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A review by klontz
The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
The atmospheric setting made me pick up the book. The short chapters were the main reason I didn’t DNF. I lost hope for this one about a quarter of the way through due to flawed characters—not in their traits but in poor writing. For the first in a series especially, this detective is not an intelligent one in any sense of the term.
There could have been slightly more mystery involved if the author spent less time attempting to develop her main character(s) and more time on introducing a vast and varied cast of characters from the hotel guests and staff… at least it would have left more options for guessing the who of whodunnit.
I stayed to see how the sanatorium connection played out and was significantly underwhelmed at best.
The epilogue is a cash grab and cheapens what is already a huge swing and a miss.
I don’t follow Reese’s selections specifically by any means, but I’m baffled this one made the cut.
Also as a cover designer myself, I was really bummed to see quickly that the building on the cover doesn’t match the book’s description in the slightest. Not always the fault of the designer, but I should have known early on that this would be an indicator of a running theme of lack of attention to detail from the author and publishing team as a whole.
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Spoiler alert:
How does Elin have such trauma around a past experience seeing someone with a deep head wound that the entire book focuses on it, and yet when she sees one of the characters at the hotel with a similar wound she’s entirely unaffected?!
There could have been slightly more mystery involved if the author spent less time attempting to develop her main character(s) and more time on introducing a vast and varied cast of characters from the hotel guests and staff… at least it would have left more options for guessing the who of whodunnit.
I stayed to see how the sanatorium connection played out and was significantly underwhelmed at best.
The epilogue is a cash grab and cheapens what is already a huge swing and a miss.
I don’t follow Reese’s selections specifically by any means, but I’m baffled this one made the cut.
Also as a cover designer myself, I was really bummed to see quickly that the building on the cover doesn’t match the book’s description in the slightest. Not always the fault of the designer, but I should have known early on that this would be an indicator of a running theme of lack of attention to detail from the author and publishing team as a whole.
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Spoiler alert: