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mandykool 's review for:
The Butcher and the Wren
by Alaina Urquhart
This book is the example that just because people are famous for their podcasts, doesn’t mean they should publish a book. But because they are famous, the publisher will take that money grab.
Pros: the book is short, so you’re not going to be tortured for too long.
Cons:
- no characterization. Both Wren and Jeremy’s chapters read the exact same. There was nothing empathetic about Wren and nothing interesting about her.
- the info dumps. Oh my goodness, the info dumps. There are long dumps about serial killers and their history that add nothing to the plot. My “favorite” was the Israel Keyes dump that actually was so misinformed that you’d actually forget this author hosts a true crime podcast. Yikes.
- The vocabulary. This seriously felt like an essay written by a high school student showing that they could properly use vocabulary words. Like Urquhart took took a thesaurus out and decided to “spice” up words.
Like this line:
“She sputters out blood, and furiously oscillates between blacking out and keen focus.”
What? What is that sentence? A sign of a good writer isn’t using big words and fancy sentences to get to the point.
And the word Lividity. I want to go back and count how many times it was used.
- the setting. Apparently the only interesting thing about New Orleans is that it’s hot and muggy. Cool.
Just don’t waste your time. There are so many better serial killer/thriller books out there. Even the added “Alaina is an autopsy tech so she gives that cool perspective” was not great. It was basically word vomits of processes that added nothing to the nothing plot.
Worst book I’ve read all year.
Pros: the book is short, so you’re not going to be tortured for too long.
Cons:
- no characterization. Both Wren and Jeremy’s chapters read the exact same. There was nothing empathetic about Wren and nothing interesting about her.
- the info dumps. Oh my goodness, the info dumps. There are long dumps about serial killers and their history that add nothing to the plot. My “favorite” was the Israel Keyes dump that actually was so misinformed that you’d actually forget this author hosts a true crime podcast. Yikes.
- The vocabulary. This seriously felt like an essay written by a high school student showing that they could properly use vocabulary words. Like Urquhart took took a thesaurus out and decided to “spice” up words.
Like this line:
“She sputters out blood, and furiously oscillates between blacking out and keen focus.”
What? What is that sentence? A sign of a good writer isn’t using big words and fancy sentences to get to the point.
And the word Lividity. I want to go back and count how many times it was used.
- the setting. Apparently the only interesting thing about New Orleans is that it’s hot and muggy. Cool.
Just don’t waste your time. There are so many better serial killer/thriller books out there. Even the added “Alaina is an autopsy tech so she gives that cool perspective” was not great. It was basically word vomits of processes that added nothing to the nothing plot.
Worst book I’ve read all year.