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A review by wanderaven
Like This, For Ever by Sharon Bolton
3.0
I've enjoyed reading Bolton since her first book, back in the dark days of her books only being published in the UK, and before e-books. This time, I downloaded the book the day came out. I can't wait until we can digitally order those books that are still only published in the UK from amazon.co.uk, fingers crossed.
It feels like, for the last three books, I've felt skittish about Lacey Flint. She so dark and troubled and disturbing to those around her, all of which I'm partial to, but, unfortunately, without much backstory to justify these descriptions of her. One of the partial explanations for her darkness was re-visited in this book, but unfortunately it's been so long since the introduction of that element in in earlier book, and I've read so many books in-between, I couldn't remember the details, which was frustrating. Bolton refers to these parts of the book obliquely, which was even more frustrating, until I realized that it must be to help protect any readers who haven't read the earlier book. Just ended up irritating me, like despite having paid for the book and devoted my reading time to it, I just wasn't special enough to be given this relatively vital information.
Even more frustrating was that Lacey was once again suspected of being the serial killer. First time (in the last book)? Different, and somewhat understandable, though odd because there didn't seem to be any trust whatsoever between herself and her colleagues. This time around, the quick jump to suspecting Lacey again felt tiresome, rehashed, and so inexplicable. Lacey wouldn't still be involved in this story if her name hadn't been cleared in the last - shouldn't her superiors/colleagues feel pretty idiotic for suspecting her again? And if they truly had justification for doing so, perhaps Lacey shouldn't be involved in these cases in any way? In addition, I never felt that, unlike a few elements the last time this happened, that there were any clues or behaviors to warrant such suspicions, other, perhaps, than that many suspected the killer could be a woman. Does this justify, "Well, then, it must be Lacey!"
These (rather looming) concerns aside, I enjoyed the story and did set aside other things to finish it, so Bolton still engaged me. I will definitely read her again, and almost certainly the next Flint novel, but I might not be rushing out to buy it the day it drops, which disappoints my younger Bolton-earnest self.
It feels like, for the last three books, I've felt skittish about Lacey Flint. She so dark and troubled and disturbing to those around her, all of which I'm partial to, but, unfortunately, without much backstory to justify these descriptions of her. One of the partial explanations for her darkness was re-visited in this book, but unfortunately it's been so long since the introduction of that element in in earlier book, and I've read so many books in-between, I couldn't remember the details, which was frustrating. Bolton refers to these parts of the book obliquely, which was even more frustrating, until I realized that it must be to help protect any readers who haven't read the earlier book. Just ended up irritating me, like despite having paid for the book and devoted my reading time to it, I just wasn't special enough to be given this relatively vital information.
Even more frustrating was that Lacey was once again suspected of being the serial killer. First time (in the last book)? Different, and somewhat understandable, though odd because there didn't seem to be any trust whatsoever between herself and her colleagues. This time around, the quick jump to suspecting Lacey again felt tiresome, rehashed, and so inexplicable. Lacey wouldn't still be involved in this story if her name hadn't been cleared in the last - shouldn't her superiors/colleagues feel pretty idiotic for suspecting her again? And if they truly had justification for doing so, perhaps Lacey shouldn't be involved in these cases in any way? In addition, I never felt that, unlike a few elements the last time this happened, that there were any clues or behaviors to warrant such suspicions, other, perhaps, than that many suspected the killer could be a woman. Does this justify, "Well, then, it must be Lacey!"
These (rather looming) concerns aside, I enjoyed the story and did set aside other things to finish it, so Bolton still engaged me. I will definitely read her again, and almost certainly the next Flint novel, but I might not be rushing out to buy it the day it drops, which disappoints my younger Bolton-earnest self.