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A review by foursythia
Speak of the Devil by Rose Wilding
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
For some reasons, reading the blurb I went in thinking this will be a locked room murder mystery, but it's not (which isn't a problem). Basically, a man was murdered brutally and there's at least 7 women affected by his vile acts, each a possible murder suspect with their own motives.
With that you'd expect a heavy crime-mystery-thriller, but upon reading it, this actually also feels very contemporary & filled with a lot of important social issues related to women and relationship; such as abuse, manipulation, power dynamics, rape, even fertility. That was the most unexpected experience of the book, one that I greatly enjoy. Make sure you watch out for trigger warning because this could be heavy read (not for me, may be so for others), but those topics being brought up feels very.. heart wrenching for me.
This has a medium pace and I think almost all characters get respectively good share of their stories, there's a lot of names to keep up with here (slows my reading but that's a me problem). As for plot twist & the final reveal, it wasn't grand in any way, I don't find it surprising though it wasn't exactly expected/predictable, so.. if you're deep into mindblowing plot twist, perhaps there's better ones out there for you.
Overall this book packs crime thriller, contemporary, social and women fiction into a great mix in just around 300 pages. Highly recommended! Thanks to the publisher and Net Galley for providing me access to the e-ARC to read this book before its release.
With that you'd expect a heavy crime-mystery-thriller, but upon reading it, this actually also feels very contemporary & filled with a lot of important social issues related to women and relationship; such as abuse, manipulation, power dynamics, rape, even fertility. That was the most unexpected experience of the book, one that I greatly enjoy. Make sure you watch out for trigger warning because this could be heavy read (not for me, may be so for others), but those topics being brought up feels very.. heart wrenching for me.
This has a medium pace and I think almost all characters get respectively good share of their stories, there's a lot of names to keep up with here (slows my reading but that's a me problem). As for plot twist & the final reveal, it wasn't grand in any way, I don't find it surprising though it wasn't exactly expected/predictable, so.. if you're deep into mindblowing plot twist, perhaps there's better ones out there for you.
Overall this book packs crime thriller, contemporary, social and women fiction into a great mix in just around 300 pages. Highly recommended! Thanks to the publisher and Net Galley for providing me access to the e-ARC to read this book before its release.