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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
Durante la primera mitad del libro no estaba muy enganchada, a pesar de que este tiene, al igual que los otros, el inconfundible estilo de Tana French, que hace que estos thrillers de asesinatos sean mucho mas que eso, que te muestran el lado humano de estos casos, no solo de los implicados sino tambien de los detectives involucrados, aun así sentía que este iba a ser el mas flojo de esta serie.
Pero, pero, perooooo, llega el ultimo tercio del libro y me engancha de forma tal que no puedo dejar de leer, quiero saber quien mató a Chris pero mas que nada quiero saber todo lo que pasó para ocurriera este asesinato, porque como dice cierta frase gringa "el demonio está en los detalles".... y Tana French no decepciona, que librazo! En un principio el tema de las adolescentes en el internado no me cautibava mucho pero después, la autora, me hizo recordar que es tener esa edad, tener un grupo de amigas que crees que serán para siempre y como los humanos somos tan complejos... Ufff, no quiero divagar mucho para no desvelar los misterios de este libro, pero sobra decir que me ha encantado. Y al igual que los otros libros de esta serie, me ha dejado pensando.
Solo me queda el ultimo, que no lo leeré de inmediato porque yo estos libros tengo que digerirlos lentamente, espero no me tomé dos años para tomarlo :P, pero segura que lo leeré. Esta mujer no me ha defraudado y tengo la ciega esperanza de que no lo hará.
Sin lugar a dudas uno de los mejores libros que he leído este año, algo lento, algo largo, pero al final vale la pena. Muy recomendado.
Pero, pero, perooooo, llega el ultimo tercio del libro y me engancha de forma tal que no puedo dejar de leer, quiero saber quien mató a Chris pero mas que nada quiero saber todo lo que pasó para ocurriera este asesinato, porque como dice cierta frase gringa "el demonio está en los detalles".... y Tana French no decepciona, que librazo! En un principio el tema de las adolescentes en el internado no me cautibava mucho pero después, la autora, me hizo recordar que es tener esa edad, tener un grupo de amigas que crees que serán para siempre y como los humanos somos tan complejos... Ufff, no quiero divagar mucho para no desvelar los misterios de este libro, pero sobra decir que me ha encantado. Y al igual que los otros libros de esta serie, me ha dejado pensando.
Solo me queda el ultimo, que no lo leeré de inmediato porque yo estos libros tengo que digerirlos lentamente, espero no me tomé dos años para tomarlo :P, pero segura que lo leeré. Esta mujer no me ha defraudado y tengo la ciega esperanza de que no lo hará.
Sin lugar a dudas uno de los mejores libros que he leído este año, algo lento, algo largo, pero al final vale la pena. Muy recomendado.
Tana French broke my heart again... her books are more than just solving the mystery (even though I did about halfway through) just because her writing is so GOOD. Yes, we're dealing with teenagers and maybe getting inside of their minds won't be for everyone, but I loved it. She captures what it's like to be a teenager, the divide between youth and adulthood, the bond between teenage girls; it reminded me of what it's like to be in high school (in a good way). And then on the detective side, you have Conway and her experiences as a woman on the murder squad. Men need to read this book. I wanted to underline whole paragraphs, especially the one on fear (be afraid be afraid be afraid) and the other about when your body doesn't belong to yourself anymore. Also because it's Tana French, you have to love how she throws in pieces of magical realism with no explanation. I also enjoy how she changed the structure of the novel with the change in chapters between present day and the past. The case takes place over one day and you feel the claustrophobia of being trapped in that school build throughout the book until you are as exhausted as her characters. I want to live inside of her writing.
As a general rule I do not like detective novels or police procedurals, but this was pretty good. It helped that it was set at a boarding school. I love a good school setting.
Anyway, Detective Stephen Moran is stuck working in Cold Cases until a tip on a murder case falls in his lap, and he is allowed to tag along when the detective assigned to the case goes to the school to follow up on the tip. Last year a boy was murdered on the school grounds, and the case has not been solved.
Anyway, Detective Stephen Moran is stuck working in Cold Cases until a tip on a murder case falls in his lap, and he is allowed to tag along when the detective assigned to the case goes to the school to follow up on the tip. Last year a boy was murdered on the school grounds, and the case has not been solved.
