Srivatsa
I have no idea how I managed to miss the “WARNING” sign for this book. I honestly thought I was picking up a fun slasher, wow was I wrong. This was grotesque, brutal, vile, disturbing, stomach churning and I think I will pay more heed to the warnings next time. This is definitely not for the faint hearted and I would not recommend this unless you are a true extreme horror fan. With that said I struggle to give this a rating since I was not prepared for the carnage.
Okay this is my second SGJ book after My heart is a chainsaw and I think I've cracked it. His writing style is strange. Even the sentence structure at times is very odd. It's like I need a minute or two to make sense of it. Maybe the intention was to portray teen angst, but honestly it was tough to keep up. Too bad as the plot was boring and quite frankly not scary, which I was hoping for.
This book was rather racy where the male lead had a personality akin to a plank of wood, a peabrain protagonist who takes forever to read a manuscript containing THIRTEEN chapters and somehow the only thing remotely interesting was the pov of a vegetative manipulative woman. That ending may have shocked a lot of people, I found it hilarious.
Not sure how I feel about this one. It was a cosy mystery with a sprinkle of comedy. I felt like the book never excelled in either theme, as a mystery nor as a comedy. The plot was far-fetched and it could've done without the romance subplots. But all in all, it wasn't terrible, just nothing exceptional.
Interesting premise where you are wondering who the victim is before placing your Poirot hat on. Having said that, I had 3 major problems with this book:
1. There is not much of a mystery until the 70-75% mark, it is way too slow to get to the character motives
2. Why is it just a single murder when quite literally the entire cast could've been axed? Can we get at least one likable character? I honestly cared for none.
3. This is a more general gripe than a shot at this book, but new-age murder mysteries are morphing into “thrillers with additional POVs”. Where are the innovative murder methods? Where are the trails of clues nudging the reader to the ultimate satisfaction of solving the murder? Where are the alibis? the red herrings? A singular victim and a cast of suspects do not equate to a murder mystery. This book and many others I've read recently (cough One by One cough) tend to dramatize the narrative and dilute the actual mystery. With this plot, you could very easily replace the murderer with anyone else on the island and it wouldn't change a thing; no one's motives felt stronger than the other.
Finally, this book had a very abrupt ending, like the author was on a deadline and she had hours to finish the last few pages. A bit more closure would've been nice.
This is my second book from this author and it was a far better read. Having said that I wish it was edited a bit. I know it's only around 300 odd pages but wow are there so many “huh? I don't remember that item being there” or “did I hear something?” moments where the author is trying to amp up the suspense. By 150th time I'm just waiting for the reveal.
Rowan was also a very confusing character. Shes flawed but also a bit ambivalent; happy and caring one minute while brimming with rage the next. By the end, my only reaction to the twist was “oh okay”. I think I'd had enough of Rowan.
Nevertheless a creepy suspenseful read.
Very promising theme and setup, however, it suffered from an identity crisis. I love a good isolation trope and one set at a chalet? Sign me up. However, from the get-go, this book did not know what it was. A murder mystery? a thriller? In the end, it was a hodge-podge of both genres which made for a very messy and linear plot. It started out great with a slew of characters being introduced, but by limiting the chapters to a few POV's, we get caricatures of a few characters and once the major arc begins, the reader quickly understands who is the probable victim and quite frankly the murderer. From there, the plot was extremely linear which changed the landscape to a more thriller/suspense vibe. By the 75% mark, the murder is essentially solved and it just leads to unnecessary pages of wrapping things up. Sorry if this review isn't as coherent, but in summary, my major gripes were:
- Not staying true to one genre
- Lack of more POV's
- Very linear plot
Not to end on a sour note, I did like the way the author used the technology industry as a theme. Not many murder mysteries (at least I've read) in recent times have used it, so it was a pleasant surprise.
The writing is beautiful, a bit inconsistent at places and parts of this book made me realise I was not the intended audience, but the story was really good. I think what bumped my initial score of a 3 to a 4 was the second half. The character progression of Constanta and her relationships with the others was really well written. I wouldn't mind a full length novel to continue where this story left off.
3.5 rounded up to 4
Loved the atmosphere and the internal monologue of the MC. Felt the paranormal aspects of the book could've been fleshed out (pardon the pun) a bit more or even left out completely since the psychological nature and the creepy atmosphere was well enough. Still applaud the author for intertwining both aspects seamlessly. If anything, the dialogue, especially from one of the characters, could have been better. Had my eyes rolling a couple of times. Overall a quick read, may not be the best book out there but an entertaining one nonetheless.