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helenwhite83 's review for:
Dear Amy
by Helen Callaghan
On the face of it, Dear Amy sounded like a rollicking read. Teacher Margot Lewis moonlights as agony aunt Amy for the local newspaper, where she receives some alarming letters allegedly written by local girl missing Bethan Avery. Margot herself is not without a past - an overused thread running through many psychological thrillers of late, where the protagonist has some skeleton lurking in the closet threatening to jump out and shake up her carefully constructed life without notice. But what does Margot’s past, the letters from Bethan, and missing school girl Katie Browne all have in common? Margot joins forces with Criminologist Martin in an attempt to unravel the mystery.
I have to admit I found this very tedious beyond the first few chapters. Initially I liked Margot’s voice - she came across as a middle aged, school ma’am character nestled in her safe suburban life. However, I found it difficult to connect with her after a while. I found myself rolling my eyes at her naivety - inviting her husband round for wine and a fancy dinner, for example, or being so willing to believe that the letters could really have been sent by a girl supposedly being held against her will in a cellar... I felt that the characters were really under-developed and I really didn’t care what happened to them by the end.
I did consider giving up, but I hate leaving a book unfinished, so I persevered until the half way mark where, as other reviewers have pointed out, it does pick up somewhat. I found the conclusion too quickly dealt with, with more questions posed than what were answered, and I was left feeling quite disinterested in the whole affair once I’d finished.
Sorry to post such negative opinions - and I’m aware that others have really rated this book, but it was just not for me.
I have to admit I found this very tedious beyond the first few chapters. Initially I liked Margot’s voice - she came across as a middle aged, school ma’am character nestled in her safe suburban life. However, I found it difficult to connect with her after a while. I found myself rolling my eyes at her naivety - inviting her husband round for wine and a fancy dinner, for example, or being so willing to believe that the letters could really have been sent by a girl supposedly being held against her will in a cellar... I felt that the characters were really under-developed and I really didn’t care what happened to them by the end.
I did consider giving up, but I hate leaving a book unfinished, so I persevered until the half way mark where, as other reviewers have pointed out, it does pick up somewhat. I found the conclusion too quickly dealt with, with more questions posed than what were answered, and I was left feeling quite disinterested in the whole affair once I’d finished.
Sorry to post such negative opinions - and I’m aware that others have really rated this book, but it was just not for me.