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obsidian_blue's reviews
3049 reviews
Cruel Winter with You by Ali Hazelwood
1.0
orry no billionaire control freak romances for me in 2024 and beyond. The whole story icked me out. I didn’t feel like it even leaned into the Christmas aspect of the book as much as the hero was a terrible guy, but genius so it waved away the red flags.
Full review: a woman, Jamie, returns home to spend Christmas with her father. He tells her to walk (during a snowstorm) to their neighbors to borrow a freaking pan. There she meets her best friend's brother, Marc, who she hasn't seen in a while. The long and tedious story follows Jamie first meeting Marc, and her realizing he had feelings for her. But because of her own reasons (good ones honestly) she doesn't trust it.
Look Marc is not a good character. Too much is told about how he was just mean and nasty to his sister, but never to Jamie til she rightfully sided with his sister once, and then he just had a rude nickname for her. Everything is pretty much excused cause he was a secret genius and now a billionaire. The whole story was weird and I hated it.
Full review: a woman, Jamie, returns home to spend Christmas with her father. He tells her to walk (during a snowstorm) to their neighbors to borrow a freaking pan. There she meets her best friend's brother, Marc, who she hasn't seen in a while. The long and tedious story follows Jamie first meeting Marc, and her realizing he had feelings for her. But because of her own reasons (good ones honestly) she doesn't trust it.
Look Marc is not a good character. Too much is told about how he was just mean and nasty to his sister, but never to Jamie til she rightfully sided with his sister once, and then he just had a rude nickname for her. Everything is pretty much excused cause he was a secret genius and now a billionaire. The whole story was weird and I hated it.
The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins
3.0
I liked that Hawkins tried a different direction on this, but ultimately the book dragged to the point I didn’t care what was happening to anyone. I guessed and was right, but ended up not really liking the characters we do get to see in this one.
Full review:
"The Blue Hour" follows Julian Becker. Julian is an art curator who is focused on deceased artist, Vanessa Chapman. Julian's boss, former/or weirdly still friend, Sebastian Fairburn is determined that his foundation which was bequeathed all of Vanessa's art works, gets everything owed to it. Vanessa's former companion Grace, won't speak to the lawyers that Sebastian has hired, and now he's ready to play hard ball when a human bone is found to be part of one of the works that Vanessa created. Julian is ordered to go visit Grace on Eris, off the coast of Scotland.
Long story short, there's not a lot of people to like in this one. I know like or dislike doesn't really matter if the book is good, but since the book dragged, it was a chore to keep going to find out what would happen to people I either disliked or was not invested.
First, Julian, I think Hawkins was smart to make him one of the anchors of the story. His obsession with Vanessa Chapman comes shining through, he's pretty similar in fact (somewhat) to Grace when it comes to that.
Speaking of Grace and her story, it takes a long time to get going and I didn't think it fit with what we know of Vanessa. What I mean is that Hawkins sets up Vanessa as a person that does not form relationships, does not really need anything but her art, so the whole meet up with Grace and becoming bosom buddies did not work at all. It felt off. And then Hawkins ties herself into knots I think trying to over explain every little thing.
The book jumps back and forth between Julian in the present, Grace in the present, and then her remembering the past, and the diary entries of Vanessa Chapman.
The flow was up and down. Maybe because every time we got to Grace, it felt like the book came to a brutal stop and you were just forced to read about someone who reminded me of Hans Christian Anderson and his relationship/friendship with Charles Dickens. If you don't know about it, look it up, it's funny and messy and yeah, I was on Dickens side there. The other characters we hear about don't really get developed. We get to see Vanessa's estranged husband via Grace's point of view, and also Vanessa's writing, but he felt like a cartoon character to me.
The setting of Eris should have worked, but it didn't, probably because it just felt like one big room after a while. I didn't get a Gothic setting at all from the book and or any vibes from Shirley Jackson's works at all.
The ending was pretty bad. I just didn't believe it and it leaves so many issues that I just went bah. I think Hawkins was going for too many "twists" but at least with this book, you could see them coming. I just didn't think that Hawkins did a great enough job of selling us on the friendship between Vanessa and Grace. And there's a whole spoiler I won't get into now, but once that was revealed I went, okay I definitely don't buy it now.
