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reader44ever 's review for:
Abby Cooper: Psychic Eye
by Victoria Laurie
I'm glad I read this book. I see the series talked about fairly frequently in at least one of my Goodreads groups. I don't think I'll be continuing the series, though. This first outing was pretty good, but there were a few things that weren't for me. I might try book two to see if those few things are inherent to the series. But I really don't see how they wouldn't be, so I might just leave it as having read book one.
I liked Dutch and Milo, the police detectives. They were skeptical but open-minded, good things for cops to be, in my opinion.
I wasn't as fond of Abby, however. And since this was a first-person POV story told from Abby's POV... Well...
Abby is psychic, and one of her clients inadvertently brings her to the attention of a killer. The mystery in the story was really gripping and I enjoyed reading it, even though I figured out all of the clues before Abby and Dutch did. (It's still fun to see how the characters solve the cases, even when I the reader already have all the answers.)
Cat, Abby's sister, was a fun side character who I really liked.
Sadly, the things I didn't like were fairly big things, and these big things were integral to the plot.
The main thing I didn't like was the dialogue. When Dutch and Abby first meet, the first thing out of his mouth is"Wow! You are a beautiful woman, Abby." Abby's reply? "And you have excellent taste!" I have never known a man who would talk like that. (They're on their first date through a matchmaking website. ) And Abby's reply struck me as being rather rude, not funny, so I don't see why Dutch found it so laugh-worthy.
Abby's narration was fine (great, even), but her dialogue was unreal. When first questioned by the police, she was rude and argumentative. I don't understand why Dutch and Milo didn't arrest her. Or at least threaten to arrest her. Then after they do threaten to arrest her, she says,"Fine. You may come in... You will come in, you will not touch a thing, you will stay away from my dog and you will wait until I come downstairs. Then we talk. Capiche?"
Pretty much every conversation Abby had with Dutch had something in it that I took exception to. She is not a woman I would ever be friends with, if she were to exist in real life. She was mostly fine with other people, but Dutch brought out what seemed to me to be the 12-year-old in her when she was supposed to be 31. Another eye-rolling (on my part) statement she made to Dutch can be found on page 138:Dutch is giving Abby a ride home - on his motorcycle - and she looks at it and says, "That's a fun toy you got there, pal." Uhm...What? Do people really talk like this?
And then there was how she shared her psychic intuitions. She relates them by saying "They're saying..." or "They're showing..." and the like. This got old for me real fast.
Theresa, Abby's BFF, didn't strike me as being a very good friend. When she found out Abby has a date planned, she wanted all the details, despite the fact that Abby was clearly uncomfortable and not in a sharing mood. Just as Abby is not someone I would want to be friends with in real life, neither is Theresa.
Another thing (this is the last) that I didn't like was that Abby's memory fails her when it comes to remembering details of her clients and the things she sees. I can understand losing the memory of what is said during and seen in a vision, but forgetting recent clients? Even though they're one among many? And how did she forget whoNathaniel Davies was, when she told Dutch all about him during their first date. She somehow remembered the details of that vision well enough to share with her date, and then completely forgot about it. She remembers the date with Dutch; I'd think she'd remember having talked about Nathaniel with Dutch when Dutch is the one asking about Nathaniel. I just don't understand how she could forget things like this so easily.
I loved Abby's philosophy that "people are like ice cream." However, we only heard about what flavor she herself was (vanilla) and that for one of her clients (Tooty-Fruity). I would have enjoyed the book more if the humor of this was carried throughout the book. What flavor is Dutch? Cat? Milo? Surely there was a way to share their flavors that would have fit in the narrative.
Around about the time I was thinking this wasn't a book for me because of Abby's behavior, the mystery hooked me. So I kept reading and I'm glad I did. But as I said above, I don't know that I'll read any more books in this series. I just don't feel invested in reading stories narrated by a character I don't particularly like.
I liked Dutch and Milo, the police detectives. They were skeptical but open-minded, good things for cops to be, in my opinion.
I wasn't as fond of Abby, however. And since this was a first-person POV story told from Abby's POV... Well...
Abby is psychic, and one of her clients inadvertently brings her to the attention of a killer. The mystery in the story was really gripping and I enjoyed reading it, even though I figured out all of the clues before Abby and Dutch did. (It's still fun to see how the characters solve the cases, even when I the reader already have all the answers.)
Cat, Abby's sister, was a fun side character who I really liked.
Sadly, the things I didn't like were fairly big things, and these big things were integral to the plot.
The main thing I didn't like was the dialogue. When Dutch and Abby first meet, the first thing out of his mouth is
Abby's narration was fine (great, even), but her dialogue was unreal. When first questioned by the police, she was rude and argumentative. I don't understand why Dutch and Milo didn't arrest her. Or at least threaten to arrest her. Then after they do threaten to arrest her, she says,
Pretty much every conversation Abby had with Dutch had something in it that I took exception to. She is not a woman I would ever be friends with, if she were to exist in real life. She was mostly fine with other people, but Dutch brought out what seemed to me to be the 12-year-old in her when she was supposed to be 31. Another eye-rolling (on my part) statement she made to Dutch can be found on page 138:
And then there was how she shared her psychic intuitions. She relates them by saying "They're saying..." or "They're showing..." and the like. This got old for me real fast.
Theresa, Abby's BFF, didn't strike me as being a very good friend. When she found out Abby has a date planned, she wanted all the details, despite the fact that Abby was clearly uncomfortable and not in a sharing mood. Just as Abby is not someone I would want to be friends with in real life, neither is Theresa.
Another thing (this is the last) that I didn't like was that Abby's memory fails her when it comes to remembering details of her clients and the things she sees. I can understand losing the memory of what is said during and seen in a vision, but forgetting recent clients? Even though they're one among many? And how did she forget who
I loved Abby's philosophy that "people are like ice cream." However, we only heard about what flavor she herself was (vanilla) and that for one of her clients (Tooty-Fruity). I would have enjoyed the book more if the humor of this was carried throughout the book. What flavor is Dutch? Cat? Milo? Surely there was a way to share their flavors that would have fit in the narrative.
Around about the time I was thinking this wasn't a book for me because of Abby's behavior, the mystery hooked me. So I kept reading and I'm glad I did. But as I said above, I don't know that I'll read any more books in this series. I just don't feel invested in reading stories narrated by a character I don't particularly like.