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catieohjoy 's review for:
Providence
by Caroline Kepnes
[3.5 stars] I know many readers are excited about Providence because they loved You, which I haven’t read. I’ll be honest: I mainly requested this from NetGalley because I live in Providence and wanted to read something set where I live. I enjoyed the many PVD in-jokes. Rhode Islanders will definitely get a kick out of seeing the city woven into this book. If you’ve lived in Providence, you’ll recognize various streets and venues (Lupo’s, that gas station on Wickenden, etc.), and that’s definitely fun.
I found the story compelling, but the writing itself was a bit tedious, so I’ll get the most critical part of this review out of the way. The style is often clipped and silted, and the tone quite dry. Physical settings are under-described, which makes it a bit difficult to follow certain scenes in which characters move through space. All three of the first-person narrators are given the same stylistic quirks: fused sentences, excessive comma use, and a habit of repeating the same thought two or three times in a row. There were SO MANY references to real-life things and people (some obscure, some Kardashian-level) that it took me out of the narrative. I frequently had to look things up to determine whether they mattered to the plot/would contribute in any way to my understanding of the novel. They almost never did. (One major exception: it is helpful to have at least a passing familiarity with Lovecraft—references to his life and work abound.)
Providence is told through three alternating first person narrators, Jon, Chloe, and Eggs. Jon is a lonely boy, harboring early-pubescent love for his best and only friend, Chloe. After Jon is kidnapped, Chloe betrays Jon in the worst way he can imagine—by dating his bully, the truly vile Carrig, who is Jon’s foil throughout the novel. Jon is eventually freed by his kidnapper, but something has changed about him. He isn’t unhealthy and weak. He doesn’t seem to have any mental deficits from his four years in captivity. He’s big and handsome, and he has no memory of the years spent in a basement—but he does have a copy of a Lovecraft novel, containing a note from his kidnapper, and a strange effect anyone he feels strongly about. A couple years later, a detective called Eggs is obsessed with the deaths (by apparent heart attack) of a handful of twenty-somethings. His wife, Lo, and boss, Stacey, are desperate for him to let these odd but seemingly innocent deaths go.
The alternating perspectives keep the novel moving at a nice clip, but if you’re expecting the pacing of a thriller I think you’ll be disappointed. Aside from the ongoing question of what, exactly, was done to Jon in that basement, there isn’t much mystery or suspense here. The deaths are, of course, suspicious, and similar cases follow Jon wherever he goes. For me, the most gripping thing about the novel was seeing the ways in which these deaths affect Jon and Eggs, from opposite sides. This really is a compelling read, in spite of my issues with the writing! I have a feeling this will make a great audiobook—the awkwardness of the writing would likely be smoothed over by talented narrators.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
I found the story compelling, but the writing itself was a bit tedious, so I’ll get the most critical part of this review out of the way. The style is often clipped and silted, and the tone quite dry. Physical settings are under-described, which makes it a bit difficult to follow certain scenes in which characters move through space. All three of the first-person narrators are given the same stylistic quirks: fused sentences, excessive comma use, and a habit of repeating the same thought two or three times in a row. There were SO MANY references to real-life things and people (some obscure, some Kardashian-level) that it took me out of the narrative. I frequently had to look things up to determine whether they mattered to the plot/would contribute in any way to my understanding of the novel. They almost never did. (One major exception: it is helpful to have at least a passing familiarity with Lovecraft—references to his life and work abound.)
Providence is told through three alternating first person narrators, Jon, Chloe, and Eggs. Jon is a lonely boy, harboring early-pubescent love for his best and only friend, Chloe. After Jon is kidnapped, Chloe betrays Jon in the worst way he can imagine—by dating his bully, the truly vile Carrig, who is Jon’s foil throughout the novel. Jon is eventually freed by his kidnapper, but something has changed about him. He isn’t unhealthy and weak. He doesn’t seem to have any mental deficits from his four years in captivity. He’s big and handsome, and he has no memory of the years spent in a basement—but he does have a copy of a Lovecraft novel, containing a note from his kidnapper, and a strange effect anyone he feels strongly about. A couple years later, a detective called Eggs is obsessed with the deaths (by apparent heart attack) of a handful of twenty-somethings. His wife, Lo, and boss, Stacey, are desperate for him to let these odd but seemingly innocent deaths go.
The alternating perspectives keep the novel moving at a nice clip, but if you’re expecting the pacing of a thriller I think you’ll be disappointed. Aside from the ongoing question of what, exactly, was done to Jon in that basement, there isn’t much mystery or suspense here. The deaths are, of course, suspicious, and similar cases follow Jon wherever he goes. For me, the most gripping thing about the novel was seeing the ways in which these deaths affect Jon and Eggs, from opposite sides
Spoiler
—Jon as the man causing them, Eggs as the man determined to figure out how and whyThank you to NetGalley and Random House for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.