Full review:
"The Blue Hour" follows Julian Becker. Julian is an art curator who is focused on deceased artist, Vanessa Chapman. Julian's boss, former/or weirdly still friend, Sebastian Fairburn is determined that his foundation which was bequeathed all of Vanessa's art works, gets everything owed to it. Vanessa's former companion Grace, won't speak to the lawyers that Sebastian has hired, and now he's ready to play hard ball when a human bone is found to be part of one of the works that Vanessa created. Julian is ordered to go visit Grace on Eris, off the coast of Scotland.
Long story short, there's not a lot of people to like in this one. I know like or dislike doesn't really matter if the book is good, but since the book dragged, it was a chore to keep going to find out what would happen to people I either disliked or was not invested.
First, Julian, I think Hawkins was smart to make him one of the anchors of the story. His obsession with Vanessa Chapman comes shining through, he's pretty similar in fact (somewhat) to Grace when it comes to that.
Speaking of Grace and her story, it takes a long time to get going and I didn't think it fit with what we know of Vanessa. What I mean is that Hawkins sets up Vanessa as a person that does not form relationships, does not really need anything but her art, so the whole meet up with Grace and becoming bosom buddies did not work at all. It felt off. And then Hawkins ties herself into knots I think trying to over explain every little thing.
The book jumps back and forth between Julian in the present, Grace in the present, and then her remembering the past, and the diary entries of Vanessa Chapman.
The flow was up and down. Maybe because every time we got to Grace, it felt like the book came to a brutal stop and you were just forced to read about someone who reminded me of Hans Christian Anderson and his relationship/friendship with Charles Dickens. If you don't know about it, look it up, it's funny and messy and yeah, I was on Dickens side there. The other characters we hear about don't really get developed. We get to see Vanessa's estranged husband via Grace's point of view, and also Vanessa's writing, but he felt like a cartoon character to me.
The setting of Eris should have worked, but it didn't, probably because it just felt like one big room after a while. I didn't get a Gothic setting at all from the book and or any vibes from Shirley Jackson's works at all.
The ending was pretty bad. I just didn't believe it and it leaves so many issues that I just went bah. I think Hawkins was going for too many "twists" but at least with this book, you could see them coming. I just didn't think that Hawkins did a great enough job of selling us on the friendship between Vanessa and Grace. And there's a whole spoiler I won't get into now, but once that was revealed I went, okay I definitely don't buy it now.
The Mirror by Nora Roberts
1.0
<b>Please note that I received this book via NetGalley. This did not affect my rating or review.</b>
I am a glutton for punishment. I was curious if book #2 would be better than book #1 and I am sorry to say not even a little. This is filler. This was not necessary. I think Roberts could have done a duology and been done with it because nothing about this series is remotely exciting. I love romantic paranormal suspense when done the right way, but from the beginning this series had lackluster leads and a random woman popping up to murder brides.
"The Mirror" is the second book in the Lost Bride Trilogy that follows Sonya as she travels back to the past to see a bride murdered. Recommend that readers read book #1, otherwise you are going to be lost. Sonya is not the only one who can go through the mirror, her cousin Owen can too and they go back in time to witness the wedding receptions which left the brides dead.
Sonya's main goal is to just figure out how to rid her home of the ghost and avenge the brides who were murdered, but honestly most of the book is about super mundane stuff. I do think that the problem in this book and like in many of her others is that she's stopped developing characters in order to describe shit we don't care about. It's bleeding over into her JD Robb works too. I get she loves renovating and talking about colors, and whatever it is, but I do not freaking care. Just like book #1, there's zero chemistry at all between Sonya and her love interest, Trey. They suck. So does Chloe and Owen.
I honestly at times thought about some of Roberts earlier works and it felt like this was an old old draft she polished off because it just does not work at all. I was over the men being protective. Sonya being stubborn, the jumping back and forth showing us Hester Dobs, and even more backstories on the murdered brides.
I am a glutton for punishment. I was curious if book #2 would be better than book #1 and I am sorry to say not even a little. This is filler. This was not necessary. I think Roberts could have done a duology and been done with it because nothing about this series is remotely exciting. I love romantic paranormal suspense when done the right way, but from the beginning this series had lackluster leads and a random woman popping up to murder brides.
