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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
slow-paced
Did not enjoy this book. Felt there was no wrap up of the original mystery
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Think I'm on a bit of a crime drama kick lately. This held my interest well enough, but it wasn't a stay up all night read. Since I don't typically read crime, I was mega impressed with the behind the scenes stuff, I really liked reading about how the detectives worked day to day. But the main character was a dick, which is always hard for me. I'm hoping the next one is a little easier to swallow in that regard.
Confession: The first time I found myself identifying with this book was page 137. This is what I read...She talks about reading unsuitable books from their libary - The Golden Bough, Ovid's Metamorphoses; Madame Bovary, which she hated but finished anyway...
That's right. I was having a terrible time convincing myself that it would be worth it to keep reading. I was thisclose to quitting. All I could think was:
THIS SUCKS AND IS SLOW AND BORING AND JUST NOT DOING IT FOR ME.
And I don't know when it happened, but it did. I was suddenly utterly enthralled. I finally realized that the book wasn't going to be what I expected. This was not going to be a fast-paced, edge-of-my-seat thriller. This was not going to have me sleeping with the lights on. This was not going to be a YA book that moved very rapidly and had events happening left and right - BAM! BAM! BAM! Once I reached this very important level of acceptance, I found myself really loving this book. I had forgotten what it felt like to addicted to a book and wishing there were more pages. I forgot what it was like to feel truly invested in the story and to have only gotten there by slogging through some "boring" pages (although I feel like if I went back and read them now, my eyes would be fresh and my mind more welcoming). The writing, which I found mediocre if not slightly annoying in the beginning, grew on me. I found myself chuckling throughout, and eating up every damn word. The characters were phenomenal and memorable. Iwas am so attached to them. The "relationship" between Cassie and Rob is one of the best developed I've read in a while.
The Story
You can read the blurb. It's pretty accurate. The main character had two friends who disappeared when he and these two friends were all younger and playing in the woods. He is the lone survivor (and I say that loosely because the other two were never found) but does not recall what happened that day. Fast-forward and he is a murder detective assigned to a case in which a little girl is found murdered in the same woods.
Please don't think that there is no mystery involved in this when I say it's not a thriller. This is most certainly a murder mystery complete with a whodunnit. It is also a mystery of a man and his surrounding world - what is real and what is not. You always want your (mostly) likable main character to be honest - is he really, though? There is a lot of character development and a lot of details. I will warn that everything will not be tied up with a pretty, fancy bow in the end. There are "conclusions" you may not favor. Despite this I feel like I would have been satisfied if this was the only book and not a series. I was very happy to discover that there were more in this series (with a different main character is appears) because I can't get enough.
Now what do you say we do a little discussion on the main characters? Go ahead? Ok! I'm going to leave out all of them except for Adam Ryan ("Rob") and Cassie.
Rob
He is the voice in this book. Everything you will learn is through his eyes. These are his perceptions. This seems quite straightforward at first until you realize that his perceptions are just that - perceptions. And they are coming from a guy who can't even remember what happened when his friends disappeared. These perceptions are coming from someone who has very little nostalgia (this was something quite hard for me to digest, as nostalgia affects me so deeply). He has some memories of the past but often discovers these "memories" were inaccurate. As someone on the murder squad, you expect him to be able to read others, to be a stand up citizen, to have a keen eye. Instead you realize that he is easily fooled by people, drinks like a fish, and misses most clues. He screws up and is utterly human. I liked him. I want to know more about him.
Cassie
Cassie is everything I want in a female character. She is strong and witty yet sensitive to others. Despite this, she was harder for me to like. Her (work) partner, Rob/Adam Ryan, is the only opinion we have, so for some time we can only pick up what he thinks of her. And while he has high opinions of her, you initially see her as a bit drab and a bit of a loss cause. As the story progresses, we become more aware of her actions and tell his skewed opinions to shut up the hell up because HEY! WE REALLY LIKE HER! His views of her are ever shifting as well. I am really excited to read the next book in which she stars in. I want to see what is in her mind because, quite frankly, Rob can be a bit daft and shallow...especially when it comes to women.
