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bookishends 's review for:
The Second Mother
by Jenny Milchman
The book had so much potential to wow me, but for a thriller to be this long, I need there to be a lot of captivating action, and this book was much more of a slow thriller that focused heavily on building the setting. Most of the times when something suspenseful or creepy was happening, the author immediately moved onto something else instead of continuing to build up the suspense.
I did really enjoy the ending to this story, but the story really dragged for me in the middle. I don't know if I would have finished this if not for my desire to know what happens at the end. There were some deaths happening left and right towards the end that I'm not sure how I feel about, but I did enjoy the big twist that happened as I didn't see it coming at all. There were so many suspicious elements dropped in the beginning of the book that intrigued me, but it took till almost the end of the book for them to really start playing a part in the story. Also, I think the dog Depot played too large of a role in this story. He added to parts of the mystery and plot, but there were times where I lost interest in hearing about every time Julie was going to feed him or take him on a walk. I liked how the author wrote Julie's character though as she was too blinded by grief to see a lot of red flags in the beginning, but she started putting things together as her time on the island increased and she found another sense of purpose.
I really liked Callum and his relationship with Julie and wish we could have seen more of their interactions in this. Also, I enjoyed trying to figure out Peter and if he was actually troubled or if there was something else going on under the surface.
Overall, I think this is a good book for people who like slow, character-driven thrillers that leave you wondering what's going to happen next at every turn.
*Thanks to Books Forward for a free copy of this book. All opinions are my own*
I did really enjoy the ending to this story, but the story really dragged for me in the middle. I don't know if I would have finished this if not for my desire to know what happens at the end. There were some deaths happening left and right towards the end that I'm not sure how I feel about, but I did enjoy the big twist that happened as I didn't see it coming at all. There were so many suspicious elements dropped in the beginning of the book that intrigued me, but it took till almost the end of the book for them to really start playing a part in the story. Also, I think the dog Depot played too large of a role in this story. He added to parts of the mystery and plot, but there were times where I lost interest in hearing about every time Julie was going to feed him or take him on a walk. I liked how the author wrote Julie's character though as she was too blinded by grief to see a lot of red flags in the beginning, but she started putting things together as her time on the island increased and she found another sense of purpose.
I really liked Callum and his relationship with Julie and wish we could have seen more of their interactions in this. Also, I enjoyed trying to figure out Peter and if he was actually troubled or if there was something else going on under the surface.
Overall, I think this is a good book for people who like slow, character-driven thrillers that leave you wondering what's going to happen next at every turn.
*Thanks to Books Forward for a free copy of this book. All opinions are my own*