"The Mirror" is the second book in the Lost Bride Trilogy that follows Sonya as she travels back to the past to see a bride murdered. Recommend that readers read book #1, otherwise you are going to be lost. Sonya is not the only one who can go through the mirror, her cousin Owen can too and they go back in time to witness the wedding receptions which left the brides dead.
Sonya's main goal is to just figure out how to rid her home of the ghost and avenge the brides who were murdered, but honestly most of the book is about super mundane stuff. I do think that the problem in this book and like in many of her others is that she's stopped developing characters in order to describe shit we don't care about. It's bleeding over into her JD Robb works too. I get she loves renovating and talking about colors, and whatever it is, but I do not freaking care. Just like book #1, there's zero chemistry at all between Sonya and her love interest, Trey. They suck. So does Chloe and Owen.
I honestly at times thought about some of Roberts earlier works and it felt like this was an old old draft she polished off because it just does not work at all. I was over the men being protective. Sonya being stubborn, the jumping back and forth showing us Hester Dobs, and even more backstories on the murdered brides.
The Co-op by Tarah DeWitt
2.0
<b>Please note that I received this book via NetGalley. This did not affect my rating or review.</b>
Apologies all, work is crazy and I had reviews sitting in a document that I posted while I had some time to myself. This wasn't that great. Give me a second chance romance and marriage of convenience and I can usually get into it. But, I started this book in July and it took me until November to get back to because it was not very good unfortunately. I think that Rainbow Rowell recently did a second chance romance better in my eyes because you have the two adults actually talk about what happened. I just can't with these books that have people acting as if they are teenagers when they are not.
"The Co-op" follows two friends (teen years) whose grandmothers left them shared ownership of a building. The two leads, LaRynn (which I won't lie I kept messing up her name) and Deacon were just boring and I didn't get any sense of chemistry from the two of them. Long story short, LaRynn has a trust she can't touch until she's married [we are still doing this shit? I guess with Trump 2.0 though it may become a reality that women can't have bank accounts again] and Deacon needs money for his business.
I think that this book was a very rough first draft but there were not enough pieces for this to be an enjoyable romance novel.
Apologies all, work is crazy and I had reviews sitting in a document that I posted while I had some time to myself. This wasn't that great. Give me a second chance romance and marriage of convenience and I can usually get into it. But, I started this book in July and it took me until November to get back to because it was not very good unfortunately. I think that Rainbow Rowell recently did a second chance romance better in my eyes because you have the two adults actually talk about what happened. I just can't with these books that have people acting as if they are teenagers when they are not.
"The Co-op" follows two friends (teen years) whose grandmothers left them shared ownership of a building. The two leads, LaRynn (which I won't lie I kept messing up her name) and Deacon were just boring and I didn't get any sense of chemistry from the two of them. Long story short, LaRynn has a trust she can't touch until she's married [we are still doing this shit? I guess with Trump 2.0 though it may become a reality that women can't have bank accounts again] and Deacon needs money for his business.
I think that this book was a very rough first draft but there were not enough pieces for this to be an enjoyable romance novel.
A Not So Meet Cute by Meghan Quinn
1.0
<b>Did Not Finish--10 percent<b>
Sorry, not sorry, throwing the white flag of DNF.
The character of Lottie was not very developed and I found myself just cringing while reading this. The dialogue and the entire premise was not realistic.
Sorry, not sorry, throwing the white flag of DNF.
The character of Lottie was not very developed and I found myself just cringing while reading this. The dialogue and the entire premise was not realistic.
We Are the Goldens by Dana Reinhardt
4.0
I have never read a book by Dana Reinhardt before but after reading We Are the Goldens I plan on checking out her other books. Told in the first person from Nell's point of view you get to see a young woman trying her best to step out of her older sister's shadow. Nell loves and in equal measure is jealous and at times hates her sister. I thought Ms. Reinhardt did a great job with Nell's voice and the confusion that she feels at falling for a boy and being jealous that this boy may like her sister more than her. I did feel at times that Nell's voice was a bit too old in certain parts. It only happened a few times, but other than that I thought Ms. Reinhardt did a great job capturing a teenager's voice.
I also thought it was very good that Ms. Reinhardt wrote the book in such a way that it seemed that Nell had written a letter to her sister to explain why she did what she did. You know in the beginning that something horrible is or did happen so that leaves the book with a very good deal of tension while you read.
