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A review by nixerix
Hangman by Daniel Cole
3.0
2.5 stars, rounded up to 3. Disappointing overall. The brief blurb to draw you in was very enticing, but it headed in another direction entirely. I also cannot recommend reading this as a stand-alone. I've had a good streak of luck reading books out of order in a series previous to this, but this book is the second in a trilogy and refers to the first book CONSTANTLY... to the point where it's almost annoying. To boot, the ending is a cliff hanger, obviously trying to lead into reading the final book in the trilogy. This definitely took a lot away from my enjoyment, because these weren't little references being made, they were big important things integral to the trilogy that led to feeling a tad disoriented and lost.
Our main character Baxter is also an awful woman. She carries a lot of baggage from the first book (surprise), but she's such a miserable person that it's hard to like her. Her paranoia is extreme, she goes out of her way to be obnoxious and rude (to EVERYONE) and her trust level toward people who have good and honest intentions towards her is nil. She somehow manages to have very loyal friends and a boyfriend with the patience of a saint and a heart of gold, and she STILL manages to be absolutely miserable and ungrateful. It's frustrating. She does have a few endearing soft moments, but it doesn't make up for her personality as a whole for me. I like a hardened, badass and independent woman as much as the next person, but Baxter isn't it.
The writing is okay. Sometimes perspectives would change very quickly and I'd have difficulties realizing at first who's perspective we were on. This book does not use the typical perspective format, so you have to be paying attention. Chapters were on the shorter side, ranging anywhere from 8-36 pages, which I thought was good. There were some very spooky and disturbing moments which I enjoyed, thinking this was the type of book that I was in for initially. As the plot changed, I didn't necessarily hate it and thought it was okay. Obviously not what I thought I was here for, but it wasn't bad.
The first book sounds like it was more what I had been looking for to begin with when I picked this book up, but I won't be bothered to give it a try based upon this experience. Not a bad book that was painful to read, but it didn't feel like anything more than a satisfactory experience either.
Our main character Baxter is also an awful woman. She carries a lot of baggage from the first book (surprise), but she's such a miserable person that it's hard to like her. Her paranoia is extreme, she goes out of her way to be obnoxious and rude (to EVERYONE) and her trust level toward people who have good and honest intentions towards her is nil. She somehow manages to have very loyal friends and a boyfriend with the patience of a saint and a heart of gold, and she STILL manages to be absolutely miserable and ungrateful. It's frustrating. She does have a few endearing soft moments, but it doesn't make up for her personality as a whole for me. I like a hardened, badass and independent woman as much as the next person, but Baxter isn't it.
The writing is okay. Sometimes perspectives would change very quickly and I'd have difficulties realizing at first who's perspective we were on. This book does not use the typical perspective format, so you have to be paying attention. Chapters were on the shorter side, ranging anywhere from 8-36 pages, which I thought was good. There were some very spooky and disturbing moments which I enjoyed, thinking this was the type of book that I was in for initially. As the plot changed, I didn't necessarily hate it and thought it was okay. Obviously not what I thought I was here for, but it wasn't bad.
The first book sounds like it was more what I had been looking for to begin with when I picked this book up, but I won't be bothered to give it a try based upon this experience. Not a bad book that was painful to read, but it didn't feel like anything more than a satisfactory experience either.