Scan barcode
A review by jimmyjamesnickels
Close My Eyes by Sophie McKenzie
1.0
At this point, the only real twist in these ~lady thriller~ books would be if the protagonist really was just paranoid. There's not really anything thrilling or suspenseful about most of these. They're all so formulaic: Lady Protagonist has something sad and tragic in her past which she's very much Not Dealing With or is otherwise stiff upper lipping a situation which a reasonable adult would communicate about or seek therapy, is married to a wealthy and powerful guy but is he what he seems?!?! add one Quirky Best Friend and one Mysterious, Handsome Dark Horse love interest to replace the husband once hubs is revealed to not be what he seems...baby, you got yourself a soup. Or a poorly written suspense thriller, whatever.
A woman struggling and failing to move on with her life years after the birth of her still born daughter is told by a stranger not only is her child alive but conspiracy is afoot, I thought it had the potential to be something. I thought the plot blurb was interesting because I wanted to know how the author was going to pull it off. I was interested in the journey if not the destination because, let's be honest, you know this lady's baby was stolen from the word go.
Unfortunately, the first half of the book is slow, boring and repetitive (Gen agonizes about whether her baby is alive or not! Her husband Art deflects and tells her she's crazy! Gen agonizes further about whether her baby is alive! Art deflects and tells her she's crazy!) and the second relies entirely too much on unbelievable coincidence to move the plot forward in addition to being just...weird. And not good weird, not interesting or unique or thought provoking but weird in this bland, uncomfortable sort of way.
At one point, the plot is moved forward because Gen notices the tiny tag on the scarf of a chambermaid, then googles the brand name and it just so happens to be sold exclusively in a nearby boutique where plot stuff happens. I could be persuaded to forgive this sort of providence and lazy writing if it happened once within the book, but over and over this is how the characters move from point A to B. The premise itself, the stolen baby/faked baby death stretches credulity as it is, slopping on these improbable plot points just makes it all the worse.
Boring. Lazy. Weird. Bland. Blah. Disappointing. Formulaic. Predictable. Not worth your time.
A woman struggling and failing to move on with her life years after the birth of her still born daughter is told by a stranger not only is her child alive but conspiracy is afoot, I thought it had the potential to be something. I thought the plot blurb was interesting because I wanted to know how the author was going to pull it off. I was interested in the journey if not the destination because, let's be honest, you know this lady's baby was stolen from the word go.
Unfortunately, the first half of the book is slow, boring and repetitive (Gen agonizes about whether her baby is alive or not! Her husband Art deflects and tells her she's crazy! Gen agonizes further about whether her baby is alive! Art deflects and tells her she's crazy!) and the second relies entirely too much on unbelievable coincidence to move the plot forward in addition to being just...weird. And not good weird, not interesting or unique or thought provoking but weird in this bland, uncomfortable sort of way.
At one point, the plot is moved forward because Gen notices the tiny tag on the scarf of a chambermaid, then googles the brand name and it just so happens to be sold exclusively in a nearby boutique where plot stuff happens. I could be persuaded to forgive this sort of providence and lazy writing if it happened once within the book, but over and over this is how the characters move from point A to B. The premise itself, the stolen baby/faked baby death stretches credulity as it is, slopping on these improbable plot points just makes it all the worse.
Boring. Lazy. Weird. Bland. Blah. Disappointing. Formulaic. Predictable. Not worth your time.