I will say that though I liked the book I did not care for Nell. You don't have to love the narrator in a story you are reading and the fact that Ms. Reinhardt writes this book in such a way that you can sympathize with Nell, feel pity for her, and also realize that a part of her is happy that her sister is not so 'golden' anymore. I wish that part of the book had shown Nell being self aware enough to love her sister's downfall instead of her having her feelings of righteousness throughout her letter to her sister.
I would like to read a follow-up to see what happens at the conclusion of this book. Or to see a book written by Layla's point of view.
Please note that I received this book via the Amazon Vine Program.
I also thought it was very good that Ms. Reinhardt wrote the book in such a way that it seemed that Nell had written a letter to her sister to explain why she did what she did. You know in the beginning that something horrible is or did happen so that leaves the book with a very good deal of tension while you read.
I will say that though I liked the book I did not care for Nell. You don't have to love the narrator in a story you are reading and the fact that Ms. Reinhardt writes this book in such a way that you can sympathize with Nell, feel pity for her, and also realize that a part of her is happy that her sister is not so 'golden' anymore. I wish that part of the book had shown Nell being self aware enough to love her sister's downfall instead of her having her feelings of righteousness throughout her letter to her sister.
I would like to read a follow-up to see what happens at the conclusion of this book. Or to see a book written by Layla's point of view.
Please note that I received this book via the Amazon Vine Program.
Girl Before a Mirror by Liza Palmer
4.0
I have loved previous Liza Palmer books, seriously go out and read Conversations with the Fat Girl and Seeing Me Naked. Some of her books I could not get into fully, see A Field Guide to Burying Your Parents and others I just didn't care for at all, see More Like Her.
I thought that Girl Before a Mirror was at times brilliant and other times frustrating. I really did love reading how Anna came to see romance novels as not something to be ashamed of, but something to celebrate and that the whole concept of "be your own heroine" is something that many women need to be in their day to day lives.
I did find the first few chapters a bit stilted at first, but after Anna meets Sasha and they begin their campaign idea together the book started flowing much better. Sadly, the times that Anna is with Lincoln the book seemed to turn itself into another book entirely so I often found those passages to also be super slow and they did not flow very well in my eyes.
There was another side plot going on with Anna having a very popular romance writer becoming her mentor but it seemed to fizzle out. I still can't understand how this woman was Anna's mentor. She seemed to just be a person that Ms. Palmer inserted to be Anna's fairy godmother.
I think the book would have worked much better without that being indulged in since the whole concept of this character coming along and doing what she does in the end took me completely out of the book. Everything else in the book I found to be very realistic except this part.
The idea that many women do sit and wait for that guy to come along and be our white knight instead of sitting up and being their own knight and then finding the guy was very thought provoking.
I at times read a passage in this book and would just find myself nodding along. Anna in a way is a perfect stand in for many women who have been through a marriage and divorce in their early 40s still trying to figure out what do they want. I thought her getting her eyes opened during a romance writer's conference was great and I loved that many people talked about how they were treated differently be people when they found out that they read romance novels. Also the parts dealing with women who are afraid to admit that they like the things that they do since they want to be thought of as smart as intelligent and not less than other people was a very good discussion.
However, to go from that aspect of this book to one in which Anna is trying to decide to just take a chance on Lincoln was in my eyes aggravating.
There was no real obstacle between Anna and Lincoln being together besides Anna's own self imposed obstacles she threw up so I was pretty much over the 'what are we going to do dance' she kept indulging in. One thing that always bugs me in romance novels is when the heroine and hero have no real reason to be kept apart, but the author keeps them apart to just lengthen the book. If the Anna/Lincoln relationship had been the only thing going on with this book I would have marked it down to 2 stars. However, besides Anna taking a hard look at her life and how to be her own heroine, I loved her friendship with Sasha and her finally acknowledging that her brother needs help. I did tear up at one key scene with Anna and her brother and I know exactly how she feels when you want to fix everything for your sibling, but know that you cannot.
In summary, I liked the writing, the character of Anna, and thought her romance with Lincoln actually took away from the overall book.
I also really love the idea of "be the heroine, find your hero".
Please note that I received this book via the Amazon Vine Program and this book will be released on January 27, 2015.
