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3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Although I gave them all three stars (I need half stars!!), this one was probably my favorite. Or maybe it’s recency bias. Hard to say.
dark
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Free ARC from NetGalley.
60-something Stephen is getting g married. Again. Again, again, as it turns out, because this is actually his third marriage. But his adult daughters don’t know about marriage #1, and daughter Rachel (beautiful but aloof, stopped running abruptly at 16, so you know there’s something up….spoiler: she was raped but never told anyone and has been distant from men ever since) decides he’s an abusive husband, despite never seeing this her whole life. Rachel finds a hot water bottle stuffed with almost $100,000 and a piece of paper with her sister, Tully’s name and the name of a woman named Fiona Arthur. Rachel discovers Fiona was her dad’s first wife. He denies knowing her when Rachel confronts him about her. Spoiler: Fiona and Rachel’s mom, Pam, we’re friends — he felt bad about breaking her heart and didn’t want to tell his girls about Fiona, which conveniently makes him look suspicious).
Heather, wife #3, is the same age as Rachel and Tully, and their dad is a surgeon and loaded, so they’re suspicious of her thinking she’s a gold digger. She’s not. She just had a crappy childhood and needs a father figure.
Spoiler : Pam’s mom left her the hot water bottle stuffed with money because her mom had been skimming money off her pension and stuffing it in there. Pam intended on throwing Stephen a huge party, started to make a list of names of things to get for the party (Fiona had a picture of Stephen that Fiona wanted to get, Tully would get balloons) when Stephen walked in so she stuffed the note in the bottle. Years later Rachel discovers it, finds out who Fiona is, co fronts Fiona who says Stephen hurt her, Rachel jumps to the conclusion that he beat her — not that he hurt her by leaving her — then Pam says “that poor woman….he hurt her” so Rachel decides he’s an abuser, warns Heather, who then thinks he’s gaslighting her, but really her awful father’s abuse is getting mixed up with her reality, and in the end, Rachel hits Stephen over the head with a candlestick in the sacristy (sounds like a game of Clue) and he dies.
The characters were pretty flat. Rachel’s motive to kill her own father was unbelievable. I started reading to the middle and then I ended up reading from the end to about the middle to find out what happened.
60-something Stephen is getting g married. Again. Again, again, as it turns out, because this is actually his third marriage. But his adult daughters don’t know about marriage #1, and daughter Rachel (beautiful but aloof, stopped running abruptly at 16, so you know there’s something up….spoiler: she was raped but never told anyone and has been distant from men ever since) decides he’s an abusive husband, despite never seeing this her whole life. Rachel finds a hot water bottle stuffed with almost $100,000 and a piece of paper with her sister, Tully’s name and the name of a woman named Fiona Arthur. Rachel discovers Fiona was her dad’s first wife. He denies knowing her when Rachel confronts him about her. Spoiler: Fiona and Rachel’s mom, Pam, we’re friends — he felt bad about breaking her heart and didn’t want to tell his girls about Fiona, which conveniently makes him look suspicious).
Heather, wife #3, is the same age as Rachel and Tully, and their dad is a surgeon and loaded, so they’re suspicious of her thinking she’s a gold digger. She’s not. She just had a crappy childhood and needs a father figure.
Spoiler : Pam’s mom left her the hot water bottle stuffed with money because her mom had been skimming money off her pension and stuffing it in there. Pam intended on throwing Stephen a huge party, started to make a list of names of things to get for the party (Fiona had a picture of Stephen that Fiona wanted to get, Tully would get balloons) when Stephen walked in so she stuffed the note in the bottle. Years later Rachel discovers it, finds out who Fiona is, co fronts Fiona who says Stephen hurt her, Rachel jumps to the conclusion that he beat her — not that he hurt her by leaving her — then Pam says “that poor woman….he hurt her” so Rachel decides he’s an abuser, warns Heather, who then thinks he’s gaslighting her, but really her awful father’s abuse is getting mixed up with her reality, and in the end, Rachel hits Stephen over the head with a candlestick in the sacristy (sounds like a game of Clue) and he dies.
The characters were pretty flat. Rachel’s motive to kill her own father was unbelievable. I started reading to the middle and then I ended up reading from the end to about the middle to find out what happened.
2.5
Something to read or in my case, listen to. Not a huge fan of any of the characters or the misdirection laid by the author to keep us guessing.
I am reading the ARC and the published copy are two different editions but I didn't care for the ending of the published copy either.
Meh.
Something to read or in my case, listen to. Not a huge fan of any of the characters or the misdirection laid by the author to keep us guessing.
I am reading the ARC and the published copy are two different editions but I didn't care for the ending of the published copy either.
Meh.
dark
emotional
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
I didn't like this one as much as her other two books. I felt like it took kind of a weird turn. It also has something like "Didn't see her coming" on the cover, which I found confusing. It was a quick audiobook though and entertaining enough!
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes