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carlaabra's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
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? It's complicated
1.0
There’s a reason you don’t hear about the genre “literary suspense”, which this book purports to be. That’s because it’s an oxymoron - it’s very difficult to combine suspenseful thrills, which classically rely on fast pacing and tight prose to keep the reader engaged, and literary fiction, which leans towards flowery descriptions and slower, reflective pacing. This book is a great example of why this genre usually doesn’t work. It’s too bogged down in long-winded descriptions to be thrilling, and it’s too crippled from having to pay lip service to a suspenseful plot to be literary.
Beyond that, there are other issues. Cass as a MC is just unbelievably stupid. The ending is guessable from about 30% into the book, and she still doesn’t put it together. Once you learn some of her backstory/past later on, the answer becomes even more obvious, yet she still has no clue. Her wunderkind twins are perfect and have the rationality and common sense normally belonging to adults (except Cass, apparently). Her friendship with Niles was bordering on the romantic and made me uncomfortable. And one of my biggest pet peeves—her name. Cassandra. For someone that can see future events that are usually negative and rarely believed. Hmm, I wonder what other famous Cassandra shares those traits /s.
Beyond that, there are other issues. Cass as a MC is just unbelievably stupid. The ending is guessable from about 30% into the book, and she still doesn’t put it together. Once you learn some of her backstory/past later on, the answer becomes even more obvious, yet she still has no clue. Her wunderkind twins are perfect and have the rationality and common sense normally belonging to adults (except Cass, apparently). Her friendship with Niles was bordering on the romantic and made me uncomfortable. And one of my biggest pet peeves—her name. Cassandra. For someone that can see future events that are usually negative and rarely believed. Hmm, I wonder what other famous Cassandra shares those traits /s.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Sexual assault, Murder, and Death of parent
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