A review by _onemorechapter_
The Nothing Man by Catherine Ryan Howard

emotional informative sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

๐Ÿ’ญ"The Nothing Man" โ€“ More Like "The Meh Man" for Me..

You know that feeling when you pick up a book expecting to be *blown away*โ€”ready for the suspense, the mind games, the edge-of-your-seat intensityโ€”only to find yourself... skimming? Yeah, that was me with *The Nothing Man*. Maybe the timing was off, maybe my thriller brain was just craving something more, but this one just didnโ€™t hook me the way Iโ€™d hoped.  

The concept? Fantastic. A survivor of a serial killer writing a true-crime book *about* the man who murdered her familyโ€”while said killer is reading it? Genius. But the execution? Meh. Some chapters felt repetitive, some dragged on, and honestly, I was *bored* at times. The pacing was all over the placeโ€”slow, slow, slow, then suddenly an intense moment, back to slow again. It was like driving a car that kept stalling.  

And the ending? Way bad. I saw the โ€œbig twistโ€ coming 'miles' away, which killed any suspense the book had left. And thenโ€”just when there was 'one' thing that couldโ€™ve saved itโ€”nope, too dull. If youโ€™ve read this and feel the same way, you 'know' exactly what Iโ€™m talking about. But Iโ€™ll keep it spoiler-free.  

Overall: Had high expectations, but this fell flat. A solid premise, but the execution lacked tension, and the ending didnโ€™t hit the way it should have. If you love true crime-inspired thrillers and donโ€™t mind a slow pace, maybe youโ€™ll enjoy it more than I did. But for me? It just didnโ€™t deliver.  

๐.๐’.  Maybe the timing was wrong when I picked this up, but I had to skim through a few parts. Some chapters were *straight-up boring*, though they ended with a few ups.  

๐.๐.๐’  If youโ€™re looking for a thriller that keeps you guessing till the very endโ€”this probably isnโ€™t it.

๐Ÿ”ธ๐‘ด๐’š ๐‘น๐’‚๐’•๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ: โญ โญ.5
๐Ÿ”ธ๐‘ฎ๐’†๐’๐’“๐’†: Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Psychological Fiction
๐Ÿ”ธ๐‘น๐’†๐’„๐’๐’Ž๐’Ž๐’†๐’๐’…๐’‚๐’•๐’Š๐’๐’: Yes
Some good moments, but not enough to keep me fully invested.  


๐Ÿ”ธ ๐‘ญ๐’‚๐’—๐’๐’“๐’Š๐’•๐’† ๐‘ธ๐’–๐’๐’•๐’†๐’”:

"Grief doesnโ€™t follow any pattern. In reality itโ€™s MESSY and CONFUSING."