Margaret
A bit disappointed the author used the “failed to check for trackers” trope (one of my least favorite, alongside the miscommunication one), but happy it was addressed before getting to the car chase/finding the McGuffin part (i prob read way too many of these kinds of books).
A must read if you have any sort of interest in the history of how cell research (like stem cells) and general science advancements came to be, from the exploitation common of the time.
An interesting premise, I truly did enjoy the entire first half. Once we hit the second half, I always felt like something was missing and that being able to identify that thing was on the tip of my tongue but not quite there. I don't necessarily think worth a re-read for me, but i did like it well enough
Too many story beats have been executed in the same way in far better books recently - it's also easy to pick out the parts that were done better in books like Verity (
Nothing special about the book stood out to me, it was predictable at its best and boring at its worst.
If you're a little less well-versed in thriller tropes, you may like it, but the letter Verity wrote at the end may or may not undo all of the goodwill and benefit of the doubt you've given the book until then.
Quite frankly, I felt no need to have four pages of the book taken up with a play-by-play of Verity's pseudo redemption, explaining her every thought. But, to each their own.
I'm not nearly intellectual enough to understand the book, the rave reviews of this book, or how it won multiple prizes. A slog to get through after the first bit, and simply repetitive after the first third.
Second half was hands down better than the first
Also, how is she a scientist studying abiogenesis AND food science? Those are completely separate disciplines and people can spend decades studying just one
Didn't love the continuous bashing over the head that 2020s ideals & norms are better than the ones from the ‘50s. Started off fairly weak but after the 50% mark definitely got better & with less “let's pile as many bad things as possible”
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Two quotes that pulled me out of the book SO fast & I can tell you they don't make much more sense in context of the book
* “But instead,” she continued, “women are at home, making babies and cleaning rugs. It's legalized slavery.” (p. 26)
* “A woman telling me what pregnancy is. Who do you think you are?” (p. 113)
Halfway through it kinda felt like being told the story, but someone was misremembering details/aspects to the it causing it to feel like 90% the same people, but with something missing
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Though, a part of me is here for the immediate “do now think later” type of vengeance
Kinda felt like Final Destination in book form, while feeling like a typical tropey And Then There Were None throughout
Lots more telling than showing here (similar to how I feel about horror movies), but pace was fast ish so not as bothered by it
Didn't have issues with sleeping at night when reading things like In Cold Blood, I'll Be Gone in the Dark, or even about Ted Bundy. I've read my fair share of realistic creepy/gruesome/scary, so fairly hard to shock me with some grittiness or shock value descriptions.
That said, I had to start skipping quite a few scenes to be able to continue sleeping at night. I found the execution of the graphic violence/descriptions in this to be more than most true crime books, and based on my very limited experience, would make Criminal Minds seem like a Rated E for Everyone kind of show.
For me, the violence and gore got to be too much, I hesitate to call it glorified but tho it's a realistic boogyman, I don't think I'll read much more of her work, if this one is anything to go by. Pretty sure I'm terrified of her now
Written in a much drier and factual manner than both Dean Jobb's “Dr. Cream” book as well as books by Michelle McNamara & Truman Capote. Nonetheless, still an enjoyable read which lets us have a view at the “real” Bonnie & Clyde and who they were without the Americana legend
More convoluted than the inheritance games at times but didn't pick until 300 pages in
Totally predictable if you're familiar with the typical tropes used for the genre.
All in all an ok read.
They weren't wrong when they said this was a female Dexter; the “smoke” execution was better done in the Dexter books with the “dark passenger”
29 books with the same character in the same series is prob a few too many
These kinds of books aren't known for their character development (which is fine with me, i don't necessarily read them for the character development) somehow this book has even less
The Silent Patient meets Sleeping Beauty - if you told me this was someone's attempt at rewriting Alex Michaelides from memory but including many more references to the 2020s, I'd believe you