cakt1991 's review for:

Thorn In My Side by C.J. Skuse

4.0

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 Thorn in My Side is very likely my least favorite of the Sweetpea series thus far. While some of the strengths throughout the series remain consistent, it felt a little weaker in other areas. 

Rhiannon is an absolute delight as always, and I love seeing her exposed to new environments and challenges each time. This time, she’s living in hiding once again, but has settled in San Diego, and has found something close to domestic bliss with her fiancee Raf. Her biting sense of humor remains LOL-worthy, and I loved watching her once again try to curb her bloodlust to try to maintain her cover, while the world is on the lookout for her. 

But it definitely stagnated quite a bit plot and pacing wise, and once I got a bit into the story, it’s very clear why. The narrative includes Covid lockdown as a prominent part of the book, and while that’s not a dealbreaker for me on its own, this, and the possible real-life anguish of this time on CJ Skuse, was clearly reflected in the writing. There’s just not a lot of room in the narrative for high-octane storytelling, and the narrative drags for a good portion of it. It does ultimately pay off, but it took a lot of patience to get there.

 However, this is one of those cases where both Rhiannon’s charm and the fact that most readers will already be invested enough in her from the previous three books makes up for one installment being a dud. I still enthusiastically recommend this series to readers who enjoy thrillers with deeply flawed, yet charming protagonists.