A review by foldingthepage_kayleigh
Things We Do in the Dark by Jennifer Hillier

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This is my first book by Jennifer Hillier and unfortunately it wasn’t a win for me. I really enjoyed the first quarter of the story from Paris Peralta’s perspective as she’s trying to navigate the criminal justice system after the suspicious death of her much older husband. I found this part intriguing and mysterious, but once it transitioned to the second part where the focus was on Drew, I just did not feel engaged with the story. I found Drew’s judgmental and slut-shaming attitude really through me off.

And just a heads up, there’s a huge focus on detailed child abuse and trauma, which I was not expecting from this book, and I probably wouldn’t have picked this one up if I had known that. As well, the mystery seemed to have just been figured out about halfway through, and then just when the tension started rising again, everything just sort of resolved itself, so it just left me feeling like everything wrapped up way too quickly, which was unsatisfying. 

I did enjoy Hillier’s writing style though and I’d definitely still be willing to check out more by this author—if you’ve read anything else by her, let me know another of hers that I should pick up.

Thanks St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books & Netgalley for providing me with an eARC of this one!
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