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obsidian_blue's reviews
3079 reviews
The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine
5.0
I thought this was a very good thriller. Very intrigued how the two authors (they make up Liv Constantine) have a second book in this series. I do have to say though, this was a fun ride. You get a character you despise, one you root for, and a very satisfying ending.
"The Last Mrs. Parrish" follows Amber Patterson. Amber is fed up with having nothing and sets her sight on Daphne Parrish. She sees in Daphne everything she wants and deserves in this life. And all she has to do is have Daphne's husband see what a great wife she would be to him. And Daphne, she's a loving wife, and seems very focused on her husband and two daughters, she doesn't seem aware of what Amber is up to.
The book shifts back into distinct sections. Section 1 follows Amber, then it shifts to Daphne, and then jumps back and forth to Amber and Daphne. You get insight into Jackson Parrish slowly throughout the story. There's other characters, but they are very much on the periphery.
The setting of the book mostly stays in New York with some "jaunts" into other states depending on the story.
No spoilers, but I really did enjoy the ending quite a lot, can't wait to read the second book.
"The Last Mrs. Parrish" follows Amber Patterson. Amber is fed up with having nothing and sets her sight on Daphne Parrish. She sees in Daphne everything she wants and deserves in this life. And all she has to do is have Daphne's husband see what a great wife she would be to him. And Daphne, she's a loving wife, and seems very focused on her husband and two daughters, she doesn't seem aware of what Amber is up to.
The book shifts back into distinct sections. Section 1 follows Amber, then it shifts to Daphne, and then jumps back and forth to Amber and Daphne. You get insight into Jackson Parrish slowly throughout the story. There's other characters, but they are very much on the periphery.
The setting of the book mostly stays in New York with some "jaunts" into other states depending on the story.
No spoilers, but I really did enjoy the ending quite a lot, can't wait to read the second book.
The Forest Grimm by Kathryn Purdie
2.0
Honestly this was just a very long fantasy novel that ends on a cliffhanger. If I hadn't gotten the second book in the series as an ARC, I would never have picked this one up.
"The Forest Grimm" follows 16 year old Clara who is hoping her name gets picked at her village's Lottery so that she can be picked to search in the Forest Grrimm for the Lost Ones that have disappeared over the past three years. Clara's mother went missing three years ago searching for her missing father. Now, she lives with her grandmother and does her best to ignore the warnings her grandmother's cards show about her and others futures.
Clara was not that exciting to follow. Neither was her love interest Axel and her best friend Henni. There's a lot of explaining about so much that the entire book just drags terribly once you get to the point that the three teens are searching for the Lost Ones.
The entire book is Clara, Axel, and Henni meeting dark perspectives of familiar Grimm fairy tales (Rapunzel, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Hansel and Gretel, Red Riding Hood, etc.) and there's nothing new or interesting. As I said, the book drags. I was just bored throughout hoping that we would get to an ending quicker than we did.
The ending of the book left a lot to be desired. I didn't see a need for a second book, so will just finish that one as soon as I can.
"The Forest Grimm" follows 16 year old Clara who is hoping her name gets picked at her village's Lottery so that she can be picked to search in the Forest Grrimm for the Lost Ones that have disappeared over the past three years. Clara's mother went missing three years ago searching for her missing father. Now, she lives with her grandmother and does her best to ignore the warnings her grandmother's cards show about her and others futures.
Clara was not that exciting to follow. Neither was her love interest Axel and her best friend Henni. There's a lot of explaining about so much that the entire book just drags terribly once you get to the point that the three teens are searching for the Lost Ones.
The entire book is Clara, Axel, and Henni meeting dark perspectives of familiar Grimm fairy tales (Rapunzel, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Hansel and Gretel, Red Riding Hood, etc.) and there's nothing new or interesting. As I said, the book drags. I was just bored throughout hoping that we would get to an ending quicker than we did.
The ending of the book left a lot to be desired. I didn't see a need for a second book, so will just finish that one as soon as I can.
Weird Black Girls: Stories by Elwin Cotman
4.0
I thought this was a good collection. Per usual, I rate overall and then for each story in the collection.
Trigger warning: Rape
I feel really bad I accidentally dropped this one in the bathtub the other day. I was reading (as one does) and then slip! And now it's dry, but definitely a little swollen. Oh well!
"The Switchin Tree"(5 stars)-I really liked this story that follows a young girl named Man whose family and community gets turned upside down in 1958. The children of the nearby African American community come to fear their parents and other adults as a malevolent tree in their midst pushes them to punish and even murder their children. It leaves several questions about what the tree is, is it a tree that is really a demon, or is it the spirt of dead slaves or those who were lynched? It never really gets answered, but I liked it that way.
"Reunion" (3 stars)-This one follows a man named Kalonji and his friend, who is white, named Kim. Most of the story is really Kalonji being an absolute F boy and Kim realizing she doesn't really like him, but is somehow still friends with him because she doesn't want to be seen as racist, and also is still attracted to him? I don't know this one also had hands falling off of people's bodies and no one one being shocked. This one cranked the science fiction aspect up so much I was getting confused while reading.
"Owen" (5 stars)-A father dealing with no longer being in his children's lives every day, and trying to teach his son some hard lessons, while also trying to understand why his son is obsessed over the death of a WWF wrestler Owen Hart. I know it sounds weird, but the whole story was very good.
"Triggered" (3 stars)-Honestly this one was hard to get through. We get several depictions of what I perceive as sexual assault. And I just don't know what this was about really. How so called allies are full of crap? I think. I don't even know. I just hated the characters of Spike and Tiffany honestly.
"Things I Learned from Caitlin Clarke's Intro to Acting Class" (5 stars)-A character is somehow tossed back in time to an acting class given by a now dead woman when she touches a young man named Leroy. The main character keeps getting forced back in time and into the present. And the main character rightfully so is confused and does not want to keep having Caitlin Clarke show up every time they touch. And also it's about being unapologetically Black, queer, being angry at being hidden, all kinds of things. And just being able to fall into each other, be better, but then separate again. I think I liked this story the most.
"Tournament Arc" (5 stars)- A character dealing with the world post-COVID. He's a teacher and is leaving in Ohio and dealing with the culling of divisive topics at schools (i.e. Black history). He and his friend Sean (also jobless) are focused on running a LARP. The story is a bit haphazard, but I liked it. Especially reading about another Black geek. This one has a darker tone to it though since you have the main character lashing out against history just being erased. I know this sounds confusing the way I am talking about it, but I liked it.
"Weird Black Girls" (3.5 stars)-Taking place in Boston the story starts off with talking about what they call the Rupture and the pageant that went along with it. This one has jumps around a lot and honestly I got lost a bit here and there on what the story was trying to say, it was a love story in the end, but it just took a while to find the beat of this one.
Trigger warning: Rape
I feel really bad I accidentally dropped this one in the bathtub the other day. I was reading (as one does) and then slip! And now it's dry, but definitely a little swollen. Oh well!
"The Switchin Tree"(5 stars)-I really liked this story that follows a young girl named Man whose family and community gets turned upside down in 1958. The children of the nearby African American community come to fear their parents and other adults as a malevolent tree in their midst pushes them to punish and even murder their children. It leaves several questions about what the tree is, is it a tree that is really a demon, or is it the spirt of dead slaves or those who were lynched? It never really gets answered, but I liked it that way.
"Reunion" (3 stars)-This one follows a man named Kalonji and his friend, who is white, named Kim. Most of the story is really Kalonji being an absolute F boy and Kim realizing she doesn't really like him, but is somehow still friends with him because she doesn't want to be seen as racist, and also is still attracted to him? I don't know this one also had hands falling off of people's bodies and no one one being shocked. This one cranked the science fiction aspect up so much I was getting confused while reading.
"Owen" (5 stars)-A father dealing with no longer being in his children's lives every day, and trying to teach his son some hard lessons, while also trying to understand why his son is obsessed over the death of a WWF wrestler Owen Hart. I know it sounds weird, but the whole story was very good.
"Triggered" (3 stars)-Honestly this one was hard to get through. We get several depictions of what I perceive as sexual assault. And I just don't know what this was about really. How so called allies are full of crap? I think. I don't even know. I just hated the characters of Spike and Tiffany honestly.
"Things I Learned from Caitlin Clarke's Intro to Acting Class" (5 stars)-A character is somehow tossed back in time to an acting class given by a now dead woman when she touches a young man named Leroy. The main character keeps getting forced back in time and into the present. And the main character rightfully so is confused and does not want to keep having Caitlin Clarke show up every time they touch. And also it's about being unapologetically Black, queer, being angry at being hidden, all kinds of things. And just being able to fall into each other, be better, but then separate again. I think I liked this story the most.