This is one of the few books that I had such a hard time picking up for the first quarter of the book, then had a terrible time putting it down, and then ended up giving it FIVE VERY WELL DESERVED STARS.
That's right. I was having a terrible time convincing myself that it would be worth it to keep reading. I was thisclose to quitting. All I could think was:
THIS SUCKS AND IS SLOW AND BORING AND JUST NOT DOING IT FOR ME.
And I don't know when it happened, but it did. I was suddenly utterly enthralled. I finally realized that the book wasn't going to be what I expected. This was not going to be a fast-paced, edge-of-my-seat thriller. This was not going to have me sleeping with the lights on. This was not going to be a YA book that moved very rapidly and had events happening left and right - BAM! BAM! BAM! Once I reached this very important level of acceptance, I found myself really loving this book. I had forgotten what it felt like to addicted to a book and wishing there were more pages. I forgot what it was like to feel truly invested in the story and to have only gotten there by slogging through some "boring" pages (although I feel like if I went back and read them now, my eyes would be fresh and my mind more welcoming). The writing, which I found mediocre if not slightly annoying in the beginning, grew on me. I found myself chuckling throughout, and eating up every damn word. The characters were phenomenal and memorable. I
The Story
You can read the blurb. It's pretty accurate. The main character had two friends who disappeared when he and these two friends were all younger and playing in the woods. He is the lone survivor (and I say that loosely because the other two were never found) but does not recall what happened that day. Fast-forward and he is a murder detective assigned to a case in which a little girl is found murdered in the same woods.
Please don't think that there is no mystery involved in this when I say it's not a thriller. This is most certainly a murder mystery complete with a whodunnit. It is also a mystery of a man and his surrounding world - what is real and what is not. You always want your (mostly) likable main character to be honest - is he really, though? There is a lot of character development and a lot of details. I will warn that everything will not be tied up with a pretty, fancy bow in the end. There are "conclusions" you may not favor. Despite this I feel like I would have been satisfied if this was the only book and not a series. I was very happy to discover that there were more in this series (with a different main character is appears) because I can't get enough.
Now what do you say we do a little discussion on the main characters? Go ahead? Ok! I'm going to leave out all of them except for Adam Ryan ("Rob") and Cassie.
Rob
He is the voice in this book. Everything you will learn is through his eyes. These are his perceptions. This seems quite straightforward at first until you realize that his perceptions are just that - perceptions. And they are coming from a guy who can't even remember what happened when his friends disappeared. These perceptions are coming from someone who has very little nostalgia (this was something quite hard for me to digest, as nostalgia affects me so deeply). He has some memories of the past but often discovers these "memories" were inaccurate. As someone on the murder squad, you expect him to be able to read others, to be a stand up citizen, to have a keen eye. Instead you realize that he is easily fooled by people, drinks like a fish, and misses most clues. He screws up and is utterly human. I liked him. I want to know more about him.
Cassie
Cassie is everything I want in a female character. She is strong and witty yet sensitive to others. Despite this, she was harder for me to like. Her (work) partner, Rob/Adam Ryan, is the only opinion we have, so for some time we can only pick up what he thinks of her. And while he has high opinions of her, you initially see her as a bit drab and a bit of a loss cause. As the story progresses, we become more aware of her actions and tell his skewed opinions to shut up the hell up because HEY! WE REALLY LIKE HER! His views of her are ever shifting as well. I am really excited to read the next book in which she stars in. I want to see what is in her mind because, quite frankly, Rob can be a bit daft and shallow...especially when it comes to women.
This is one of the few books that I had such a hard time picking up for the first quarter of the book, then had a terrible time putting it down, and then ended up giving it FIVE VERY WELL DESERVED STARS.
This would have been 5 except that after the half way point there was about 150 pages of nothing. Nothing that really added to the story or pushed the storyline. I hated the ending, when you invest this much time you want a resolution, at least for me.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
sad
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
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes