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A review by antiopelle
Believe Me by Ryan Carter, Dreda Say Mitchell
2.0
I've chosen to read "Believe me" based on the setting of a grand house on a rugged English coastline. Unfortunately, I quickly realized that this book wasn't a good match for me.
First of all, there is the first person narrative, which I don't dislike as a whole, but in this case it reflects the very disjointed feelings of the main character. I understand what the author did as the thoughts of Gabby are a rambling mess, but reading her every thought that was jumping from here to there didn't engage me as a reader.
The same chaotic feeling applies to the storyline. It starts with domestic abuse but then it includes some sort of cult, medical gas-lighting and a con artist, juvenile crime, etc. It just felt as there were too many stories crammed into one. Especially the gas-lighting made my skin crawl, as I cannot understand why someone who gets dismissed by a doctor doesn't get a second opinion. These events take place 25 years ago, and I was an adult back then, it's not as if it were the dark ages where women didn't have anything to say about their bodies. I found this very difficult to read.
Then I get to the mystery, which was very obvious as there were two possibilities and one of them proved to be right.
A sincere thanks to NetGalley, Thomas & Mercer and the author for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.
First of all, there is the first person narrative, which I don't dislike as a whole, but in this case it reflects the very disjointed feelings of the main character. I understand what the author did as the thoughts of Gabby are a rambling mess, but reading her every thought that was jumping from here to there didn't engage me as a reader.
The same chaotic feeling applies to the storyline. It starts with domestic abuse but then it includes some sort of cult, medical gas-lighting and a con artist, juvenile crime, etc. It just felt as there were too many stories crammed into one. Especially the gas-lighting made my skin crawl, as I cannot understand why someone who gets dismissed by a doctor doesn't get a second opinion. These events take place 25 years ago, and I was an adult back then, it's not as if it were the dark ages where women didn't have anything to say about their bodies. I found this very difficult to read.
Then I get to the mystery, which was very obvious as there were two possibilities and one of them proved to be right.
A sincere thanks to NetGalley, Thomas & Mercer and the author for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.