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A review by the_midnight_librarian
When the Stars Go Dark by Paula McLain
3.0
Thank you to Netgalley for an E-arc of this book for an honest review.
CW: Missing and murdered children, death of a child, graphic depictions of death and decomposition, working with law enforcement, abduction, mention of rape/sexual assault, foster care, alcohol use
This book felt like an episode of Law and Order SVU that I had always wanted on the West Coast.
It was eerie and thrilling in a landscape that I'm familiar with.
Anna Hart was a character I was consistently trying to figure out, and wasn't all too sure if I was rooting for or not. She was complex and had depth, as did a few other character, but outside of that, the characters fell flat for me.
It didn't feel like there was a whole lot of diversity with in this book. One character (that I remember) was "Native American" and "disabled" but the character had little to nothing to do with the plot, and their culture and disability was the only thing to define them. It made me question how Anna knew this character was Native American, as he didn't introduce himself as such, which I felt was backing the idea that people can be distinguishable to their cultures by looks, which buys into stereotypes.
I also had issue with the context in which the Pomo were talked about. I appreciated that they were even mentioned as the residing Native Peoples of Mendocino, but the way they were talked about was in past-tense, which also portrays that Native Peoples only exist in the past. When, in fact, Pomo Bands still exist. I also felt that this book also further portrayed Native "Mysticism" as a "Pomo Ceremony" came to Anna in a dream when she didn't know what else to do.
Other than that, I felt this book was fairly thrilling and enthralling. Particularly with actual events of the time being woven in. It made everything that much more real and that much more nerve-wracking.
Youtube Review: https://youtu.be/4mN1Li3V7f8
Instagram Review: https://www.instagram.com/p/CNk53cnLVtt/
CW: Missing and murdered children, death of a child, graphic depictions of death and decomposition, working with law enforcement, abduction, mention of rape/sexual assault, foster care, alcohol use
This book felt like an episode of Law and Order SVU that I had always wanted on the West Coast.
It was eerie and thrilling in a landscape that I'm familiar with.
Anna Hart was a character I was consistently trying to figure out, and wasn't all too sure if I was rooting for or not. She was complex and had depth, as did a few other character, but outside of that, the characters fell flat for me.
It didn't feel like there was a whole lot of diversity with in this book. One character (that I remember) was "Native American" and "disabled" but the character had little to nothing to do with the plot, and their culture and disability was the only thing to define them. It made me question how Anna knew this character was Native American, as he didn't introduce himself as such, which I felt was backing the idea that people can be distinguishable to their cultures by looks, which buys into stereotypes.
I also had issue with the context in which the Pomo were talked about. I appreciated that they were even mentioned as the residing Native Peoples of Mendocino, but the way they were talked about was in past-tense, which also portrays that Native Peoples only exist in the past. When, in fact, Pomo Bands still exist. I also felt that this book also further portrayed Native "Mysticism" as a "Pomo Ceremony" came to Anna in a dream when she didn't know what else to do.
Other than that, I felt this book was fairly thrilling and enthralling. Particularly with actual events of the time being woven in. It made everything that much more real and that much more nerve-wracking.
Youtube Review: https://youtu.be/4mN1Li3V7f8
Instagram Review: https://www.instagram.com/p/CNk53cnLVtt/