A review by bookph1le
The Dry by Jane Harper

2.0

Definitely the exception here. I didn't dislike this book or think it was bad, per se, but I was unconnected and not very interested in it for the bulk of the book. I think this partially stems from not really feeling a connection with Falk as a character. He felt somewhat unknowable to me. I also didn't really like the subplot of his past mystery because I felt like the book stretched it out way too much.

The writing could use a little refining too.

Spoiler

In particular, the chapter where Falk finds the note with his phone number on it. There's an entire paragraph before it's revealed that the number is his that's *completely* unnecessary as, the second he found the number, I knew whose it was going to be. The paragraph is overwritten, trying to build up suspense, when I think it would have been more effective had it said something like "The number was his" instead of something along the lines of "He didn't even have to question whose number it was..." That felt so melodramatic to me.

I think I also felt disconnected from the setting because I didn't particularly like any of the secondary characters. Raco is maybe the best, but even he didn't feel fully fleshed out to me. All the other characters felt vaguely stereotypical. We had the high school hottie, the bully from a bad family, the suspicious townspeople...

Lastly, I didn't much care for the way the flashbacks were written, because I didn't like how the book kept shifting perspective. I don't have a problem with books told from multiple perspectives, but only when it's done as an integral part of the narrative. This book uses perspective shifts to help move the plot along, and that I don't like. If I'm not hearing from a character regularly, I don't suddenly want their perspective to pop up because the plot demands it.

I won't be reading the next book in the series as this book and I just did not click.