ellieb_reads 's review for:

A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham

4.0

mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

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A thriller I simply couldn’t put down - and that’s not hyperbole, I read the entire thing in one evening. I really don’t get the reviews who found this “predictable.” Maybe I’d be a terrible detective, but every time I thought I had this figured out, a new plot twist changed my mind! The main character was super interesting, and at times somewhat of an unreliable narrator, which I loved here. As Chloe is doubting the people around her, you the reader are wondering if you should be doubting her. Knocked off a star on this one because I felt Willingham’s writing was glaringly weak, and specifically very repetitive. Noticeable word choice oddities popped up often (“crank the engine,” “a tear erupted,” “snaked my arm”), and I swear she uses the word “flicker” like 100 times. Sometimes eyes are just looking, not flickering! Still, the storytelling was excellent and I thought it was a well-constructed whodunnit that kept me guessing all night.