"Tournament Arc" (5 stars)- A character dealing with the world post-COVID. He's a teacher and is leaving in Ohio and dealing with the culling of divisive topics at schools (i.e. Black history). He and his friend Sean (also jobless) are focused on running a LARP. The story is a bit haphazard, but I liked it. Especially reading about another Black geek. This one has a darker tone to it though since you have the main character lashing out against history just being erased. I know this sounds confusing the way I am talking about it, but I liked it.
"Weird Black Girls" (3.5 stars)-Taking place in Boston the story starts off with talking about what they call the Rupture and the pageant that went along with it. This one has jumps around a lot and honestly I got lost a bit here and there on what the story was trying to say, it was a love story in the end, but it just took a while to find the beat of this one.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape
What Does It Feel Like? by Sophie Kinsella
5.0
This was a perfectly lovely novella that Kinsella published. Based on her true life events, this story follows a writer named Eve that hits it big and then wakes up one day in the hospital and finds out that a huge malignant tumor was removed from her brain. "What Does It Feel Like?" follows her on her journey.
I have to say that this whole book made me recall what my family went through when my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer when I was in high school. It's a surreal feeling of having dark thoughts and also still being able to laugh at dumb stuff. I think Kinsella really hit the right notes in this one.
I liked what we get from Eve in the before parts of the story. She's a woman who is in love with her husband and is delighted with her 5 children. She switches up her planned book to something that ends up catapulting her to fame and fortune. And then she wakes up in the hospital with no memory of how she got there. The book is heartbreaking at times when you read about what her family and husband goes through since her short term memory is gone. And then what the after stage looks for them and even the fear stuff of what happens if the tumor comes back or she doesn't survive chemo or radiation. Honestly though, this book is just a wonderful love story about her husband and children. And what every person I think goes through when they realize they may not be there to see how your ending goes, whether it's watching your kids graduate school, get married, get their first job, first car, and when they have their children.
Be warned, you will want some tissues nearby.
I have to say that this whole book made me recall what my family went through when my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer when I was in high school. It's a surreal feeling of having dark thoughts and also still being able to laugh at dumb stuff. I think Kinsella really hit the right notes in this one.
I liked what we get from Eve in the before parts of the story. She's a woman who is in love with her husband and is delighted with her 5 children. She switches up her planned book to something that ends up catapulting her to fame and fortune. And then she wakes up in the hospital with no memory of how she got there. The book is heartbreaking at times when you read about what her family and husband goes through since her short term memory is gone. And then what the after stage looks for them and even the fear stuff of what happens if the tumor comes back or she doesn't survive chemo or radiation. Honestly though, this book is just a wonderful love story about her husband and children. And what every person I think goes through when they realize they may not be there to see how your ending goes, whether it's watching your kids graduate school, get married, get their first job, first car, and when they have their children.
Be warned, you will want some tissues nearby.
The Locked Ward by Sarah Pekkanen
2.0
Please note that I received this book via NetGalley. This did not affect my rating or review.
Trigger warning: Description of rape
I was surprised at how much I didn't really like this newest offering from Sarah Pekkanen. I think that the dual POVs was the reason why it didn't work. And the ending was just kind of not finished in my opinion. But this one was a hard one to get into and I just didn't really find some parts of it realistic.
"The Locked Ward" follows Georgia Cartwright, daughter of a very wealthy family, she's currently in a psychiatric facility on a hold. Georgia is accused of murdering her half sister, but her attorney is claiming she is not fit to stand trial. Georgia though has a plan, and part of that plan is a sister she has never met, named Amanda, coming to her rescue. The book jumps back and forth between Georgia and Amanda as Amanda is pulled into Georgia's life and those around her who may mean her harm.
Trying to not spoil anything outside of what it out there for the book jacket, but I think a lot of things that got revealed were very soap operaish. I just didn't buy them. I really liked Pekkanen's last book so this one felt very unrealistic at times.
I didn't really care for Amanda's character at all. I know why she was written the way she was, in contrast to Georgia, but after a while I was just like um okay, not touching that.
The flow was not really good in this one. You jump around a lot within POVs to things that occurred in the past so I had a lot of issues here and there tracking things. I get why Pekkanen did it that way to do more reveals/twists. But it just didn't work for me. And it's not because I guessed at things (which I did) but it just slowed the story down so much and I would go wait whose POV am I reading right now?
