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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
This was a disappointment after I really enjoyed all of Tana French’s other books. It felt like this one was about 50% too long, especially considering that all of the main action takes place in a single day. For a book that revolves around teenagers, you would expect there to be a fair degree of teen angst but this is lathered on so thick it is just annoying and for a murder-mystery, the murder just wasn’t very mysterious.
Book Riot 2020 Read Harder Challenge:
Task #3. Read a mystery where the victim(s) is not a woman
Task #3. Read a mystery where the victim(s) is not a woman
The DMS books just keep getting better and better. And each one is so unique in the style that she tells the story. This time, the story is told between two different voices (actually several voices), and in two different time lines.
We are reintroduced to a couple of familiar characters in this installment, although it is not necessary to have read her previous novels to understand what is going on with them.
Stephen Moran is arriving for another day at his job at Cold Cases when he is told he has a visitor already waiting for him: a now 16 year old Holly, who he had interviewed as a witness back when she was a small child. It is because of this she choses him to bring what she has: a new clue to an unsolved murder that took place at her private school last year, when a boy from a near by school was found dead on their grounds.
Moran sees this as his ticket back on the track to where he wanted to be: Murder Squad. He uses his in with Holly as a bargaining chip to insert himself in the investigation, and along with Detective Antoinette Conway (who has her own motivations to get the solve) they delve back into the world of privilege, teenage angst, revenge and savagery.
This story line was a lot more dramatic than I'm used to getting with French, almost like I was watching an episode of Pretty Little Liars. It was addictive, and I had to keep reading to find out what was happening. But at the same time, there was a lot of observation and perspective in this novel. Sometimes it was as if I was reading two different novels at the same time. In Moran's perspective it was a murder mystery, and in Holly and her friends' perspective it was almost a contemporary YA read. In some authors this probably would have really annoyed me, and interrupted the pacing of the story. It did interrupt the pacing somewhat, but I didn't really care. The writing and the story was that good.
The only negative I had was that I wish the female Detective wasn't portrayed as such a hindrance. She failed the first time around trying to solve the case, and although she has this tough as nails persona, she basically gave the entire reins of the case over to Moran to solve, and when I sit back and think about it, she contributed very little to solving the case. She's going to get credit for the solve, but even so, it was really clear that Moran could have basically done this on his own. We don't get many female detectives in this series, not since [b:The Likeness|5941114|The Likeness (Dublin Murder Squad, #2)|Tana French|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1538062804l/5941114._SY75_.jpg|6504351], and neither came out the other end looking that great. It would be nice to see some more female empowerment in her novels.
We are reintroduced to a couple of familiar characters in this installment, although it is not necessary to have read her previous novels to understand what is going on with them.
Stephen Moran is arriving for another day at his job at Cold Cases when he is told he has a visitor already waiting for him: a now 16 year old Holly, who he had interviewed as a witness back when she was a small child. It is because of this she choses him to bring what she has: a new clue to an unsolved murder that took place at her private school last year, when a boy from a near by school was found dead on their grounds.
Moran sees this as his ticket back on the track to where he wanted to be: Murder Squad. He uses his in with Holly as a bargaining chip to insert himself in the investigation, and along with Detective Antoinette Conway (who has her own motivations to get the solve) they delve back into the world of privilege, teenage angst, revenge and savagery.
This story line was a lot more dramatic than I'm used to getting with French, almost like I was watching an episode of Pretty Little Liars. It was addictive, and I had to keep reading to find out what was happening. But at the same time, there was a lot of observation and perspective in this novel. Sometimes it was as if I was reading two different novels at the same time. In Moran's perspective it was a murder mystery, and in Holly and her friends' perspective it was almost a contemporary YA read. In some authors this probably would have really annoyed me, and interrupted the pacing of the story. It did interrupt the pacing somewhat, but I didn't really care. The writing and the story was that good.