I thought that Girl Before a Mirror was at times brilliant and other times frustrating. I really did love reading how Anna came to see romance novels as not something to be ashamed of, but something to celebrate and that the whole concept of "be your own heroine" is something that many women need to be in their day to day lives.
I did find the first few chapters a bit stilted at first, but after Anna meets Sasha and they begin their campaign idea together the book started flowing much better. Sadly, the times that Anna is with Lincoln the book seemed to turn itself into another book entirely so I often found those passages to also be super slow and they did not flow very well in my eyes.
There was another side plot going on with Anna having a very popular romance writer becoming her mentor but it seemed to fizzle out. I still can't understand how this woman was Anna's mentor. She seemed to just be a person that Ms. Palmer inserted to be Anna's fairy godmother.
I think the book would have worked much better without that being indulged in since the whole concept of this character coming along and doing what she does in the end took me completely out of the book. Everything else in the book I found to be very realistic except this part.
The idea that many women do sit and wait for that guy to come along and be our white knight instead of sitting up and being their own knight and then finding the guy was very thought provoking.
I at times read a passage in this book and would just find myself nodding along. Anna in a way is a perfect stand in for many women who have been through a marriage and divorce in their early 40s still trying to figure out what do they want. I thought her getting her eyes opened during a romance writer's conference was great and I loved that many people talked about how they were treated differently be people when they found out that they read romance novels. Also the parts dealing with women who are afraid to admit that they like the things that they do since they want to be thought of as smart as intelligent and not less than other people was a very good discussion.
However, to go from that aspect of this book to one in which Anna is trying to decide to just take a chance on Lincoln was in my eyes aggravating.
There was no real obstacle between Anna and Lincoln being together besides Anna's own self imposed obstacles she threw up so I was pretty much over the 'what are we going to do dance' she kept indulging in. One thing that always bugs me in romance novels is when the heroine and hero have no real reason to be kept apart, but the author keeps them apart to just lengthen the book. If the Anna/Lincoln relationship had been the only thing going on with this book I would have marked it down to 2 stars. However, besides Anna taking a hard look at her life and how to be her own heroine, I loved her friendship with Sasha and her finally acknowledging that her brother needs help. I did tear up at one key scene with Anna and her brother and I know exactly how she feels when you want to fix everything for your sibling, but know that you cannot.
In summary, I liked the writing, the character of Anna, and thought her romance with Lincoln actually took away from the overall book.
I also really love the idea of "be the heroine, find your hero".
Please note that I received this book via the Amazon Vine Program and this book will be released on January 27, 2015.
The Dress Shop of Dreams by Menna van Praag
5.0
I am not going to lie. I was initially hesitant to start this book because I was worried that the character of Cora's investigation of her parents deaths was going to turn this book into a hybrid of magical realism/mystery thriller. I do think at times the book got pretty close to that edge, but the magical realism angle pulled through and in the end I found this book to be a really great read.
There are a myriad of characters in this book but I promise you that you can follow each character and their individual plot lines. Besides Cora an her grandmother Etta, you have several other characters.
Walt, the owner of a bookstore that Cora frequents and her childhood best friend.
Dylan, who works as a producer on a radio show.
Milly Bradley, who is still recovering from the loss of her husband ten years after he has passed away.
Detective Henry Dixon who is still trying to put his life back together after his wife left him.
I would also say that the shop itself is its own character, changing the silk on the walls depending on the season, just knowing what music to play for when a woman or a man enters the doors. I loved everything about the shop and just wished a place like this really did exist.
I think that if you are a book lover you are really going to love this book. Besides the dress shop, Walt's bookstore plays an important part in this story, along with several books that come into play.
I also like that though Etta does have the power to provide each woman that walks into her shop a way to realize her dreams, she has a blind spot when it comes to herself.
The writing to me at times was lyrical and evoked different emotions and feelings in me as I read it. This really did remind me of the best of Alice Hoffman and Sarah Addison Allen's books. I still re-read Alice Hoffman's The Red Garden every year because that book just makes me feel awe, sadness, hope, love, everything all at once when you start reading the tales that make up the story of the fictional town of Blackwell, Massachusetts.
I can say that I have become a fan of magical realism books and books like these have become one of my favorite genres to read. I plan on going back and trying to read Menna va Praag's older books.
