A review by jsoakes
Long Bright River by Liz Moore

dark emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

This is a story that could have been great. All the stuff about living with and overcoming addiction (or not) was really interesting. The familial interactions felt realistic and were engaging, especially the relationship of the sisters. But all the cop stuff was just..... Really bad? 

Also, this could just be a personal gripe, but I really hate it when a character insists that she isn't dumb using her excellence in schooling as proof and then proceeds to be absolutely idiotic in every situation possible. 

I also realize that there are tons of issues with abuse of power in the police force, but this representation felt weak. It felt like the author was trying to make a point about corruption, but at the same time was sort of copping out with her chosen villains (which were painfully obvious from the very beginning).
It's easy to see a literal serial killer as evil, but literal serial killers are not very common in the real world where police brutality and abuse actually occurs. This book obviously touches on that with the members of the force protecting each other and not taking claims against them seriously, but it also goes too far and pushes it away from reality. This could have been so much more satisfying if the story was just about a cop coercing sex from vulnerable women and actually getting caught.


There was one twist I didn't anticipate that was well done
(I did not guess that Thomas was Kacey's son)
, but there were a few that were..... Just dumb.
The killer OBVIOUSLY wasn't Truman, and it was so obviously Laherty from the very first page. Clear was very obviously a creepy grooming asshole and their father was very obviously alive. I felt like all of these were supposed to be shocking twists that just did not land.


It wasn't a bad story, I just think it could have been great if the protagonist wasn't so bad at her job and actually made a few good decisions, or if "the bad guys" were fleshed out a bit more...
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