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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
I was disappointed in this book. The lead detective was not likable much of the time due to his obstinance and arrogance. The plot points related to the holes in the wall seemed ridiculous to me - at least the way it was presented. In the end, the wild animal in the house - real or imaginary - was a trigger for mental illness/instability for both the wife and husband. The existence/non-existence of the wild animal in the house was something that triggered some mental problems for both the wife and husband but was not sufficient to explain those mental problems. Maybe it was that there was so much focus on the presence/absence of the wild animal and not so much as the mental craziness that went along with that. That part didn't seem fully developed and the characters had some nice details but just didn't come together.
I listened to this on audiobook after listening to "The Trepasser" by the same author - which was an excellent book with great characters, story lines and plot twists that made sense and kept my attention. "Broken Harbor" had some promise but
I listened to this on audiobook after listening to "The Trepasser" by the same author - which was an excellent book with great characters, story lines and plot twists that made sense and kept my attention. "Broken Harbor" had some promise but
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Tana French explores issues of mental illness and family in another of her perfectly tense, character-driven mysteries. All of the characters are flawed, the crime is horrific, and half of Broken Harbor gave me heart palpitations, but I loved every page of it. Must-read for anyone who loved In The Woods.
I liked the first 3 in this series, but this one really fell flat for me. I didn't find the characters likeable or believable. The plot was interesting but interspersed with stupid bits that were never explained. It's well written, but I found myself wishing it was shorter and would just get on with it.
I really enjoyed this book. As usual, Tana French grabbed my attention right away and held it. There were a lot of layers to the mystery which meant I was kept guessing the whole book. I couldn't wait to see how they all came together and best of all I did not solve the mystery! The one con of this book is that it is too long. French writes great dialogue, but when you tell a story almost entirely through dialogue, it can take a long time to get where you are going. This book would have been perfect if it was about 75 pages shorter.
I'd read this when it first came out but never added it to GR. Re-reading it now, it was still hugely compelling, and Tana French does the atmosphere of impending doom so, so well. I knew what was coming, I knew what had taken place and I still couldn't put it down.
A whole family attacked - the kids and the husband dead, the wife in hospital barely hanging on. The knee-jerk assumption - husband must've done it - doesn't seem to fit the evidence. The wife had told someone that she thought someone was breaking in to their place and moving things. The house is full of big holes in walls and a bunch of video-enabled baby monitors are pointing at the holes. Creepy much? Oh, and they live on one of Ireland's "ghost estates". Look those up, they are chilling.
The theme that runs through this book is the role of cause and effect versus chaos/randomness in shaping our lives. If you make the right decisions and do things correctly, most people would expect that to lead a Good Life, with Good Things and No Random Bad Shit. But is that true? Does Random Bad Shit sometimes just happen to Good People? Or maybe they are not all that good and maybe they've done something to invite the badness into their life and we just don't want to face that truth? The investigating detectives grapple with this duality as they try to figure out what the hell was going on in this weird shiny new house of a seemingly normal and boring middle class family and as usual, Tana French doesn't serve up convenient black and white answers. I still can't decide which factors played the greatest role in leading to the murders.
Creepy, atmospheric, claustrophobic. I was reading it late into last night/very early morning and then started seeing dark creepy shadows everywhere when I tried to sleep. So maybe read only during daylight hours if you are easily spooked.
A whole family attacked - the kids and the husband dead, the wife in hospital barely hanging on. The knee-jerk assumption - husband must've done it - doesn't seem to fit the evidence. The wife had told someone that she thought someone was breaking in to their place and moving things. The house is full of big holes in walls and a bunch of video-enabled baby monitors are pointing at the holes. Creepy much? Oh, and they live on one of Ireland's "ghost estates". Look those up, they are chilling.
The theme that runs through this book is the role of cause and effect versus chaos/randomness in shaping our lives. If you make the right decisions and do things correctly, most people would expect that to lead a Good Life, with Good Things and No Random Bad Shit. But is that true? Does Random Bad Shit sometimes just happen to Good People? Or maybe they are not all that good and maybe they've done something to invite the badness into their life and we just don't want to face that truth? The investigating detectives grapple with this duality as they try to figure out what the hell was going on in this weird shiny new house of a seemingly normal and boring middle class family and as usual, Tana French doesn't serve up convenient black and white answers. I still can't decide which factors played the greatest role in leading to the murders.
Creepy, atmospheric, claustrophobic. I was reading it late into last night/very early morning and then started seeing dark creepy shadows everywhere when I tried to sleep. So maybe read only during daylight hours if you are easily spooked.
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
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
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Interesting partner relationship, didn't care about the mystery at all.