are lovely and eerie at the same time. I absolutely loved the way it ended and was pieced together of what and who she became in life because of all of this.
Thank you to Random House publishing -Ballantine books and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you to Random House publishing -Ballantine books and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
bookish_blonde's review
2.0
Ugghh. What a waste of time. Slow flowery writing. Read like a literary fiction. Boring and hated ending.
wynnter's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
riddlemesphinx's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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? No
2.0
books_in_badgerland's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
4.0
"My chest tightens with all that he provokes. . . . The idea that we miss so much waiting for what is right in front of us, that the ordinary is magical, that the exotic is in our backyard, that every animal has a soul, that there is this terrible, wonderful novel in every human being."
I'm in my Julia Heaberlin era, folks. I welcome the way her books make me think and feel. While I typically don't go for slower burns, I'm happy to hang out in her worlds for awhile. Her characters are flawed and real. She tends to include art, science, and elements of the unexplainable.
A woman's sister has been missing for years, and she has spent her time concocting a plan to find answers. She has a theory, and proving it involves busting Carl - an aging, acquitted serial killer - out of his living facility to embark on a road trip across Texas.
There are so many unknowns throughout most of the book. In addition, there are frequent internal conflicts and contradictions. Reviews show some readers got frustrated by this and wanted to get to the answers. Did he or didn't he? Is she correct, or is her judgement clouded by intense grief? Knowing the author's style, I knew it would come together well and that I would have increasingly warm feelings about it long after the last page. That's exactly what happened. I'm pretty sure I got misty eyed twice during the acknowledgments.
"Bad people are to be found everywhere, but even among the worst there may be something good." - Dostoyevsky's The House of the Dead
I'm in my Julia Heaberlin era, folks. I welcome the way her books make me think and feel. While I typically don't go for slower burns, I'm happy to hang out in her worlds for awhile. Her characters are flawed and real. She tends to include art, science, and elements of the unexplainable.
A woman's sister has been missing for years, and she has spent her time concocting a plan to find answers. She has a theory, and proving it involves busting Carl - an aging, acquitted serial killer - out of his living facility to embark on a road trip across Texas.
There are so many unknowns throughout most of the book. In addition, there are frequent internal conflicts and contradictions. Reviews show some readers got frustrated by this and wanted to get to the answers. Did he or didn't he? Is she correct, or is her judgement clouded by intense grief? Knowing the author's style, I knew it would come together well and that I would have increasingly warm feelings about it long after the last page. That's exactly what happened. I'm pretty sure I got misty eyed twice during the acknowledgments.
"Bad people are to be found everywhere, but even among the worst there may be something good." - Dostoyevsky's The House of the Dead