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A review by shelfwornbooks
Thicker Than Water by Brigid Kemmerer
1.0
I was expecting, based on the jacket copy, that this book would feature older characters (not teens) and that was my first surprise. But it definitely wasn't the last one.
When Thomas Bellweather's mother is brutally strangled to death in their new home only ten days after she gets married, he becomes the prime suspect and enemy #1 in the small town he's just moved to. No one believes that he didn't kill his mother except his new step-father and Charlotte, local good girl and sister to three cop brothers who are more likely to shoot Thomas than solve his mother's murder. But his mother kept secrets, and as Thomas searches for the murderer himself, he starts to uncover answers he'd never dreamed of.
The Goodreads summary says that Charlotte's best friend was murdered, and that's not true. She barely knew the girl who was murdered years before Thomas even showed up. Not to mention, I'm in the minority (again) when it comes to the Goodreads reviews.
I like Brigid Kemmerer. I do. My next book will be by her, too. But I hated the characters in Thicker than Water and I really couldn't believe where the plot went. Thomas is targeted by everyone as they believe he killed his mother despite no evidence that he did, but he's particularly targeted by Charlotte's brothers who are so overbearing and protective that they would shoot Thomas for breathing. Charlotte's family lives in a 1950s mindset that makes me want to puke just reading it (women are supposed to be dainty and subservient, home and baby makers, etc.) and in all honesty, most of the characters, including Charlotte and Thomas, are surface level. They've hardly got any depth and the changes they go through are minimal in some cases and plot-driven in others. The only thing I found really accurate was the treatment by the police, small-town small mindedness (not to say all small towns are like this, mine certainly isn't), and the likelihood of an innocent person going to jail for a crime they didn't commit solely because someone needs to be held responsible.
I'm not getting into the plot. I'll tell you that this book started off as YA Fiction and transitioned into modern paranormal that's not even compelling. The mystery isn't compelling. The only emotion that drove me through a majority of the book was irritation around the characters–particularly Charlotte who can't take "no" for an answer and pursues Thomas with little regard for his well-being, especially for someone who's supposedly crazy over him.
When Thomas Bellweather's mother is brutally strangled to death in their new home only ten days after she gets married, he becomes the prime suspect and enemy #1 in the small town he's just moved to. No one believes that he didn't kill his mother except his new step-father and Charlotte, local good girl and sister to three cop brothers who are more likely to shoot Thomas than solve his mother's murder. But his mother kept secrets, and as Thomas searches for the murderer himself, he starts to uncover answers he'd never dreamed of.
The Goodreads summary says that Charlotte's best friend was murdered, and that's not true. She barely knew the girl who was murdered years before Thomas even showed up. Not to mention, I'm in the minority (again) when it comes to the Goodreads reviews.
I like Brigid Kemmerer. I do. My next book will be by her, too. But I hated the characters in Thicker than Water and I really couldn't believe where the plot went. Thomas is targeted by everyone as they believe he killed his mother despite no evidence that he did, but he's particularly targeted by Charlotte's brothers who are so overbearing and protective that they would shoot Thomas for breathing. Charlotte's family lives in a 1950s mindset that makes me want to puke just reading it (women are supposed to be dainty and subservient, home and baby makers, etc.) and in all honesty, most of the characters, including Charlotte and Thomas, are surface level. They've hardly got any depth and the changes they go through are minimal in some cases and plot-driven in others. The only thing I found really accurate was the treatment by the police, small-town small mindedness (not to say all small towns are like this, mine certainly isn't), and the likelihood of an innocent person going to jail for a crime they didn't commit solely because someone needs to be held responsible.
I'm not getting into the plot. I'll tell you that this book started off as YA Fiction and transitioned into modern paranormal that's not even compelling. The mystery isn't compelling. The only emotion that drove me through a majority of the book was irritation around the characters–particularly Charlotte who can't take "no" for an answer and pursues Thomas with little regard for his well-being, especially for someone who's supposedly crazy over him.