The only negative I had was that I wish the female Detective wasn't portrayed as such a hindrance. She failed the first time around trying to solve the case, and although she has this tough as nails persona, she basically gave the entire reins of the case over to Moran to solve, and when I sit back and think about it, she contributed very little to solving the case. She's going to get credit for the solve, but even so, it was really clear that Moran could have basically done this on his own. We don't get many female detectives in this series, not since [b:The Likeness|5941114|The Likeness (Dublin Murder Squad, #2)|Tana French|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1538062804l/5941114._SY75_.jpg|6504351], and neither came out the other end looking that great. It would be nice to see some more female empowerment in her novels.
really loved this one -- magical, twisty, haunting. reminded me of my friends at sixteen, when nights together seemed to stretch on forever, when we'd sit out in backyards late at night and just talk about everything and anything, when it seemed like we'd always be friends and nothing would ever ever change, that nothing ever could change, that there would always be us. when we didn't really understand the outside world, the adult world, the rest of our lives. and how, looking back now so many years on, those memories are still so strong, those moments still tug at somewhere deep inside your chest.
tana french has such a way with dialogue, too -- the girls' voices were so very teenager-like (but they were super grating for most of the book, too), and the contrast between the way conway & moran speak vs mackey really places this story in its setting. loved the rapport between conway & moran as it developed, as well. really liked how the story was told in parts, and how the past caught up with the present.
only one thing really seemed out of place:
on a side note: congrats to me, this one completes my 2019 reading challenge on here :)
tana french has such a way with dialogue, too -- the girls' voices were so very teenager-like (but they were super grating for most of the book, too), and the contrast between the way conway & moran speak vs mackey really places this story in its setting. loved the rapport between conway & moran as it developed, as well. really liked how the story was told in parts, and how the past caught up with the present.
only one thing really seemed out of place:
Spoiler
all the supernatural stuff. not to say that it wasn't well-written or haunting or magical and beautiful, but it also seemed like it belonged to a different story. almost felt like tana french didn't know what to do with it, either. it was there and it was mystical and strange, and then at the end ... it just isn't mentioned anymore. that's that. it's strange.on a side note: congrats to me, this one completes my 2019 reading challenge on here :)
My first Tana French book was Into the Woods, which I read early in my freshman year of high school. (It probably would've been more age-appropriate if I had read The Secret Place then and Into the Woods now, but I digress.)
In all honesty, I liked Into the Woods better — perhaps part of it is that I liked that book so much when I first read it, but it seems that it had more sympathetic characters, a more suspenseful mystery, less obvious developments.
Which is not to say that I didn't like The Secret Place! The backdrop is pretty much exactly my elementary-school fantasy of boarding school, and the narrative epitomizes "There's something dangerous about the boredom of teenage girls" — the edgier (so to speak) side of female adolescence, being young and underestimated and self-diagnosed as invincible.
In all honesty, I liked Into the Woods better — perhaps part of it is that I liked that book so much when I first read it, but it seems that it had more sympathetic characters, a more suspenseful mystery, less obvious developments.
Which is not to say that I didn't like The Secret Place! The backdrop is pretty much exactly my elementary-school fantasy of boarding school, and the narrative epitomizes "There's something dangerous about the boredom of teenage girls" — the edgier (so to speak) side of female adolescence, being young and underestimated and self-diagnosed as invincible.
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:
Complicated
I typically love Tana French, but this one really missed the mark for me. She tends to be very deliberate with her psychological characterizations, but the protagonist in this one just reeked of machismo in a way that eclipsed the psychological turmoil that was supposed to explain it. There wasn't much of an investigation either, just a heavy reveal (which I saw coming from the first quarter of the book).
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really adored the first third of this book: an interesting premise, complicated well written realistic characters with lots of secrets, alternating timelines, gorgeous lyrical prose, and a touch of magic. All big pros for me. But as the book went on, it really began to drag. It started feeling very repetitive and many of the characters began to annoy me. Also, I was so excited about the magic when it was introduced (the scene where the girls discover their abilities was hands down my favorite scene in the book - so well written!), but then it didn't go anywhere at all. There's a lot I liked about this book, but by the conclusion I didn't love it as much as I was hoping to.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Fatphobia, Homophobia, Sexism
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes