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A review by itstaralw
A Breath After Drowning by Alice Blanchard
2.0
This was a great book if Blanchard is a 15 year old middle schooler who does only okay in English class.
This felt like the author pieced together three or four different unfinished stories just to meet a deadline.
Kate, the main character, is supposed to be a highly educated psychologist, however she & her partner speak to/with each other as though they’re children. The whole “my boyfriend is _______” line is nauseating. Oh also, her rich boyfriend is a mamas boy, that’s such a new idea.
Kate lacks any of the intelligence the holder of a PhD would have— she doesn’t have much basic medical knowledge, she’s not that great at talking to people with mental health issues, she’s very very easily affected by the things her patients say, she doesn’t listen to her superiors, etc. You don’t need to be a psychiatrist yourself to know that they leave their personal baggage at the door.
Common sense is something she has even less of, compared to intelligence. A patient’s family member physically assaults her and she’s just okay with it, but when her supervisor tells her she’s overstepping her boundaries she throws a tantrum. Now, she isn’t the only dumb “professional” in the book. In fact, all of them are unbelievably bad at their jobs.
The last part of the book somehow gets worse & even less believable. It barely ties back to any of the drawn-out parts of the first half, and the killer is beyond boring with an even more boring stretch of a motive. Even in my imagination, it played out like a low budget thriller film. I am personally offended that I looked forward to this read.
My last point is what originally tipped me off to Blanchard being a middle schooler: Henry Blackwood is not innocent, whether he murdered children or not. I’m not sure how many times he is described as a potentially innocent man, even after it’s confirmed that he has a serious history of sexually abusing his own family, but it was way too much. Don’t read it, it’s a waste of time.
This felt like the author pieced together three or four different unfinished stories just to meet a deadline.
Kate, the main character, is supposed to be a highly educated psychologist, however she & her partner speak to/with each other as though they’re children. The whole “my boyfriend is _______” line is nauseating. Oh also, her rich boyfriend is a mamas boy, that’s such a new idea.
Kate lacks any of the intelligence the holder of a PhD would have— she doesn’t have much basic medical knowledge, she’s not that great at talking to people with mental health issues, she’s very very easily affected by the things her patients say, she doesn’t listen to her superiors, etc. You don’t need to be a psychiatrist yourself to know that they leave their personal baggage at the door.
Common sense is something she has even less of, compared to intelligence. A patient’s family member physically assaults her and she’s just okay with it, but when her supervisor tells her she’s overstepping her boundaries she throws a tantrum. Now, she isn’t the only dumb “professional” in the book. In fact, all of them are unbelievably bad at their jobs.
The last part of the book somehow gets worse & even less believable. It barely ties back to any of the drawn-out parts of the first half, and the killer is beyond boring with an even more boring stretch of a motive. Even in my imagination, it played out like a low budget thriller film. I am personally offended that I looked forward to this read.
My last point is what originally tipped me off to Blanchard being a middle schooler: Henry Blackwood is not innocent, whether he murdered children or not. I’m not sure how many times he is described as a potentially innocent man, even after it’s confirmed that he has a serious history of sexually abusing his own family, but it was way too much. Don’t read it, it’s a waste of time.