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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
Arrowood was good, but I was definitely expecting more. It was extremely well-written and had a steady pace that had me INVESTED in the story, but the lack of answers did bother me. Don't get me wrong, I'm not against unclosed endings, I think they can be super-intriguing and a great way to close a story, but this one was not my thing. We found out what happened, and then were given an alternative theory that made sense, but was never proven.
I am bothered by who the 'bad guys' turned out to be.On the one hand, there was Heaney, the only poor character in the whole novel, with the exception of the pedophile. Heaney seemed hardworking and helpful, but then turned out to be a total dickhead, and would have murdered the heroine for uncovering that he was stealing the estate's money.
Then, we had the whole situation with the twins - was it even an accident that they drowned, or did the mother deliberately drown them? Either way, she can and should be blamed for it... which sucks because she was the only character with a mental health issues.
I doubt the author had bad intentions, but having the mentally ill mother being a potential killer, and the two poor characters being a pedophile and a person ready to kill respectively was not the best look, tbh.
I am bothered by who the 'bad guys' turned out to be.
Then, we had the whole situation with the twins - was it even an accident that they drowned, or did the mother deliberately drown them? Either way, she can and should be blamed for it... which sucks because she was the only character with a mental health issues.
I doubt the author had bad intentions, but having the mentally ill mother being a potential killer, and the two poor characters being a pedophile and a person ready to kill respectively was not the best look, tbh.
A mystery focused on the past, the author uses themes of family and memory, scars and secrets to tell a dark, yet hopeful story with twists I didn't see coming.
The plot was a bit thin in areas (i.e. the twists and turns weren't very surprising for me) and the main character was disappointingly naive and ignorant in the choices made throughout the book. I kept waiting for her to wise up and start acting like an adult but it never seemed to happen. By the end of the book, I was tired of reading about her missteps and was interested only in figuring out what happened to her sisters.
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
I went into Arrowood knowing nothing about it, but the cover and title intrigued me. Oftentimes the random books I choose to read are a disappointment, but Arrowood was a good read! I found the main character, Arden, relatable and the mystery interesting (if a bit predictable). I'll have to check out more of this author's works.
Twenty years ago, 8 year old Arden and her 2 year old twin sisters, Violet and Tabitha, are outside their family estate, Arrowood, when Arden walks away. The twins are kidnapped, Arden is forced to move with her family and her parents marriage falls apart. Now, Arden is 25 (yeah, the math doesn’t make sense...) because her father has died, leaving her the estate. Purposeless and unable to complete her master’s, Arden returns to her former home to try to discover what happened to her sisters. She’s very emotionally damaged, there’s a dusting of romance and the ending message has Arden discovering her family’s history. It was a good book, a little bit noir and a few scares that made me half-shrug in shock. It was pretty meh.
I received this ARC from Goodreads and Random House. I enjoyed The Weight of Blood so I was excited to read this second novel.
Arden Arrowood returns to her childhood home after many years. Her twin sisters went missing from the house almost twenty years earlier and Arden was the only witness. She returns hoping to make a new start of her life and is drawn into solving the mystery of the twins' disappearance.
The setting of the failing town, old architecture, and general nostalgia throughout the book were really well done. I liked the way this story resolved all the plot lines better than The Weight of Blood.
Overall, I would recommend as a solid, suspenseful mystery.
Arden Arrowood returns to her childhood home after many years. Her twin sisters went missing from the house almost twenty years earlier and Arden was the only witness. She returns hoping to make a new start of her life and is drawn into solving the mystery of the twins' disappearance.
The setting of the failing town, old architecture, and general nostalgia throughout the book were really well done. I liked the way this story resolved all the plot lines better than The Weight of Blood.
Overall, I would recommend as a solid, suspenseful mystery.
Arden Arrowood is haunted by the memory of the day her twin sisters were kidnapped. Seeking some kind of answers she decides to finally go back to the house her family had abandoned when she was a teenager. Dripping water, missing buttons, photos of her sisters that day and a mysterious man dressed in a hoodie and sunglasses on a summer day who wants to help her solve this cold case mystery. Is everything as she remembers it? Or did something else happen that terrible afternoon that Arden can't or doesn't want to remember? Excellent writing, great book! My rating is 4 stars.
This was a good, solid book. I enjoyed the story, but it wasn't quite as spooky and mysterious as I hoped. The pacing felt drawn out at times, but boy, when I hit the 75-80% mark, things took off and then I flew through the rest of it. Although the pacing could feel stretched, the writing was engaging and I really liked the narrator. The answer to the big question of the book felt a little predictable, but still, that wasn't bad enough to make me want to stop reading. The ending left some questions a little more open than I would have liked.