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3.5 AVERAGE
3.5 AVERAGE
Entertaining, but both the style and general story were a bit lacking.
Great. Grabbed me. Shocked me. Excellent. A page turner, always wanted to know what was going to happen. Murder, friendship, Alzheimer's, possession, mystery...
Emily’s favorite book so she wanted me to read it. It was pretty good! But kinda confusing and weird.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death
Moderate: Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Abortion
Kate Cypher comes home to care for her ailing mother suffering from dimentia and Alzheimer's; however, the day she arrives a young girl is murdered. Murdered almost exactly as her best friend was thirty years ago. Her killer was never found.
The book is written in alternating chapters: present day 2002, following the murder and story of the young girl strangled on the day Kate arrived home, and thirty years ago, 1970's, following Kate and Del's friendship and ultimately Del's murder. Kate has always secretly blamed herself for Del's death. Guilt has consumed much of her adult life. There is a cast of strongly developed characters, each of whom could possibly be the killer. Could it be Kate's mother who seems to channel the spirit of Del? Her paintings revealing she knows more about the murders than people think. Or has Del really come back from the dead making the supposed rumors of "Potato Girl" ghost sightings true. Can ghosts kill? The real killer will surprise you...I promise not to tell.
But, "the dead can blame"...
The book is written in alternating chapters: present day 2002, following the murder and story of the young girl strangled on the day Kate arrived home, and thirty years ago, 1970's, following Kate and Del's friendship and ultimately Del's murder. Kate has always secretly blamed herself for Del's death. Guilt has consumed much of her adult life. There is a cast of strongly developed characters, each of whom could possibly be the killer. Could it be Kate's mother who seems to channel the spirit of Del? Her paintings revealing she knows more about the murders than people think. Or has Del really come back from the dead making the supposed rumors of "Potato Girl" ghost sightings true. Can ghosts kill? The real killer will surprise you...I promise not to tell.
But, "the dead can blame"...
I love Jennifer McMahon as an author and I’m currently reading through her published work. Promise Not To Tell is an easy read, as well as much of her work. I do feel like the ending was very sporadic as the conclusion to the mystery could have went a few different directions. I have read complaints of plot lines not being tied up but just because she doesn’t specifically state someone did a specific thing, doesn’t mean we can’t rationalize around what happened. Overall a good and easy read. Does start out a bit slow so it took me a couple goes to get started, but once invested the storyline fell together well.
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
very well written. the book flashes between the main character's life as a child in 1972, and her present day 2002 -- returning to her hometown to care for her sick mother.
the book is basically about murders that occur in 1971 and 2002, with very similar circumstances. the main character, Kate, sets to figure out the answers to both.
thrilling and sweet at the same time, i enjoyed this quick read.
the book is basically about murders that occur in 1971 and 2002, with very similar circumstances. the main character, Kate, sets to figure out the answers to both.
thrilling and sweet at the same time, i enjoyed this quick read.