The ending as I said, didn't really work for me. Probably because it mimicked how Frieda McFadden would end one of her books. And if you have followed me for a bit, you know that much of McFadden's endings don't work for me.
Trigger warning: Description of rape
I was surprised at how much I didn't really like this newest offering from Sarah Pekkanen. I think that the dual POVs was the reason why it didn't work. And the ending was just kind of not finished in my opinion. But this one was a hard one to get into and I just didn't really find some parts of it realistic.
"The Locked Ward" follows Georgia Cartwright, daughter of a very wealthy family, she's currently in a psychiatric facility on a hold. Georgia is accused of murdering her half sister, but her attorney is claiming she is not fit to stand trial. Georgia though has a plan, and part of that plan is a sister she has never met, named Amanda, coming to her rescue. The book jumps back and forth between Georgia and Amanda as Amanda is pulled into Georgia's life and those around her who may mean her harm.
Trying to not spoil anything outside of what it out there for the book jacket, but I think a lot of things that got revealed were very soap operaish. I just didn't buy them. I really liked Pekkanen's last book so this one felt very unrealistic at times.
I didn't really care for Amanda's character at all. I know why she was written the way she was, in contrast to Georgia, but after a while I was just like um okay, not touching that.
The flow was not really good in this one. You jump around a lot within POVs to things that occurred in the past so I had a lot of issues here and there tracking things. I get why Pekkanen did it that way to do more reveals/twists. But it just didn't work for me. And it's not because I guessed at things (which I did) but it just slowed the story down so much and I would go wait whose POV am I reading right now?
The ending as I said, didn't really work for me. Probably because it mimicked how Frieda McFadden would end one of her books. And if you have followed me for a bit, you know that much of McFadden's endings don't work for me.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape
The Chow Maniac by Vivien Chien
4.0
Please note that I received this book via NetGalley. This did not affect my rating or review.
Great installment in the "Noodle Shop Mystery" series. I think that Chien has hit their stride. At this point you should know all of the key players and how things work. Reading this series at this point is like taking a nice warm bath. I liked this one much better because Chien included some Chinese mythology and it seemed to be more "serious" I think than previous installments. I thought it was really good. Only reason why I didn't do 5 stars was that the back and forth between Lana and Kimmy was beyond annoying. I just don't think Kimmy adds much to the series IMHO, and I get why Lana includes Megan into her investigations, but at this point, she has two assistants and then of course her boyfriend Adam, who is on the police force. It just felt a bit hamfisted to me at one point.
"The Chow Maniac" follows Lana as she is asked to assist on Lydia's PI case looking into who may be murdering some of the local Chinese business people who have ties to a clandestine organization called "The Eight Immortals." Lana is reluctant because Lydia's boss has offered her a job before. She wants to keep working at her parents restaurant and that's about it, she doesn't want to do a PI job full time.
I thought this was much better than the adventures in CA that Chien did two books ago. Lana and Lydia were a great duo and I liked how they worked in tandem with each other. I wonder if Chien plans to do that in future books, which would work.
The flow of the book worked really well I thought. No slow points.
I enjoyed the ending, how we get even more information about characters we have known for a while, and this leaves things in a good place with Lana I think.
Great installment in the "Noodle Shop Mystery" series. I think that Chien has hit their stride. At this point you should know all of the key players and how things work. Reading this series at this point is like taking a nice warm bath. I liked this one much better because Chien included some Chinese mythology and it seemed to be more "serious" I think than previous installments. I thought it was really good. Only reason why I didn't do 5 stars was that the back and forth between Lana and Kimmy was beyond annoying. I just don't think Kimmy adds much to the series IMHO, and I get why Lana includes Megan into her investigations, but at this point, she has two assistants and then of course her boyfriend Adam, who is on the police force. It just felt a bit hamfisted to me at one point.
"The Chow Maniac" follows Lana as she is asked to assist on Lydia's PI case looking into who may be murdering some of the local Chinese business people who have ties to a clandestine organization called "The Eight Immortals." Lana is reluctant because Lydia's boss has offered her a job before. She wants to keep working at her parents restaurant and that's about it, she doesn't want to do a PI job full time.
I thought this was much better than the adventures in CA that Chien did two books ago. Lana and Lydia were a great duo and I liked how they worked in tandem with each other. I wonder if Chien plans to do that in future books, which would work.
The flow of the book worked really well I thought. No slow points.
I enjoyed the ending, how we get even more information about characters we have known for a while, and this leaves things in a good place with Lana I think.
