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kimmiekm 's review for:
Homecoming
by Kate Morton
I saw this book on my library's new releases display. When I picked it up and read quotes on the cover - things like "a page turner," "a mystery lover's delight," and "leaves surprises for even the keenest of detectives" - I thought it sounded like a book I'd love. But, in reality, none of these quotes proved all that true for me:
"A page turner" - From Jess to Nora to Polly to Percy to Daniel, this novel jumps through so many points of view that it's kind of a page turner in the sense that you keep reading because you're desperate to get back to a storyline left hanging 4 people ago.
"A mystery lover's delight" - This book actually isn't much of a mystery? It's more like: something happened in 1959, the person involved didn't tell her kid or grandkid about it, but there was a book published about it, so now we're going to read the book. And no one involved is actually going to solve anything, they are going to have the story pieced together for them from suspiciously convenient diaries, notebooks, and recordings that turn up at the perfect time.
"Leaves surprises for even the keenest of detectives" - This one I really have to call bullshit on. I never am able to put together clues in mysteries or guess the murderer, but the big surprise here is incredibly obvious from the very beginning of the book. Other "surprises" are actually confusing because the characters assume things that make no sense when the obvious answer is, well, obvious.
This book wasn't a complete loss for me, even if I knew where the story was going the entire time and I hated a certain character long before I was supposed to. I liked the Australian setting, I appreciated the historic element, and I enjoyed how multifaceted the novel was. Because some other reviews say that this was their least favorite Kate Morton, I think I will give her another try.
"A page turner" - From Jess to Nora to Polly to Percy to Daniel, this novel jumps through so many points of view that it's kind of a page turner in the sense that you keep reading because you're desperate to get back to a storyline left hanging 4 people ago.
"A mystery lover's delight" - This book actually isn't much of a mystery? It's more like: something happened in 1959, the person involved didn't tell her kid or grandkid about it, but there was a book published about it, so now we're going to read the book. And no one involved is actually going to solve anything, they are going to have the story pieced together for them from suspiciously convenient diaries, notebooks, and recordings that turn up at the perfect time.
"Leaves surprises for even the keenest of detectives" - This one I really have to call bullshit on. I never am able to put together clues in mysteries or guess the murderer, but the big surprise here is incredibly obvious from the very beginning of the book. Other "surprises" are actually confusing because the characters assume things that make no sense when the obvious answer is, well, obvious.
This book wasn't a complete loss for me, even if I knew where the story was going the entire time and I hated a certain character long before I was supposed to. I liked the Australian setting, I appreciated the historic element, and I enjoyed how multifaceted the novel was. Because some other reviews say that this was their least favorite Kate Morton, I think I will give her another try.