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mehitabels's review
3.0
Nothing like a hysterical female being right to set the tone for a mystery.
I still read this without stopping. It felt a little, well, a lot unrealistic, but at the same time, I kind of ask that of my fiction. It is an escape from reality, a form of entertainment. Ok, so I usually like to pick up some new knowledge, but here it was a bit too esoteric for me. Perhaps the setting? I should travel more in real life.
I still read this without stopping. It felt a little, well, a lot unrealistic, but at the same time, I kind of ask that of my fiction. It is an escape from reality, a form of entertainment. Ok, so I usually like to pick up some new knowledge, but here it was a bit too esoteric for me. Perhaps the setting? I should travel more in real life.
sarahs_bookish_life's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
5.0
Nothing beats a secluded setting for this genre and they don’t come more secluded than the remote Scottish island that Tora finds herself living on. It adds to the eeriness as well as knowing that if anything bad happens, it could be hours before help can arrive.
Uncovering a dead woman’s body certainly wasn’t what poor Tora expected to find but this opens a can of worms that the more Tora discovers, the more danger she is in. It soon becomes a case of not knowing who to trust and I was suspicious of everyone. I was totally flabbergasted at the things that were going on and was every bit as intrigued as Tora is yet I was so glad I was reading it from the comfort of my home where I knew I was safe. I wanted to keep telling Tora to leave well alone as there could be no good outcome yet I was desperate to know more. It will definitely have you torn.
Sacrifice is a pulse soaring story that has you constantly on edge. You hardly have time to recover from one revelation before you are hit with another one. The twists and turns were superb and had me keep saying to myself that I would just read one more chapter before reading several every time I picked it up as it was so engrossing. The blurb doesn’t give much away at all which I loved as everything that happens was totally unexpected. Sharon Bolton is one of my favourite authors in psychological thrillers as her stories are incredibly dark and twisted. A real gut clencher!
sandin954's review
3.0
A first novel that was quite suspenseful and used the Shetland Islands setting and local legends to good effect.
buddysreads's review
3.0
Really unsure how to rate this.
Loved that it was a difference pace to normal thriller books, gorgeous setting, but it was too long for me.
It was a little bit too pro-life, which made me feel icky.
Also, why the hell was it written in American English when it’s set in Scotland with an English main character?!
Loved that it was a difference pace to normal thriller books, gorgeous setting, but it was too long for me.
It was a little bit too pro-life, which made me feel icky.
Also, why the hell was it written in American English when it’s set in Scotland with an English main character?!
matyleczka's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
good story but fantastic elements are not something for me
archergal's review against another edition
2.0
I would probably have liked this book better if the protagonist hadn't been an idiotic, stupid, oblivious git. It's pretty obvious early on what's going on in this story, but Tora (she didn't like that she was originally named Thora, so she dropped the H O.o) keeps getting sucked in by people she KNOWS are untrustworthy. Add in the one of the most ridiculous conspiracy theories ever, and I have to rate the book 2 stars or lower. The only reason it gets that high a rating is that the ending was kind of exciting, though also unbeliveable.
Seriously, I was hate-reading probably the last third of the book, just skimming to see how it worked out.
I may have read this book in the past and mostly forgotten it. Some aspects seemed really familiar. The rest of it was pretty forgettable though, to me at least. I hate stupid protagonists. HATE. And this woman was supposed to be a doctor. Jeezopete.
Seriously, I was hate-reading probably the last third of the book, just skimming to see how it worked out.
I may have read this book in the past and mostly forgotten it. Some aspects seemed really familiar. The rest of it was pretty forgettable though, to me at least. I hate stupid protagonists. HATE. And this woman was supposed to be a doctor. Jeezopete.
dear_alice's review against another edition
Absolutely way too gruesome for my taste...
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Body horror, Medical content, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Animal death
kelliexdeath's review
3.0
Sacrifice is S.J. Bolton’s debut novel, a mystery based on British folklore...about trolls. Though that premise seems a little “...wait, what?” the story isn’t as silly as it sounds. It starts off with a woman named Tora uncovering a body buried in her property. Tora takes a closer look at the body and finds that the heart has been cut out, and that cryptic symbols have been carved into the back. Right off the bat there is the impression of some cult-like behavior happening on the Shetland Islands, and with Tora feeling like an outsider in the small community on top of her marriage being on the rocks, she attaches herself to the case and acts as an amateur detective. Along the way she teams up with an actual detective that is also an outsider to the community, and they believe they are uncovering some much larger conspiracy that may or may not involve modern trolls. It hurts me to type it, but again, it’s not as silly as it sounds...for the most part.
Tora is an obstetrician, owner of 2 horses, and a sailor, and I thought that Bolton wrote about these activities strongly in her amount of detail, which I imagine is hard to do. I can’t decide what I thought of Tora as a character; she is aware of the fact that she’s not a warm person to be around, and it affects her job in assisting expectant mothers, which I thought was funny. I didn’t like the weird relationship she has with her boss; every other minute he’s got his hand on her shoulder and she describes falling under his trance, and the rest of the time she hates him and can imagine him as a murderer. Even in a book with trolls, Tora’s relationship with her boss was the least believable aspect for me. There’s no way with her boss constantly hitting on her, and doing so shamelessly in front of her husband, that on a small island they’re not going to have an affair. I suppose I might have more of a problem with his character than with Tora.
Overall, the book kept me interested, because as a reader I’m also an outsider with Tora, wanting to figure out what this little community is hiding and if there are ritualistic murders taking place. And of course, you have to find out if the trolls are real! The inclusion of the folklore was cool to learn about, so I feel like I even got a little culture out of the book. I’m not sure if I would agree with the back of the book that it’s “bone-chilling,” but it definitely had some good twists.
Tora is an obstetrician, owner of 2 horses, and a sailor, and I thought that Bolton wrote about these activities strongly in her amount of detail, which I imagine is hard to do. I can’t decide what I thought of Tora as a character; she is aware of the fact that she’s not a warm person to be around, and it affects her job in assisting expectant mothers, which I thought was funny. I didn’t like the weird relationship she has with her boss; every other minute he’s got his hand on her shoulder and she describes falling under his trance, and the rest of the time she hates him and can imagine him as a murderer. Even in a book with trolls, Tora’s relationship with her boss was the least believable aspect for me. There’s no way with her boss constantly hitting on her, and doing so shamelessly in front of her husband, that on a small island they’re not going to have an affair. I suppose I might have more of a problem with his character than with Tora.
Overall, the book kept me interested, because as a reader I’m also an outsider with Tora, wanting to figure out what this little community is hiding and if there are ritualistic murders taking place. And of course, you have to find out if the trolls are real! The inclusion of the folklore was cool to learn about, so I feel like I even got a little culture out of the book. I’m not sure if I would agree with the back of the book that it’s “bone-chilling,” but it definitely had some good twists.
dbert91's review
5.0
Bolton has been one of my favorite authors for years. This book only made me love her more. Incredible.