Imagine a thermometer. At the bottom at the people we consider acquaintances. We say hi when we see them, but that’s about all. At the top are the friends we would do absolutely anything for, up to and including committing crimes. Where things go wrong is when the thermometers are not at the same levels between people we consider friends; a person we would bury bodies for might not do the same. The events of The Secret Place, by Tana French, are set at that point of disconnection. And, like all tragedies, the characters who are misaligned friends have no idea that they are misaligned.
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type.
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type.
Another stellar read from Tana French. A bit of a departure from her other books, in that the setting is a high school and most of the characters are teenage girls, but the feel of the book was the same as her others. Really enjoyed the interaction between the two investigators, made me want to read more with the two of them, even though I know that isn't how she does her books. Highly recommend!
I'm ever so slightly disappointed in this one. I've been powering through the Dublin Murder Squad series, and loving them all... until this one.
There was NO reason to toss in a supernatural element, especially when it had ZERO bearing on the story or ultimate resolution. What the heck?
There was NO reason to toss in a supernatural element, especially when it had ZERO bearing on the story or ultimate resolution. What the heck?
Good but not my favorite of the series so far. I will certainly keep reading what Ms. French writes as I enjoy the mystery as well as the other issues she addresses in her works.
This is must first foray into reading Tana French and I thoroughly enjoyed The Secret Place - just brilliant. The Secret Place is a slow reveal of the truth done with timing, tension, precision and skill. The character development is excellent and narrative style is accessible and engaging.
Review: http://bennitheblog.com/bookbiters/the-secret-place-by-tana-french/
Detective Stephen Moran has called in all the favors, but Cold Cases is as far up the ladder as he can climb. In his words:
But when sixteen-year-old Holly Mackey brings him a clue—a note posted on the school bulletin board that reads “I know who killed him”—to an unsolved murder of a teenage boy, Det. Moran sees this as an opportunity to audition for the more exciting Murder Squad.
He teams up with Det. Antoinette Conway, the murder detective originally assigned to this case, to revisit the school and re-interview the witnesses. But Det. Conway was the one who failed to solve the case the first time ‘round, and Det. Moran’s past betrayals may not inspire confidence.
As the two detectives spend a long day at the school, alternating chapters from the schoolgirls’ perspectives—beginning from eight-and-a-half months before the murder, to beyond—spin a slightly different tale than the ones told to the detectives.
I previously wrote in my review of Broken Harbor that the Dublin Murder Squad series isn’t about the whodunnit, but rather how the case fundamentally changes the murder detective who works on it. For Rob Ryan (In the Woods) and Scorcher Kennedy (Broken Harbor), the results were . . . damaging. For Cassie Maddox (The Likeness), less so—she learned the difference between who she thought she wanted to be, who she was, and who she actually wants to be. For Frank Mackey (Faithful Place), while the foundation of his past became cracked beyond repair, resolving his case also opened doors for his future—a future that we get to glimpse in The Secret Place.
Comparatively, Stephen Moran features less in The Secret Place than the prior detectives featured in their respective books, as he shares book time with the girls from Holly Mackey’s group of friends. Despite being a little disappointing at first, this juxtaposition, one of ebb and flow, pays off: As Det. Moran is looking to establish new relationships and earn a spot on the Murder Squad, the teenagers face eventual graduation—a possible end to their close friendships.
If there’s something special about first loves, is the same not true of “first” friendships? Schoolgirl Joanne Heffernan’s group consists of friendships cobbled from teenage anxiety, but Holly Mackey’s group is the Real Deal, forged by a closeness that could easily make one feel superior for its very possession. But given individual feelings and urges, is it ever possible to fully trust someone else? Or is it that we need to trust others precisely because we can’t trust ourselves? Tana French constructs a world—or rather, reminds us of a world teenagers can live in: one where revealing secrets and betraying trust are far deadlier sins than murder itself.
Regardless of how things may work out for certain detectives, Tana French has earned a Ph.D. in How Things Fall Apart. So to the extent any relationships at the end of The Secret Place seem hopeful, there’s plenty of foreshadowing (and foreboding) from other, less fortunate friendships—in this book as well as the prior books—to make me think twice. That it only makes me hold on harder to hope demonstrates the beauty of this book: a perfect marriage of anxiety and optimism, teased out through the guise of a murder mystery.
Also as part of my prior review, I stated that Broken Harbor perfected the formula to exposing a detective’s soul. So, it’s refreshing to see Tana French not rest on her laurels. Instead, she experiments with a new format in The Secret Place by weaving together multiple storylines, storylines that show how certain types of pain are as universal as they are personal.