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
1.0
Wow. This was pointless. I understand why authors sometimes come back and do prequels to best-selling novels. You want to see how did person A get to where they are. But I really do not understand why anyone cared at all about Snow. Collins does not provide any insight into the character. And then the ending leaves some things unresolved that you can just 'guess' at. Ten bucks there's another prequel coming out about [redacted] in a few years. And honestly, the worst thing about this book outside of it was pointless was that it was boring! I legit started four other books while trying to finish this behemoth because I didn't want to DNF it because I am reading this book for a game I am playing and I wanted the page count. If not for that, I would have DNFed this thing at the 25 percent mark and went about my day. Also.....I loathed the singing. Or the lyrics I guess of the song. I would have murdered Lucy Gray after the tenth damn song she burst into. I feel really bad for anyone that got the audio version of this book. I would have been over it a few minutes in.
"The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes" follows 18 year old Coriolanus Snow. Panem is readying for the 10th Hunger Games. Apparently the Games started to grow out of much watch viewing (yeah watching a bunch of teenagers murder each other, is not great actually) and this year, Capitol Academy students are chosen to be mentors to each tribute. Have fun trying to track 24 mentors and 24 tributes!
Snow and his family are barely hanging on and he needs to make sure the tribute he gets is someone that can at least help his family's name. He doesn't think he will win the final prize (pay for him to get a ride to university). Snow is matched with a girl from District 12 named Lucy Gray. He's disappointed until Lucy shows some spirit when she's brought up. She's a young woman with a great voice who Snow can't help feeling for.
The long-winded book follows Snow through the Games and after.
As I said earlier, Snow is not well developed. Lucy is not either. A friend suggested that the book should have followed Lucy and I agree. I do bet Collins didn't want to do that, since people would have said oh she's setting up another Katniss, but heck, anything would have been better than this. Snow is not developed. One minute Collins writes him as having some feelings/emotions and then quickly it is a not really. I don't think it works having a villain with a tragic backstory, sometimes terrible people are just terrible. But then you go, what was the point of this book? You just watch Snow sit around manipulating and betraying people all over the place. This could have been much shorter and told the same story.
Attack of the Fiend by Joseph Delaney
5.0
“I see your future clearly. Your master will be dead, and you will be alone. It would be better if you had never been born.”
Honestly, this to me was the book that really has things set into motion that I assume will play out across the series. We start off with Tom finding out that his family has been attacked, and the trunks his mam left her have been stolen. If you read the last book, you find out that his mam did something to a room in his family’s farm that would keep evil out. However, two witch covens attacked and took his family and the items hostage. The entire book follows Tom, Alice, and the Spook as they work to finally defeat the Pendleton witches to prevent them from waking up Old Nick (the Devil).
Tom in this one is mostly having to fight several big-bads on his own. At one point I went, so the Spook is just hanging out? It was great though to see Tom coming into his power more and more. And still feeling guilty about anything he says that is mean. That said, Tom, people are trying to kill you, talk your shit. We also get a bit of a love triangle going on and I legit said at one point, who are you and what are you talking about? It just came out of the school of delusional and this is stalker behavior.
We get even more insight into Tom’s mother’s background and I got a lot of questions I hope that are answered in the next book in the series.
I will say though, that this book does provide us with a different aspect of the “witches” and even religion in this one. We also get to meet another one of the Spook’s former apprentices. Regarding religion, it doesn’t seem to be a thing in this fantasy series. Or at least not a heavy emphasis by those like Tom and the Spook. We get to meet a priest in this one, but they are definitely less powerful than the witches and boggarts running around.
One thing I should have said in my earlier reviews if I have not is that I love the illustrations in these books. Patrick Arrasmith does them and I think they are phenomenal.
The book ends on a darker note. Tom has two really scary opponents that are after him along with a prophecy about betrayal. He also turns 14 and is setting the stage to be the best and last apprentice the Spook has ever had.
Night of the Soul Stealer by Joseph Delaney
4.0
I finally got back to "The Last Apprentice" series. Yes, I am just drowning myself in fantasy novels right now because the United States has become a hellscape.
This is the third book in the series, and Tom Ward has been with the Spook for about a year at this point. Tom, the Spook, and Alice have grown comfortable together (or slightly) until the Spook tells him that they need to travel to his winter home in Anglezarke and that Alice needs to stay with a couple at a farm he knows. The threesome are broken up while Tom learns more about the Spook and his relationship with a mysterious woman named Meg.