I read the synopsis of The House at the End of Hope Street and promptly bought that book.
For those that are interested here it is:
When Alba Ashby, the youngest Ph.D. student at Cambridge University, suffers the Worst Event of Her Life, she finds herself at the door of 11 Hope Street. There, a beautiful older woman named Peggy invites Alba to stay on the house’s unusual conditions: she’ll have ninety-nine nights, and no more, to turn her life around.
Once inside, Alba discovers that 11 Hope Street is no ordinary house. Past residents include Virginia Woolf, Dorothy Parker, and Agatha Christie, who all stayed there at hopeless times in their lives and who still hang around—quite literally—in talking portraits on the walls. With their help Alba begins to piece her life back together and embarks on a journey that may save her life.
There are a myriad of characters in this book but I promise you that you can follow each character and their individual plot lines. Besides Cora an her grandmother Etta, you have several other characters.
Walt, the owner of a bookstore that Cora frequents and her childhood best friend.
Dylan, who works as a producer on a radio show.
Milly Bradley, who is still recovering from the loss of her husband ten years after he has passed away.
Detective Henry Dixon who is still trying to put his life back together after his wife left him.
I would also say that the shop itself is its own character, changing the silk on the walls depending on the season, just knowing what music to play for when a woman or a man enters the doors. I loved everything about the shop and just wished a place like this really did exist.
I think that if you are a book lover you are really going to love this book. Besides the dress shop, Walt's bookstore plays an important part in this story, along with several books that come into play.
I also like that though Etta does have the power to provide each woman that walks into her shop a way to realize her dreams, she has a blind spot when it comes to herself.
The writing to me at times was lyrical and evoked different emotions and feelings in me as I read it. This really did remind me of the best of Alice Hoffman and Sarah Addison Allen's books. I still re-read Alice Hoffman's The Red Garden every year because that book just makes me feel awe, sadness, hope, love, everything all at once when you start reading the tales that make up the story of the fictional town of Blackwell, Massachusetts.
I can say that I have become a fan of magical realism books and books like these have become one of my favorite genres to read. I plan on going back and trying to read Menna va Praag's older books.
I read the synopsis of The House at the End of Hope Street and promptly bought that book.
For those that are interested here it is:
When Alba Ashby, the youngest Ph.D. student at Cambridge University, suffers the Worst Event of Her Life, she finds herself at the door of 11 Hope Street. There, a beautiful older woman named Peggy invites Alba to stay on the house’s unusual conditions: she’ll have ninety-nine nights, and no more, to turn her life around.
Once inside, Alba discovers that 11 Hope Street is no ordinary house. Past residents include Virginia Woolf, Dorothy Parker, and Agatha Christie, who all stayed there at hopeless times in their lives and who still hang around—quite literally—in talking portraits on the walls. With their help Alba begins to piece her life back together and embarks on a journey that may save her life.
Save the Date by Mary Kay Andrews
4.0
I was really surprised that Ms. Andrews told this story from Cara and Jack's perspectives. I was also pleasantly surprised that the story as told from Jack's perspective actually read like a man his age and circumstances would speak or think.
Cara was written as a strong woman and I liked that you slowly get to find out about her past and the kind of upbringing she experienced. I like it when we are able to slowly unravel characters and not have someone or them info dump to clue in the reader.
The love scenes I thought were done just well, but honestly I was not that interested in them because I was more interested in reading about Cara and her trying to keep her business afloat while dealing with her father and his constant undermining comments that he made to her.
The main reason why I gave this book four stars is that we read about the rival florist Cullen Keane and there seems to be a hint that he is out to get Cara because of something that occurred between the two of them or maybe someone in Cara's past. But then he kind of got ignored at the end which I thought was an odd choice. Also the epilogue was a bit confusing since you don't really know how long it was after the events in the last chapter happened. I hate it when I read a book and the author doesn't clue you into timelines. Heck just add something that says 'One year later..." or have a character say "gee I can't believe it has been two years". Other than that I found this to be a really fast and engaging read.
Cara was written as a strong woman and I liked that you slowly get to find out about her past and the kind of upbringing she experienced. I like it when we are able to slowly unravel characters and not have someone or them info dump to clue in the reader.
