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agrayreads 's review for:
The Bright Lands
by John Fram
The Bright Lands is Friday Night Lights if the plot turned into a creepy (and very dark!) thriller.
The story takes place in a small, football-obsessed Texas town called Bentley. It begins when Joel Whitley, a New York businessman who grew up in Bentley returns after receiving concerning texts from his brother (who is also the star quarterback of the football team), Dylan. When Dylan goes missing shortly after Joel’s return, he becomes increasingly worried about what has happened to him and others’ like him in the town.
I really enjoyed two of the main the characters, Joel and Clark. They were interesting and multi-faceted in a way that is unusual for thrillers. I cared about them booth, I found myself both rooting for them and concerned for them throughout the story.
I also liked that this is a unique thriller — SO many in the genre can be similar, particularly in the ending, which can ruin a good story! That is not the case with this one; it is unique from the first page to the end.
I will say that it wasn’t as much of a page-turner for me as I had hoped! There were parts that had me racing to find the twist, but overall I wasn’t hooked so much that I was thinking about the book when I wasn’t reading it.
Additionally, I was not a fan of the hints of presence of the supernatural. In full disclosure, fantasy is not generally up my alley, so this could absolutely be personal preference but I just generally did not enjoy these sections and I did not feel that it advanced the plot in any meaningful way.
All in all — an interesting and unique thriller! Thank you to Hanover Street Press and Net Galley for the opportunity to read early.
For those interested, this title releases July 7th, 2020.
The story takes place in a small, football-obsessed Texas town called Bentley. It begins when Joel Whitley, a New York businessman who grew up in Bentley returns after receiving concerning texts from his brother (who is also the star quarterback of the football team), Dylan. When Dylan goes missing shortly after Joel’s return, he becomes increasingly worried about what has happened to him and others’ like him in the town.
I really enjoyed two of the main the characters, Joel and Clark. They were interesting and multi-faceted in a way that is unusual for thrillers. I cared about them booth, I found myself both rooting for them and concerned for them throughout the story.
I also liked that this is a unique thriller — SO many in the genre can be similar, particularly in the ending, which can ruin a good story! That is not the case with this one; it is unique from the first page to the end.
I will say that it wasn’t as much of a page-turner for me as I had hoped! There were parts that had me racing to find the twist, but overall I wasn’t hooked so much that I was thinking about the book when I wasn’t reading it.
Additionally, I was not a fan of the hints of presence of the supernatural. In full disclosure, fantasy is not generally up my alley, so this could absolutely be personal preference but I just generally did not enjoy these sections and I did not feel that it advanced the plot in any meaningful way.
All in all — an interesting and unique thriller! Thank you to Hanover Street Press and Net Galley for the opportunity to read early.
For those interested, this title releases July 7th, 2020.