We get to see Tom grow stronger in this one. And also have him pushing for the Spook to trust Alice more. That said, Tom is naïve as anything at times and you want to yell at him since some of his actions did cause things to get worse.
We also get introduced to a new character, Morgan, who has a connection to the Spook. I thought Morgan was an interesting antagonist and liked the reveals about him throughout the book.
We also get to learn more about the Spook, the women he has loved, and what possible ending awaits him.
This was a very long book though (over 500 pages) and honestly gave this book 4 stars because it does drag a bit here and there.
The new setting of Anglezarke was welcome though and I am just wondering if the Spook has any other houses he is just going to surprise Tom with.
This book does have a gut punch of an ending though.
This is the third book in the series, and Tom Ward has been with the Spook for about a year at this point. Tom, the Spook, and Alice have grown comfortable together (or slightly) until the Spook tells him that they need to travel to his winter home in Anglezarke and that Alice needs to stay with a couple at a farm he knows. The threesome are broken up while Tom learns more about the Spook and his relationship with a mysterious woman named Meg.
We get to see Tom grow stronger in this one. And also have him pushing for the Spook to trust Alice more. That said, Tom is naïve as anything at times and you want to yell at him since some of his actions did cause things to get worse.
We also get introduced to a new character, Morgan, who has a connection to the Spook. I thought Morgan was an interesting antagonist and liked the reveals about him throughout the book.
We also get to learn more about the Spook, the women he has loved, and what possible ending awaits him.
This was a very long book though (over 500 pages) and honestly gave this book 4 stars because it does drag a bit here and there.
The new setting of Anglezarke was welcome though and I am just wondering if the Spook has any other houses he is just going to surprise Tom with.
This book does have a gut punch of an ending though.
Love and Other Paradoxes by Catriona Silvey
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
2.0
Please note that I received this book via NetGalley. This did not affect my rating or review.
"Love and Other Paradoxes" takes place in 2004. We follow Cambridge student, Joseph (Joe) Greene. Joe has been dealing with an insane amount of writer's block and does not know if he's going to be able to graduate let alone become a successful poet. Going into a coffee shop, Joe ends up meeting a young woman named Esi. He doesn't know why he follows her and wants to know more about her, but then he ends up picking up a book that could not possibly have been written since it shows it was published by him in the year 2044. Joe is shocked that Esi is a time traveler who is hell-bent on stopping something that Joe is going to be part of. It ends up causing a lot of butterfly effects (yeah, I said it).
Not too much to say about this one except it wasn't very well thought out or developed IMHO. I thought we would get something akin to what the summary said, "About Time" which I honestly did love as a romance movie. I don't know what I would liken this to since it just didn't work for me at all in several different ways.
Joe was not someone I rooted for at all. Probably because he was falling in and out of love with people every five seconds. Don't try to sell me on some epic romance and it seems whatever way the wind blows is his philosophy. I wanted something deeper there for the character. Something that was going to show some type of sacrifice. "About Time" blows you away when the hero realizes that he can't go back beyond a certain point in time and he will not be able to see someone he loves anymore. Grief hits them hard and I know I cried like a baby during one of those scenes. There's not none of that. And no offense, based on the poetry that Silvey shows us that Joe writes, I got to wonder why anyone in the future was obsessed with visiting his basic ass.
Esi. UGHHHH. Look, same issue with Joe but also I am a little more aggravated with her. There's a whole freaking reason that Esi comes back. And honestly it was some of the most hodge podge mess. And I don't want to do spoilers for the review, only thing I could say was that some type of therapy needed to occur and maybe that does not exist in the future. Also, I never got some big overwhelming grief from her at all about anything. Once again, it's a lot of lip service that didn't ring true.
The other characters we get to know, Diana, Ray, etc. were just kind of there. Honestly, the only character that Silvey gave any spark to, and that was towards the end, was Diana. I was hoping for a different ending than what we got, because at least that would have been interesting and not so blah.
The setting of Cambridge in 2004 was a choice. I maybe judged the crap out of Esi because of all the crap going on now and this is what the most important thing to her was to do with the whole go back to time and change things. Bahhhhh.
The flow was bad. I don't know what else to say. It just never hung together well and the whole book was a chore.
The ending made me laugh (not in a good way). Things get explained by, I guess this doesn't matter even though the whole book said it did and I just gave up.