Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.5 AVERAGE
3.5 AVERAGE
Two murders, 30 years apart. A ghostly girl wandering the woods. Objects appearing and disappearing. And secrets galore.
Jennifer McMahon has become one of my go-to authors. I've enjoyed everything I've read by her so far, and this was no exception.
Jennifer McMahon has become one of my go-to authors. I've enjoyed everything I've read by her so far, and this was no exception.
I didn't hate this but it fell flat for me. I think the author couldn't decide if she wanted it to be a mystery, a ghost story, a thriller... Is the ghost real? Is there a logical explanation? The book never picked one lane until the ending which was a mess. The flashbacks are to the narrator being in 5th grade and honestly I don't know many 10 year olds that have a love life this complicated, at least in the case of Del. I feel like my review is as unorganized as the book but it's late and I wanted to put my thoughts down while they were fresh. So many of the characters are just... there - and then the ending is something you couldn't have solved anyway, making any potential shocking twist impossible. Don't bother.
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal death, Child abuse, Incest
I though this story was so sad. Aside from the ghost story and the thought of the Del being back from dead theme, I couldn't believe all the things Del had to put up with from her classmates. At least she was strong but there was so much more to her that the readers didn't know about her. I like the analogy of an onion because even thought she let the closest people take a peak of her, she never truly revealed her true-self to anyone. While some readers disliked this story, I found interesting. I'm not going to say it was the best novel from her (I'm still trying to catch up) but I do enjoy her writing style and her way of story-telling.
I prefer my novels a little less on the supernatural side. The ending of this one was just too over-the-top for me. I kept expecting reality to come crashing in, & it never did.
This is the second book I have read by this author. The first was Island of Lost Girls and I did not really enjoy it. This one was much better. I still had some issues with the story, but overall I thought it was well written and I was never sure who the murderer was until the reveal at the end. It kept me guessing from the beginning and that does not happen often for me in these types of stories.
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
All the action happens in the last few chapters. Overall underwhelming.
Promise Not to Tell, by Jennifer McMahon, reads like a (high quality) first book (although it's not, technically), but it's got a strong sense of place and a plot that created full time worries even when I could only read it part time. Points for originality and a steady sense of dread. Lucky me, I passed right through the area where the story was set just after reading the book!
When middle-aged Kate returns to her hometown to find a care facility for her dementia-stricken mother, she learns that sometimes the past won't stay buried.
When Kate was a child, her best friend Del - a poor girl who was bullied and called the Potato Girl - was the victim of a brutal, unsolved murder. The night Kate returns home, a local teen is killed in the same way, and one of the witnesses swears that she saw the Potato Girl near the body. Who murdered the girls? Does the ghost of the Potato Girl really haunt the town? The more Kate learns, the more questions there seem to be and the only thing sure is that more is going on in this small town than meets the eye.
Suspenseful and decently spooky, with a great sense of place, this is a good choice for readers who want a slightly paranormal mystery. There's a surfeit of red herrings that detracts from the big reveal, but despite that, it's a good story.
When Kate was a child, her best friend Del - a poor girl who was bullied and called the Potato Girl - was the victim of a brutal, unsolved murder. The night Kate returns home, a local teen is killed in the same way, and one of the witnesses swears that she saw the Potato Girl near the body. Who murdered the girls? Does the ghost of the Potato Girl really haunt the town? The more Kate learns, the more questions there seem to be and the only thing sure is that more is going on in this small town than meets the eye.
Suspenseful and decently spooky, with a great sense of place, this is a good choice for readers who want a slightly paranormal mystery. There's a surfeit of red herrings that detracts from the big reveal, but despite that, it's a good story.