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A review by wjlongiii
Promise Not to Tell by Jennifer McMahon
4.0
I will be frank. I despise the main character of this novel. Kate Cypher is as cowardly and indecisive as a child as she is once grown. She lacks the ability to identify a moral compass, let alone the conviction required to follow one.
I say all this to accentuate just how much the rest of the novel worked for me. The nature of this supernatural thriller isn't particularly original, but the small town and its cast of characters rung true to me on a personal level.
Del is by far the highlight. A tragic little girl, despised by her peers and abused by her family, she still walks to the beat if her own macabre drum and despite how abrasive she could be, I lived for the chapters where she appears.
As usual, I won't spoil the plot, but the split timelines of the book do drive tension and partition discoveries exceptionally well, tightening the rivets of suspense with each subsequent chapter.
Jennifer McMahon took a premise that was fairly pedestrian, a loathsome main character, and a so-so conclusion and infused what was left with so much heart and character that, against all odds, I loved it.
I say all this to accentuate just how much the rest of the novel worked for me. The nature of this supernatural thriller isn't particularly original, but the small town and its cast of characters rung true to me on a personal level.
Del is by far the highlight. A tragic little girl, despised by her peers and abused by her family, she still walks to the beat if her own macabre drum and despite how abrasive she could be, I lived for the chapters where she appears.
As usual, I won't spoil the plot, but the split timelines of the book do drive tension and partition discoveries exceptionally well, tightening the rivets of suspense with each subsequent chapter.
Jennifer McMahon took a premise that was fairly pedestrian, a loathsome main character, and a so-so conclusion and infused what was left with so much heart and character that, against all odds, I loved it.