A review by paulineerika
Jar of Hearts by Jennifer Hillier

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No

3.0

This one was hard for me to rate. I think I expected a different story, based on the first half of the book. I enjoyed the first half and Geo's no-nonsense survival personality. I was at least engaged and interested about where the story might go.

It lost me, though,
when we discovered how Angela was raped and murdered.
While the story felt at least somewhat fresh before then, that particular chapter felt recycled and stale.
The same happened for me when Calvin came back and raped Geo, when we read about her teen pregnancy, and then when Dominic confronted Geo.
I'm not really sure what I expected, but these parts seemed to fall into the more predictable thriller tropes for me. Nor did I find the characters particularly "morally gray."
The chapter with Geo directing Calvin on how to dismember and bury Angela felt like a complete left turn for both characters and I wasn't buying it. It seemed contrived.
Geo and Calvin were probably the most interesting characters to me, but even they couldn't save the novel. And I just did not like Kai, honestly. 

Rating also downgraded because of
the early commentary about the "wicked human beings" in prison, the author's unnecessary disparagement of public defenders (and totally unrealistic portrayal of a baby PD being assigned to represent an alleged serial killer), and Kai's creepy stalking of Geo in prison. $6000 to spy on her? JFC.
Finally, while I'm not particularly queasy about what I read, the multiple instances of rape/sexual assault/attempted rape felt borderline gratuitous.

Overall, I like Hillier's writing, but this particular story and plot had problems for me. 
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