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mostlyfated's review against another edition
3.0
Not one JAK’s best. I’ve been reading Amanda Quick’s books since the late 1990s and was enjoying the first two of her Burning Cove series. But this one and the past book just felt flat. I appreciate that the main character is a female professional crime photographer during a time when there’s not many female photographers. But otherwise, the romance between Vivian and Nick felt forced and I had a hard time buying it. Not to mention, there was too much criminal procedures to make it a “romance” when the story was lightly sprinkled with romance. Maybe this book would have been better off being a historical mystery novel instead of a historical romance. Maybe it’s just me. Hope the next book is better.
wonder_in's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
southern_belle_books_'s review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
5.0
I really love this series and I think that this might be my favourite book in the series.
I love the historical setting and the whole atmosphere of Burning Cove. And the mystery in this book is so good.
But I absolutely adore Vivian and Nick they have to be my favourite characters in this series.
Really this is just a super fun historical mystery series and I wish that there were a hundred more books in this series.
I love the historical setting and the whole atmosphere of Burning Cove. And the mystery in this book is so good.
But I absolutely adore Vivian and Nick they have to be my favourite characters in this series.
Really this is just a super fun historical mystery series and I wish that there were a hundred more books in this series.
okaybooklover's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
amym84's review against another edition
4.0
3.5
Vivian Brazier left the conventional life she could have had (getting married, running a household, having kids) in order to make it as an artist, particularly with her photography. In the interim of making it big, Vivian does freelance work as a photojournalist, documenting crime scenes. She knows there is a strong division between what people consider art and what others consider news, that's why she keeps her name out of the papers, but Vivian knows that her success shouldn't rest on the what she has to do in order to survive. When Vivian draws the attention of a serial killer she gets some much needed help from private detective Nick Sundridge whose ability to "see" things that others can't has helped him solve many cases, and save many lives, including his own.
First off, I this has the most gorgeous cover of the entire series thus far. I love it. I love the art deco background.
Now, to the story. Having read, and enjoyed, all previous books in the series, I felt like Close Up starts off a little clunky. Readers are given a slight feint in regards to where the mystery will be starting off. I don't say this as a spoiler because it's all revealed within the few couple of chapters. Once the layout of the story is changed, it put me off a little bit. It took me a but more to get a feel for where the story is going and how everything ties together. In that regard I felt like the actual denouement was almost reaching in places in order to make things work. There were definitely a few places where it felt a little too jumbled. Not really a clean line of how things got from point A to B. Which I get because it's a mystery/thriller, there's going to be twists and turns, but I still believe, in the end, when all is revealed, things should be clear.
There were some good moments. I love being back in Burning Cove again. The setting of the series during the Golden Age of Hollywood has always been a standout.
I loved the behind the scenes look at photography and the different viewpoints on what is considered art (all subjective of course), and those that make the decisions on what is art. I think that, if anything, Amanda Quick really gave the most to getting Vivian's story - her struggles as a woman trying to make it on her own, her struggles as an artist - on the page, and it was what worked the best for me in the entire read.
The past couple of books have leaned into the idea of supernatural-type powers. Nick has visions, goes into trances, where he gleams information about the cases he's working, typically helping him solve them. Vivian also gets certain feelings about the people she photographs. Feels that inform how she should frame a shot and if it's working or not. For the most part, these "powers" remain ambiguous. You could call them intuition, or you could fully stand on the side of psychic ability. I think Close Up more than the previous books makes a stand for the psychic ability aspect at least in regards to Nick and his visions. It's an interesting turn of plot, as Nick frequently calls his visions a curse. Amanda Quick ties together the idea of things passed down through family. Things that have the ability to either help or hinder how we live our lives, and sometimes it's what we do with them ourselves, the resources available to us, that can determine whether we're helped or hindered. In this regard there's a slight correlation between Nick and the killer. It's an interesting dynamic and I would have like to have seen it explored more, but I think that would have meant exposing the mystery sooner.
Overall, while not my favorite in the series, the pages still flew by. I was engaged with the story, and I, as always, loved the setting and liked the characters. Quick keeps teasing a bigger storyline for Luther Pell and Raina Kirk so fingers crossed their book is next.
*ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Vivian Brazier left the conventional life she could have had (getting married, running a household, having kids) in order to make it as an artist, particularly with her photography. In the interim of making it big, Vivian does freelance work as a photojournalist, documenting crime scenes. She knows there is a strong division between what people consider art and what others consider news, that's why she keeps her name out of the papers, but Vivian knows that her success shouldn't rest on the what she has to do in order to survive. When Vivian draws the attention of a serial killer she gets some much needed help from private detective Nick Sundridge whose ability to "see" things that others can't has helped him solve many cases, and save many lives, including his own.
First off, I this has the most gorgeous cover of the entire series thus far. I love it. I love the art deco background.
Now, to the story. Having read, and enjoyed, all previous books in the series, I felt like Close Up starts off a little clunky. Readers are given a slight feint in regards to where the mystery will be starting off. I don't say this as a spoiler because it's all revealed within the few couple of chapters. Once the layout of the story is changed, it put me off a little bit. It took me a but more to get a feel for where the story is going and how everything ties together. In that regard I felt like the actual denouement was almost reaching in places in order to make things work. There were definitely a few places where it felt a little too jumbled. Not really a clean line of how things got from point A to B. Which I get because it's a mystery/thriller, there's going to be twists and turns, but I still believe, in the end, when all is revealed, things should be clear.
There were some good moments. I love being back in Burning Cove again. The setting of the series during the Golden Age of Hollywood has always been a standout.
I loved the behind the scenes look at photography and the different viewpoints on what is considered art (all subjective of course), and those that make the decisions on what is art. I think that, if anything, Amanda Quick really gave the most to getting Vivian's story - her struggles as a woman trying to make it on her own, her struggles as an artist - on the page, and it was what worked the best for me in the entire read.
The past couple of books have leaned into the idea of supernatural-type powers. Nick has visions, goes into trances, where he gleams information about the cases he's working, typically helping him solve them. Vivian also gets certain feelings about the people she photographs. Feels that inform how she should frame a shot and if it's working or not. For the most part, these "powers" remain ambiguous. You could call them intuition, or you could fully stand on the side of psychic ability. I think Close Up more than the previous books makes a stand for the psychic ability aspect at least in regards to Nick and his visions. It's an interesting turn of plot, as Nick frequently calls his visions a curse. Amanda Quick ties together the idea of things passed down through family. Things that have the ability to either help or hinder how we live our lives, and sometimes it's what we do with them ourselves, the resources available to us, that can determine whether we're helped or hindered. In this regard there's a slight correlation between Nick and the killer. It's an interesting dynamic and I would have like to have seen it explored more, but I think that would have meant exposing the mystery sooner.
Overall, while not my favorite in the series, the pages still flew by. I was engaged with the story, and I, as always, loved the setting and liked the characters. Quick keeps teasing a bigger storyline for Luther Pell and Raina Kirk so fingers crossed their book is next.
*ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
the_fae_queen's review against another edition
2.0
I felt like this was a first draft of a book. There were a lot of phrases used multiple times within a few paragraphs of each other and overall very cheesy. I feel like the plot was all over the place in attempts to feel more complicated but I felt like we just got the same plot structure 3 different times. The romance was definitely the nicest part of this book. Also the last line just irked me because it was super unnecessary and cheesy just thinking about it makes me cringe I’m sorry I just had to tell someone.
meganh123's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
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? No
4.5