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sarah_ah's review
mysterious
slow-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? It's complicated
3.0
marsetta's review
3.0
Many thanks to Canelo, the author and Netgalley for the digital copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
What really happened that weekend?
Four friends go to a remote cabin one summer. Only three return.
Life is good for university friends Sarah, Ruth, Charlotte, and Kathy: exams are over and they’re escaping to a cabin by the Blue Pool.
But when Sarah disappears without a trace, life for the others will never be the same again.
Twenty-five years later a man walks into a police station, claiming to know about the missing girl. Suddenly, the three women – now estranged – become suspects. Forced to revisit that horrifying weekend, they must confront buried fears.
For not everything was as it seemed. And the greater the secret, the deeper it lies…
I so wanted to love this book. I really enjoyed Twisted River and I had a high expectation that this book would be just as good. It wasn't unfortunately.
I found this book so slow to start, most of the first 60% was a dull description of student life in Galway which pretty much involved drinking and sex and the majority of it was irrelevant to the story.
This book didn't have the same suspense as Twisted River and I didn't really take to any of the four women. They came across as quite self-absorbed and for seemingly intelligent students they didn't appear to have any sense of the stupid risks they took. Overall I found the story very predictable and it didn't have the type of tension I would expect for this type of mystery and as there were only a couple of real suspects it wasn't hard to predict the ending.
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kba76's review
2.0
Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for my thoughts.
Honestly, this felt disappointing. The premise was intriguing, and the second half of the book was great. Unfortunately, the slow pacing of the first half and my lack of any feeling for the key characters offset all the good things that came later.
Receiving a phone-call to say that someone had come forward with information about the disappearance of an old friend clearly unsettled our three characters. We could tell each of them - for some reason - had spent years trying to ignore whatever events had led to this moment and it was odds-on that one of them knew more than they were letting on.
For some reason the author focused most of the first part of the book on the girls at university. It provides us with insight into the dynamics of their relationships and explores the build-up to Sarah’s disappearance. It was strongly suggested that characters met along the way might be involved, but things didn’t quite hang together.
As we get given details building up to Sarah’s disappearance we can understand why the three women have acted as they have done since. It also becomes clear that one of them is more closely involved than we were first led to believe. Gaining more info into her mindset would have been fascinating, but it felt like too little too late.
Honestly, this felt disappointing. The premise was intriguing, and the second half of the book was great. Unfortunately, the slow pacing of the first half and my lack of any feeling for the key characters offset all the good things that came later.
Receiving a phone-call to say that someone had come forward with information about the disappearance of an old friend clearly unsettled our three characters. We could tell each of them - for some reason - had spent years trying to ignore whatever events had led to this moment and it was odds-on that one of them knew more than they were letting on.
For some reason the author focused most of the first part of the book on the girls at university. It provides us with insight into the dynamics of their relationships and explores the build-up to Sarah’s disappearance. It was strongly suggested that characters met along the way might be involved, but things didn’t quite hang together.
As we get given details building up to Sarah’s disappearance we can understand why the three women have acted as they have done since. It also becomes clear that one of them is more closely involved than we were first led to believe. Gaining more info into her mindset would have been fascinating, but it felt like too little too late.
booksotb's review
4.0
I've read quite a few 'psychological thrillers' recently and been mostly disappointed. I really did enjoy this one though, I liked that the characters were fairly unlikable and had layered and not always simple relationships with each other. The ending really surprised me too... always welcome in this genre. The story was quite slow going at the beginning, but I enjoyed this part and the development of the characters. I also liked the Irish setting with some familiar faces...
One main gripe (as mentioned by another reviewer) was the number of spelling and grammatical errors in the Kindle edition. Really obvious things that a half decent editor or casual reader should pick up before publishing.
One main gripe (as mentioned by another reviewer) was the number of spelling and grammatical errors in the Kindle edition. Really obvious things that a half decent editor or casual reader should pick up before publishing.
cate_ninetails's review
3.0
I've never come across this author before so was curious to get stuck in. This is a fairly standard story, spooky cabin in the woods and a gang of girls, tragedy strikes. What sets it apart is the twists and turns, rushing through the years until we finally get to the truth. The unfortunate bit is how long we have to wait for that to happen.
I would have liked to have seen better pacing here from the author, to keep us more engaged, especially since we are having to absorb perspectives from so many characters, both in past and present tense. Books with a plot twist are great when done well, and certainly I didn't expect the one at the end of this one, but you don't want to fall in the trap of coming off gimmicky. This isn't a bad book though, it's a fun little read and I've seen so much said about the author's previous novel that I may go and track that one down now too.
I would have liked to have seen better pacing here from the author, to keep us more engaged, especially since we are having to absorb perspectives from so many characters, both in past and present tense. Books with a plot twist are great when done well, and certainly I didn't expect the one at the end of this one, but you don't want to fall in the trap of coming off gimmicky. This isn't a bad book though, it's a fun little read and I've seen so much said about the author's previous novel that I may go and track that one down now too.
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