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A review by samantita
Finding Sophie by Imran Mahmood
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Our two main characters, Harry and Zara, are the parents of Sophie, a 17-year-old girl who goes missing in South London. The story follows each parent through their perspectives in the first person point-of-view as they attempt to find Sophie separately while dealing with the grief that accompanies having a child go missing.
What I like about this book is how introspective each character is in their corresponding chapters. The use of the present tense coupled with their clear thoughts achieves a tension I don't think would have been possible with the past tense. It put me, the reader, in the moment and certainly kept me turning the page.
I also really appreciate how the sentence-level prose explores the depths of Harry and Zara's grief. For example, one of the sentences early on in the book reads, "I can see that he is still bloated by secrets he's keeping inside him. He needs me to take them from him, but I can't." Another one describes the ache Zara feels for one of her past regrets regarding Sophie and says, "I want to reach deep into my belly through my mouth and grasp the stringed clot of it and pull it out and fling it." My favorite kind of book is one that carefully blends plot, character, and crazy beautiful prose. This was one of those books.
I took away a quarter of a star for how the book ended. Without giving anything away, the last event in the book was one that I wasn't expecting and therefore needed more time to process.
Overall, this was a fantastic ride of a thriller for me!
What I like about this book is how introspective each character is in their corresponding chapters. The use of the present tense coupled with their clear thoughts achieves a tension I don't think would have been possible with the past tense. It put me, the reader, in the moment and certainly kept me turning the page.
I also really appreciate how the sentence-level prose explores the depths of Harry and Zara's grief. For example, one of the sentences early on in the book reads, "I can see that he is still bloated by secrets he's keeping inside him. He needs me to take them from him, but I can't." Another one describes the ache Zara feels for one of her past regrets regarding Sophie and says, "I want to reach deep into my belly through my mouth and grasp the stringed clot of it and pull it out and fling it." My favorite kind of book is one that carefully blends plot, character, and crazy beautiful prose. This was one of those books.
I took away a quarter of a star for how the book ended. Without giving anything away, the last event in the book was one that I wasn't expecting and therefore needed more time to process.
Overall, this was a fantastic ride of a thriller for me!