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A review by clacksee
Dead in the Garden by Dahlia Donovan
When Valor and Bishan find a corpse in their front garden, it triggers a series of events designed to frame Bishan as the murderer.
This is my third book by Donovan (one in each of 3 different series). As always, the writing is decent and the casual diversity and the sense of found family are top-notch.
Unfortunately, what keeps me from loving Donovan's books more than I do is the lack of authenticity. To someone who doesn't live in the UK, maybe they would be less inclined to notice the things that make me shake my head with disbelief.
The book is set in the Lake District. Yet characters repeatedly drive between Grasmere, where the couple lives, and either Manchester or London. They make this drive on a moment's notice, as if it were nothing. A few days after finishing this book, one of my neighbours (in London) mentioned he'd just returned from Grasmere. It should be a 6h drive but bad traffic made it a 10h drive. Even Manchester is at least 3h away.
And Valor's background… To anyone who's ever spent time with people from a wealthy background, nothing about Valor's family rings true. I mean, yes, they might disown a family member for behaving in a way they disapprove of. That's feasible. But for that sort of family to disown a beloved son merely for being gay? In the 2020s? Not likely. And everything else about the school and the family… It all just lacks a bit of realness.
I'm sure a few small, targeted changes could turn this into a knockout series. But then, I guess if the target audience isn't British, maybe it doesn't matter.
This is my third book by Donovan (one in each of 3 different series). As always, the writing is decent and the casual diversity and the sense of found family are top-notch.
Unfortunately, what keeps me from loving Donovan's books more than I do is the lack of authenticity. To someone who doesn't live in the UK, maybe they would be less inclined to notice the things that make me shake my head with disbelief.
The book is set in the Lake District. Yet characters repeatedly drive between Grasmere, where the couple lives, and either Manchester or London. They make this drive on a moment's notice, as if it were nothing. A few days after finishing this book, one of my neighbours (in London) mentioned he'd just returned from Grasmere. It should be a 6h drive but bad traffic made it a 10h drive. Even Manchester is at least 3h away.
And Valor's background… To anyone who's ever spent time with people from a wealthy background, nothing about Valor's family rings true. I mean, yes, they might disown a family member for behaving in a way they disapprove of. That's feasible. But for that sort of family to disown a beloved son merely for being gay? In the 2020s? Not likely. And everything else about the school and the family… It all just lacks a bit of realness.
I'm sure a few small, targeted changes could turn this into a knockout series. But then, I guess if the target audience isn't British, maybe it doesn't matter.