(I received a digital review copy of the book via Netgalley/Edelweiss, courtesy of Viking Adult.)
Review: http://bennitheblog.com/bookbiters/the-secret-place-by-tana-french/
Detective Stephen Moran has called in all the favors, but Cold Cases is as far up the ladder as he can climb. In his words:
I work Cold Cases. When we bring witnesses in, they want to believe this doesn’t count: not really a murder investigation, not a proper one with guns and cuffs, nothing that’ll shake your life like a snow globe. Something old and soft, instead, worn fuzzy around the edges. We play along. Our main interview room looks like a nice dentist’s waiting room. Squashy sofas, Venetian blinds, glass table of dog-eared magazines. Crap tea and coffee. No need to notice the video camera in the corner or the one-way glass behind one set of blinds, not if you don’t want to, and they don’t. This won’t hurt a bit, sir, just a few little minutes and off you go home.
But when sixteen-year-old Holly Mackey brings him a clue—a note posted on the school bulletin board that reads “I know who killed him”—to an unsolved murder of a teenage boy, Det. Moran sees this as an opportunity to audition for the more exciting Murder Squad.
He teams up with Det. Antoinette Conway, the murder detective originally assigned to this case, to revisit the school and re-interview the witnesses. But Det. Conway was the one who failed to solve the case the first time ‘round, and Det. Moran’s past betrayals may not inspire confidence.
As the two detectives spend a long day at the school, alternating chapters from the schoolgirls’ perspectives—beginning from eight-and-a-half months before the murder, to beyond—spin a slightly different tale than the ones told to the detectives.
I previously wrote in my review of Broken Harbor that the Dublin Murder Squad series isn’t about the whodunnit, but rather how the case fundamentally changes the murder detective who works on it. For Rob Ryan (In the Woods) and Scorcher Kennedy (Broken Harbor), the results were . . . damaging. For Cassie Maddox (The Likeness), less so—she learned the difference between who she thought she wanted to be, who she was, and who she actually wants to be. For Frank Mackey (Faithful Place), while the foundation of his past became cracked beyond repair, resolving his case also opened doors for his future—a future that we get to glimpse in The Secret Place.
Comparatively, Stephen Moran features less in The Secret Place than the prior detectives featured in their respective books, as he shares book time with the girls from Holly Mackey’s group of friends. Despite being a little disappointing at first, this juxtaposition, one of ebb and flow, pays off: As Det. Moran is looking to establish new relationships and earn a spot on the Murder Squad, the teenagers face eventual graduation—a possible end to their close friendships.
If there’s something special about first loves, is the same not true of “first” friendships? Schoolgirl Joanne Heffernan’s group consists of friendships cobbled from teenage anxiety, but Holly Mackey’s group is the Real Deal, forged by a closeness that could easily make one feel superior for its very possession. But given individual feelings and urges, is it ever possible to fully trust someone else? Or is it that we need to trust others precisely because we can’t trust ourselves? Tana French constructs a world—or rather, reminds us of a world teenagers can live in: one where revealing secrets and betraying trust are far deadlier sins than murder itself.
Regardless of how things may work out for certain detectives, Tana French has earned a Ph.D. in How Things Fall Apart. So to the extent any relationships at the end of The Secret Place seem hopeful, there’s plenty of foreshadowing (and foreboding) from other, less fortunate friendships—in this book as well as the prior books—to make me think twice. That it only makes me hold on harder to hope demonstrates the beauty of this book: a perfect marriage of anxiety and optimism, teased out through the guise of a murder mystery.
Also as part of my prior review, I stated that Broken Harbor perfected the formula to exposing a detective’s soul. So, it’s refreshing to see Tana French not rest on her laurels. Instead, she experiments with a new format in The Secret Place by weaving together multiple storylines, storylines that show how certain types of pain are as universal as they are personal.
(I received a digital review copy of the book via Netgalley/Edelweiss, courtesy of Viking Adult.)
Review: http://bennitheblog.com/bookbiters/the-secret-place-by-tana-french/
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The mystery of this plot was interesting enough. I would have put it down otherwise. It’s veryyyy slow paced. There’s a few elements that I just don’t think were necessary (like the supernatural stuff). I wish that it had leaned more towards dark academia rather than teen drama.