The love scenes I thought were done just well, but honestly I was not that interested in them because I was more interested in reading about Cara and her trying to keep her business afloat while dealing with her father and his constant undermining comments that he made to her.
The main reason why I gave this book four stars is that we read about the rival florist Cullen Keane and there seems to be a hint that he is out to get Cara because of something that occurred between the two of them or maybe someone in Cara's past. But then he kind of got ignored at the end which I thought was an odd choice. Also the epilogue was a bit confusing since you don't really know how long it was after the events in the last chapter happened. I hate it when I read a book and the author doesn't clue you into timelines. Heck just add something that says 'One year later..." or have a character say "gee I can't believe it has been two years". Other than that I found this to be a really fast and engaging read.
Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
4.0
So I read this book as part of the Horror Aficionados book for the January read. I bought this book last winter, but never got around to reading it.
I really really loved Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl. I know that a lot of people had issues with it since they felt like the ending ruined the entire book for them. I now know how these people feel since I feel the same about Dark Places.
The movie is broken up by three different character perspectives. We get Libby's mother Patty's point of view from the past, Ben's point of view from the past, and then Libby's present day point of view.
I think it was great to include Patty's point of view since out of everyone I had the most sympathy for her character. Her struggles to provide for her kids and her pain at seeing her son Ben pull away from her was heartbreaking.
You know right from the start that you are not going to like Libby's character and even Libby admits to being a horrible and selfish person. She initially gets involved with the "Kill Club" since they will pay her to talk to people involved with the murder. She does this since being paid to look into the murders is better than her actually working. You have a smidgen of sympathy for her since to be the lone survivor of a killer has and did mess her up a lot. However, all sympathy for Libby becomes completely eroded when you start to read her private thoughts about people, things that happened, and how she can take advantage of people around her.
Ben as a character was an enigma a good 3/4 of the way through the book for me. You feel for Ben because he is in a house of women and doesn't feel like a man. He is struggling to be something and upset that the world is determined to keep him in this little box.
Ms. Flynn does a great job with the writing for all three characters. All of their voices are quite distinct so even if you get to a different chapter and don't realize it, you quickly know you are reading Patty's, Libby's, or Ben's point of view.
The description of people, places, and smells actually at times put me in those scenes.
That said, I still gave this four stars since the ending didn't really make much sense and I didn't find a lot of enjoyment at the end. I know that Flynn likes to write endings that are open-ended and I actually like it when an author leaves it up to the reader to what happens next. However, the ending just kind of happens and some people do a complete 180 that I didn't get at all.
I really did enjoy this book and thought that everything worked very well together.
I really really loved Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl. I know that a lot of people had issues with it since they felt like the ending ruined the entire book for them. I now know how these people feel since I feel the same about Dark Places.
The movie is broken up by three different character perspectives. We get Libby's mother Patty's point of view from the past, Ben's point of view from the past, and then Libby's present day point of view.
I think it was great to include Patty's point of view since out of everyone I had the most sympathy for her character. Her struggles to provide for her kids and her pain at seeing her son Ben pull away from her was heartbreaking.
You know right from the start that you are not going to like Libby's character and even Libby admits to being a horrible and selfish person. She initially gets involved with the "Kill Club" since they will pay her to talk to people involved with the murder. She does this since being paid to look into the murders is better than her actually working. You have a smidgen of sympathy for her since to be the lone survivor of a killer has and did mess her up a lot. However, all sympathy for Libby becomes completely eroded when you start to read her private thoughts about people, things that happened, and how she can take advantage of people around her.
Ben as a character was an enigma a good 3/4 of the way through the book for me. You feel for Ben because he is in a house of women and doesn't feel like a man. He is struggling to be something and upset that the world is determined to keep him in this little box.
Ms. Flynn does a great job with the writing for all three characters. All of their voices are quite distinct so even if you get to a different chapter and don't realize it, you quickly know you are reading Patty's, Libby's, or Ben's point of view.
The description of people, places, and smells actually at times put me in those scenes.
That said, I still gave this four stars since the ending didn't really make much sense and I didn't find a lot of enjoyment at the end. I know that Flynn likes to write endings that are open-ended and I actually like it when an author leaves it up to the reader to what happens next. However, the ending just kind of happens and some people do a complete 180 that I didn't get at all.
I really did enjoy this book and thought that everything worked very well together.