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A review by thegeekybibliophile
Guilty by Laura Elliot
3.0
When Constance Lawson goes missing, all efforts are initially focused on finding the thirteen-year-old and reuniting her with her grieving family. All that changes when ambitious journalist Amanda Bowe zeroes in on Constance's uncle, Karl Lawson, twisting his close relationship with Constance into something sordid, implying that he is responsible for her disappearance, destroying Karl's life in the process. It only took seven days.
Six years later, Amanda has everything she ever wanted. She's married, has a young son, and is the host of a hit talk show. All it takes is a single phone call to shatter the illusions of her perfect life, plunging her into a nightmare that feels all to familiar...
Guilty is a complex story that slowly builds. I often found myself feeling frustrated by the slow pace and seemingly mundane details. (Many of these details proved to matter later on, but not all of them.) My first thought, upon finishing the book, was that it felt like I'd read two books instead of one.
Even though I enjoyed the overall story, I can't shake a mild feeling of dissatisfaction. The story is broken up into four parts, and while important things are revealed in all them, parts two and three felt tedious to read. The pace was too slow for my liking, and I didn't understand the point of most of those details until I reached part four.
All of this left me feeling terribly conflicted. Despite being dissatisfied with things, Guilty still manages to tell a great story, and Elliot's writing is very good. The snail-like pace of large portions of the story bogs it down, dimming what would otherwise shine.
That said, the vast majority of Goodreads reviewers gave this book four and five stars. So I'm inclined to think it's a case of Guilty not being a good fit for me, than anything else.
I received an advance reading copy of this book courtesy of Bookouture via Netgalley.
Six years later, Amanda has everything she ever wanted. She's married, has a young son, and is the host of a hit talk show. All it takes is a single phone call to shatter the illusions of her perfect life, plunging her into a nightmare that feels all to familiar...
Guilty is a complex story that slowly builds. I often found myself feeling frustrated by the slow pace and seemingly mundane details. (Many of these details proved to matter later on, but not all of them.) My first thought, upon finishing the book, was that it felt like I'd read two books instead of one.
Even though I enjoyed the overall story, I can't shake a mild feeling of dissatisfaction. The story is broken up into four parts, and while important things are revealed in all them, parts two and three felt tedious to read. The pace was too slow for my liking, and I didn't understand the point of most of those details until I reached part four.
All of this left me feeling terribly conflicted. Despite being dissatisfied with things, Guilty still manages to tell a great story, and Elliot's writing is very good. The snail-like pace of large portions of the story bogs it down, dimming what would otherwise shine.
That said, the vast majority of Goodreads reviewers gave this book four and five stars. So I'm inclined to think it's a case of Guilty not being a good fit for me, than anything else.
I received an advance reading copy of this book courtesy of Bookouture via Netgalley.