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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
The one thing that upsets me about this book is that now I'm more than halfway through the series, and I only have two Dublin Murder Squad books left to read.
Normally I say that I like my murder mysteries blood-soaked and terrifying: I want to be biting my fingernails, waiting for somebody to do the hero(ine) in, and I want the book to give me nightmares. I'm partial to psychological thrillers and books that take place in the woods, where nobody can hear you scream. (Don't ask what this has done to my ability to hang out alone in the woods.) This series isn't quite like that. Oh, there's plenty of blood to go around in Broken Harbour; the crime Mick Kennedy is investigating involves the violent stabbing of two people. But the real work comes in the characterisation, in seeing Kennedy wrestle with what happened and who and why and how the case intersects with his own history. This deep psychological scrub is where French has excelled in previous books in the series, and Broken Harbour is no different.
One quibble: I had a hard time separating Kennedy's voice from Mackey's in Faithful Place. I'm not sure whether that's because they both come off as super hard-boiled or because Kennedy as narrated by Kennedy is rather less egotistical than Kennedy as narrated by Mackey, but I ended up less invested in Kennedy than I might otherwise have been. But the mess he's investigating...it's thoroughly and beautifully done.
Normally I say that I like my murder mysteries blood-soaked and terrifying: I want to be biting my fingernails, waiting for somebody to do the hero(ine) in, and I want the book to give me nightmares. I'm partial to psychological thrillers and books that take place in the woods, where nobody can hear you scream. (Don't ask what this has done to my ability to hang out alone in the woods.) This series isn't quite like that. Oh, there's plenty of blood to go around in Broken Harbour; the crime Mick Kennedy is investigating involves the violent stabbing of two people. But the real work comes in the characterisation, in seeing Kennedy wrestle with what happened and who and why and how the case intersects with his own history. This deep psychological scrub is where French has excelled in previous books in the series, and Broken Harbour is no different.
One quibble: I had a hard time separating Kennedy's voice from Mackey's in Faithful Place. I'm not sure whether that's because they both come off as super hard-boiled or because Kennedy as narrated by Kennedy is rather less egotistical than Kennedy as narrated by Mackey, but I ended up less invested in Kennedy than I might otherwise have been. But the mess he's investigating...it's thoroughly and beautifully done.
I'm so obsessed with Tana French!! Her books are a product of a lot of reflection, but she shares her insights in the form of a gripping story. This book in particular met me right where I am. SO good!
Quotes I jotted down as I read:
Over time, the ghosts of things that happened start to turn distant; once they've cut you a couple of million times, their edges blunt on your scar tissue, they wear thin. The ones that slice like razors forever are the ghosts of things that never got the chance to happen. pg. 157
"Sometimes bad things just happen," he said... I said, "You can't think that way. Whether it's true or not. You have to believe that somewhere along the way, somehow, most people get what they deserve. "Or…?" "Or how do you get up in the morning? Believing in cause and effect isn't a luxury. It's an essential, like calcium, or iron. You can go without it for a while, but in the end you'll start eating yourself up from the inside. You're right: every now and then, life isn't fair. That's where we come in. That's what we're for. We get in there and we fix it." pg. 161
Most of them never confess... In nine people out of ten self-preservation goes deeper than sense, deeper than thought. pg. 173
The day we stop asking why, The day that we decide that it's acceptable for the answer to a severed life to be 'Just because', is the day we step away from that line across the cave entrance and invite the wild to come howling in. pg. 203
Just about everything in this life is treacherous, ready to twist and shape-shift at any second; it seemed to me that the whole world would be a different place if you had someone you were certain of, certain to the bone, or if you could be that to someone else. pg. 425
Deep down, I didn’t blame them for asking. It looked like plain salacious nosiness, but even then I understood that it was more. They needed to know. Like I told Richie, cause and effect isn’t a luxury. Take it away and we’re left paralyzed, clinging to some tiny raft lurching wild and random on endless black sea. If my mother could go into the water just because, then so could theirs, any night, any minute; so could they. When we can’t see a pattern, we fit pieces together until one takes shape, because we have to. pg. 442
Quotes I jotted down as I read:
Over time, the ghosts of things that happened start to turn distant; once they've cut you a couple of million times, their edges blunt on your scar tissue, they wear thin. The ones that slice like razors forever are the ghosts of things that never got the chance to happen. pg. 157
"Sometimes bad things just happen," he said... I said, "You can't think that way. Whether it's true or not. You have to believe that somewhere along the way, somehow, most people get what they deserve. "Or…?" "Or how do you get up in the morning? Believing in cause and effect isn't a luxury. It's an essential, like calcium, or iron. You can go without it for a while, but in the end you'll start eating yourself up from the inside. You're right: every now and then, life isn't fair. That's where we come in. That's what we're for. We get in there and we fix it." pg. 161
Most of them never confess... In nine people out of ten self-preservation goes deeper than sense, deeper than thought. pg. 173
The day we stop asking why, The day that we decide that it's acceptable for the answer to a severed life to be 'Just because', is the day we step away from that line across the cave entrance and invite the wild to come howling in. pg. 203
Just about everything in this life is treacherous, ready to twist and shape-shift at any second; it seemed to me that the whole world would be a different place if you had someone you were certain of, certain to the bone, or if you could be that to someone else. pg. 425
Deep down, I didn’t blame them for asking. It looked like plain salacious nosiness, but even then I understood that it was more. They needed to know. Like I told Richie, cause and effect isn’t a luxury. Take it away and we’re left paralyzed, clinging to some tiny raft lurching wild and random on endless black sea. If my mother could go into the water just because, then so could theirs, any night, any minute; so could they. When we can’t see a pattern, we fit pieces together until one takes shape, because we have to. pg. 442
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
dark
mysterious
medium-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:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Suicide, Violence, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail
Difficult to review. Switching between 4 and 4.5 stars.
I loved how this story went from the horrific tangled mess at the beginning to the perfectly ordered, everything-is-crystal- clear ending very seamlessly. So seamlessly you didn't even notice; the major reveals etc were not dramatic, just woven steadily into the story pulling you further and further in without even realising.
I found it quite terrifying when I thought about it. Madness loneliness and hopelessness don't make a peaceful story, but they do make an interesting one.
I loved how this story went from the horrific tangled mess at the beginning to the perfectly ordered, everything-is-crystal- clear ending very seamlessly. So seamlessly you didn't even notice; the major reveals etc were not dramatic, just woven steadily into the story pulling you further and further in without even realising.
I found it quite terrifying when I thought about it. Madness loneliness and hopelessness don't make a peaceful story, but they do make an interesting one.
Vakler mellem to eller tre stjerner. Ville måske være landet på tre, hvis jeg havde læst originaludgaven i st f den oversatte udgave.
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-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
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot