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tuckeralmengor 's review for:
The Night Olivia Fell
by Christina McDonald
Many thanks to Gallery Books for a copy in exchange for an honest review
This book just knocked me off an emotional bridge. Here I am falling, falling, falling. With every word I am plunged deeper and deeper into the icy depths of my mind.
Folks, this novel was all that I had hoped for and much, much more. I expected a pretty generic whodunnit mystery and I got so much more. Taut with emotion, stunning and shocking, The Night Olvivia Fell earns a solid five stars from me.
The novel follows Olivia, who is on life support after being pushed off the Ziz Zag bridge. But the doctors are forbade from turning off Olivia’s life support because, surpringsly, Olivia is pregnant. Now, Olivia’s mom, June, and her sister, Sarah must weave through the lies and deception to find the truth and put the murderer behind bars.
♣ June - It did take me a hot second to come around to her. At first, I was a bit annoyed by the generic-ness of her character. Just your avergae MotherTryingToFigureOutWhoBrutallyMurderedHerChild. Fortunatly, I did come around to her soon enough and by the end, was even rooting for her. I really did feel myself pitying her as far as her trust issues go. I know the feeling of not feeling like you have (or ever will) have anyone to confide in. I constantly wished I could jump into the book and give her a big ol’ hug.
♣ Olivia - We really just get to see Olivia in the past. What I mean is, the only time we get to hear from her is when the point of view is in the past, describing past events. We don’t get her present POV because she is braindead. Somehow, this made her an amazing character if not hard to love. Anytime I would read her POV, I would feel a pang of sadness because I could see what was coming even if she could not.
♣ Sarah - June’s sister, Sarah, wasn’t a main character but she wasn’t a side character either. Honestly, I don’t know what purpose she served to the story. All she really did was cried and comforted June. I don’t have much else to say…
♣ Detectives - Yes, I am grouping them all into one group even though some of them were good and some of them were dirty PIECES OF SH*T!!! … Excuse me… I sneezed…
I just want to talk about the unashamed emotion this book made me feel. Even more so because I was listening to the audiobook. There were chunks and line that were funny, sure. But above that was the sadness of this book. From page one, we know that Olivia is going to die. Of course, that doesn’t mean we’ll stop searching for answers. It does mean that when we find those answers there will always be a bit of sadness because of the loss. At the end, when it came time for Olivia to be taken off life support (It’s not a spoiler because it’s clear from page one that this would be happening. Don’t @ me), I was so heartbroken. I was literally in tears.
Aside from that, I love a good whodunnit. And while it was a bit predictable in that department, I still enjoyed the ending. I suppose it is hard to check all the boxes. Oh, well. The writing style was eloquent and beautiful. It kept me reading word to word, page to page.
Overall, this novel was beautifully crafted, well set up and carried out, and brilliantly written! It comes highly recommended.
Many thanks to Gallery books for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review
Bottom Line:
4.5 Stars
Age Rating [PG - 13] (For scary themes, sexaul assualt and murder)
Cover: 4/5 ~ Plot: 4/5 ~ Characters: 5/5 ~ AudioL 4/5
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Trust, I'd learned was the greatest gift you could give; the greatest gift to receive. The belief that a person wouldn't betray you required a strength and confidence I was only just finding. Trusting someone else, having a partner, meant I was living.
This book just knocked me off an emotional bridge. Here I am falling, falling, falling. With every word I am plunged deeper and deeper into the icy depths of my mind.
Folks, this novel was all that I had hoped for and much, much more. I expected a pretty generic whodunnit mystery and I got so much more. Taut with emotion, stunning and shocking, The Night Olvivia Fell earns a solid five stars from me.
The novel follows Olivia, who is on life support after being pushed off the Ziz Zag bridge. But the doctors are forbade from turning off Olivia’s life support because, surpringsly, Olivia is pregnant. Now, Olivia’s mom, June, and her sister, Sarah must weave through the lies and deception to find the truth and put the murderer behind bars.
♣ June - It did take me a hot second to come around to her. At first, I was a bit annoyed by the generic-ness of her character. Just your avergae MotherTryingToFigureOutWhoBrutallyMurderedHerChild. Fortunatly, I did come around to her soon enough and by the end, was even rooting for her. I really did feel myself pitying her as far as her trust issues go. I know the feeling of not feeling like you have (or ever will) have anyone to confide in. I constantly wished I could jump into the book and give her a big ol’ hug.
♣ Olivia - We really just get to see Olivia in the past. What I mean is, the only time we get to hear from her is when the point of view is in the past, describing past events. We don’t get her present POV because she is braindead. Somehow, this made her an amazing character if not hard to love. Anytime I would read her POV, I would feel a pang of sadness because I could see what was coming even if she could not.
♣ Sarah - June’s sister, Sarah, wasn’t a main character but she wasn’t a side character either. Honestly, I don’t know what purpose she served to the story. All she really did was cried and comforted June. I don’t have much else to say…
♣ Detectives - Yes, I am grouping them all into one group even though some of them were good and some of them were dirty PIECES OF SH*T!!! … Excuse me… I sneezed…
I just want to talk about the unashamed emotion this book made me feel. Even more so because I was listening to the audiobook. There were chunks and line that were funny, sure. But above that was the sadness of this book. From page one, we know that Olivia is going to die. Of course, that doesn’t mean we’ll stop searching for answers. It does mean that when we find those answers there will always be a bit of sadness because of the loss. At the end, when it came time for Olivia to be taken off life support (It’s not a spoiler because it’s clear from page one that this would be happening. Don’t @ me), I was so heartbroken. I was literally in tears.
Aside from that, I love a good whodunnit. And while it was a bit predictable in that department, I still enjoyed the ending. I suppose it is hard to check all the boxes. Oh, well. The writing style was eloquent and beautiful. It kept me reading word to word, page to page.
Overall, this novel was beautifully crafted, well set up and carried out, and brilliantly written! It comes highly recommended.
Many thanks to Gallery books for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review
Bottom Line:
4.5 Stars
Age Rating [PG - 13] (For scary themes, sexaul assualt and murder)
Cover: 4/5 ~ Plot: 4/5 ~ Characters: 5/5 ~ AudioL 4/5
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