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A review by soverthetop
Speak of the Devil by Rose Wilding
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I'm glad I read this book, but I'm also glad I didn't pay for it.
This one was interesting and frustrating. There were way too many characters to keep straight and I thought that we were focused on the wrong people for too long. Some women were given way more chapters and POVs than others that when we were suddenly dumped into one we hadn't seen ij ages, it took a moment to remember exactly who that person was. (spoilery comment about that down below)
Also, despite all of the information and details given, the author barely dug into how all seven of these women came together, which to me was one of the more interesting aspects of the story. Slightly annoyed that we weren't given more information about that.
The premise itself was super interesting: We open in a room full of 7 women and one man's severed head. Only one of them killed him, but they all have a motive. I just wish the execution had been a little bit better.
Some of the writing style and choices annoyed me a little bit, but that could be because this is a British author who clearly grew up around people with strong accents.
To be honest, the only things stopping me from DNFing this book were the fact that it was a book club read and I wanted to know which one of these women did the deed.
Now for the SLIGHT SPOILER: I'm a little disappointed that we spent SO LITTLE time from the killer's point of view. I thought she had one of if not the least amount of time given in the book, which I thought was a little annoying. The reveal felt anticlimactic because we didn't know this woman as much as the others and the sudden dump of information at the end made it seem like the author didn't know which woman would be the killer until she was actively writing the death scene.
Also the author used the term "gaslighting" in a book set in 1999/2000. Hated that.
This one was interesting and frustrating. There were way too many characters to keep straight and I thought that we were focused on the wrong people for too long. Some women were given way more chapters and POVs than others that when we were suddenly dumped into one we hadn't seen ij ages, it took a moment to remember exactly who that person was. (spoilery comment about that down below)
Also, despite all of the information and details given, the author barely dug into how all seven of these women came together, which to me was one of the more interesting aspects of the story. Slightly annoyed that we weren't given more information about that.
The premise itself was super interesting: We open in a room full of 7 women and one man's severed head. Only one of them killed him, but they all have a motive. I just wish the execution had been a little bit better.
Some of the writing style and choices annoyed me a little bit, but that could be because this is a British author who clearly grew up around people with strong accents.
To be honest, the only things stopping me from DNFing this book were the fact that it was a book club read and I wanted to know which one of these women did the deed.
Now for the SLIGHT SPOILER: I'm a little disappointed that we spent SO LITTLE time from the killer's point of view. I thought she had one of if not the least amount of time given in the book, which I thought was a little annoying. The reveal felt anticlimactic because we didn't know this woman as much as the others and the sudden dump of information at the end made it seem like the author didn't know which woman would be the killer until she was actively writing the death scene.
Also the author used the term "gaslighting" in a book set in 1999/2000. Hated that.