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2 reviews
The Stolen Daughter by Florence Olajide, Florence Olajide
Thank you to Netgalley for the digital ARC.
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Mid-19th century West Africa is at the height of the slave trade. Villagers are constantly raided by enemy tribes of captives to sell to the white man, and one evening, our protagonist Ṣìkẹ́mi’s village is raided. She is captured along with her neighbors, and she is sold to Madam Tinúbú, a powerful woman, who is the wife and sister of kings. Desperate to see her parents and brother again, Ṣìkẹ́mi is determined to survive this life of slavery and make her way home.
This was an interesting historical story, and since it is based on a real person, it made me eager to read the actual history of this person. Unfortunately, the history was the only interesting thing about this book. Ṣìkẹ́mi is very courageous and skilled, and always stays true to herself, but all of this is told to us from her own thoughts and actions. We are told that she does brave things, things no one else would do, but we don’t really see how others view her or why they respect her so much. The only times that it feels emotional is when Ṣìkẹ́mi is remembering her family, otherwise it feels like she’s just moving through the story.
There are a lot of sudden time jumps, and not enough action on page. We’re told about the raids that she conducts and the dangerous situations she’s in, but it never really felt like she was in danger. Actually, there was only one time, when one of Ṣìkẹ́mi’s plans utterly fails, but even the aftermath of that incident is a letdown because what happens to her is completely out of her hands.
I love this story for telling me about a part of Nigerian history that I didn’t know before, and for having an inspirational main character. I really enjoyed the writing style (it was very memoir-ish, and it made me curious to pick up this author’s memoir), but I just wanted more action and passion from the book.
Thank you to Netgalley for the digital ARC.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery and Kidnapping
Moderate: Violence and Sexual assault
The Return of Ellie Black by Emiko Jean
dark
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Detective Chelsey Calhoun is awakened by a call late one night: Ellie Black has been found after missing for two years. This news launches Chelsey in a fast paced mystery thriller of trying to figure out who took Ellie and where she’s been all this time. To make things more complicated, Chelsey is still haunted by the loss of her sister whose murder twenty years ago broke her family apart.
Let me just say that overall I enjoyed this book. It was a page turner, and I was desperate to know how it ended. However, as I read, there are several things that pulled me out of the thrill of the story, and I found the ending pretty disappointing.
Let’s start with the positives.
Positives:
1. I thought the characters were fun. Even though they were very stereotypical (loner small town copy, bland supportive spouse, every man is violent and dismissive, every woman is angry and unsatisfied) this actually made it easy to follow the story because you didn’t have to think too much about their motivations. I know that doesn’t sound like a good thing, but I think the plot was twisty enough without having to also question what the characters were up to. It makes for a good mystery thriller to read for someone who’s never read one before.
2. I loved Danny and Ellie’s relationship. I thought they were sweet and their problems and interactions before and after her abduction felt so realistic. Ellie’s parents were also written really well. The way they handled their daughter's disappearance felt very true.
4. The switching POVs were a little jarring at first, but it was easy to understand who was telling the story, and I thought it made for an interesting story format.
5. The description of Ellie’s abduction and her time with her captor was absolutely chilling, and some of the things that happened to her will definitely haunt me for a while.
6. I really loved seeing Chelsey’s internal monologues and doubts as she went through the case and how much she cared about the people involved.
Cons:
1. I really thought we were going to get a bit more about Chelsey’s Japanese heritage, or her trying to learn about her heritage.
2. I love police procedural shows, and I understand you just have to ignore some of the science because it won’t make sense. But the part with the DNA? I’m pretty sure that’s not how DNA works, though I might be wrong.
3. I didn’t mind the repeated comments about the violence towards women, because it is true especially for the mystery thriller genre, but why not go louder with it? Why not have Chelsey make an impassioned speech to her husband or boss about why she has to do certain things? Why not have her talk about this to Ellie?
4. All the reveals were so unsatisfying. One of the reveals was easy to guess, and the other one was such a blah moment because there was no emotional buildup for the surprise. The reveal at the very end was silly and so out of the blue. To make it effective, there should have been some hints scattered throughout the book so that the reader could revel in that moment of connecting all the dots. Or we should have met more of the characters involved so we’d feel a connection to what’s happening on the page.
I hope I didn’t spoil anything for those who still want to pick up the book. And it is definitely a fun book to pick up, especially if the things that bothered me don’t bother you. I’d recommend it for an easy summer read.
Thank you Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for this arc in return for an honest review.
Let me just say that overall I enjoyed this book. It was a page turner, and I was desperate to know how it ended. However, as I read, there are several things that pulled me out of the thrill of the story, and I found the ending pretty disappointing.
Let’s start with the positives.
Positives:
1. I thought the characters were fun. Even though they were very stereotypical (loner small town copy, bland supportive spouse, every man is violent and dismissive, every woman is angry and unsatisfied) this actually made it easy to follow the story because you didn’t have to think too much about their motivations. I know that doesn’t sound like a good thing, but I think the plot was twisty enough without having to also question what the characters were up to. It makes for a good mystery thriller to read for someone who’s never read one before.
2. I loved Danny and Ellie’s relationship. I thought they were sweet and their problems and interactions before and after her abduction felt so realistic. Ellie’s parents were also written really well. The way they handled their daughter's disappearance felt very true.
4. The switching POVs were a little jarring at first, but it was easy to understand who was telling the story, and I thought it made for an interesting story format.
5. The description of Ellie’s abduction and her time with her captor was absolutely chilling, and some of the things that happened to her will definitely haunt me for a while.
6. I really loved seeing Chelsey’s internal monologues and doubts as she went through the case and how much she cared about the people involved.
Cons:
1. I really thought we were going to get a bit more about Chelsey’s Japanese heritage, or her trying to learn about her heritage.
2. I love police procedural shows, and I understand you just have to ignore some of the science because it won’t make sense. But the part with the DNA? I’m pretty sure that’s not how DNA works, though I might be wrong.
3. I didn’t mind the repeated comments about the violence towards women, because it is true especially for the mystery thriller genre, but why not go louder with it? Why not have Chelsey make an impassioned speech to her husband or boss about why she has to do certain things? Why not have her talk about this to Ellie?
4. All the reveals were so unsatisfying. One of the reveals was easy to guess, and the other one was such a blah moment because there was no emotional buildup for the surprise. The reveal at the very end was silly and so out of the blue. To make it effective, there should have been some hints scattered throughout the book so that the reader could revel in that moment of connecting all the dots. Or we should have met more of the characters involved so we’d feel a connection to what’s happening on the page.
I hope I didn’t spoil anything for those who still want to pick up the book. And it is definitely a fun book to pick up, especially if the things that bothered me don’t bother you. I’d recommend it for an easy summer read.
Thank you Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for this arc in return for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Drug use, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Violence, Sexual assault, and Gun violence
Minor: Drug use and Alcohol
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