Layemi
A bit of a disappointment from Shari Lapena. I had read The Couple Next Door and A Stranger in The House before this, so I had high expectations.
The first bad sign for me was that it follows a similar storyline that has been recycled many times since Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None (one of my favourite books of all times). After reading that one, others with the similar storyline were usually a let down, but I hoped that because it's a Lapena book, I would feel differently.
For me, there are two types of mystery books. The type where the author gives you 95 percent of relevant clues, you can't put them together, then at the big reveal in the end you are shocked that you didn't put together all the obvious clues given to you. This describes the vast majority of Agatha Christie books (and The Couple Next Door) and I think that is one of the reasons she was so successful, because she did not hide a lot of relevant information from readers.
The second type is when the author purposefully leaves out large bits of relevant information, that if the reader had known, they would've solved the mystery instantly.
Of course, authors obviously are not supposed to reveal everything to readers, mystery or not. But sometimes such a great deal is hidden from readers that it feels a bit lazy on the author's part, and immediately the big reveal is made, the first thing the reader thinks is “if I had know that one piece of crucial information, I would've solved it immediately”.
The second instance is exactly what happened with this book. The reader is informed out of nowhere of a piece of information that, if we had known since, we easily could've guessed who committed the first murder, and then the rest from there.
Apart from this, the book was intriguing enough and entertaining, but the ending was so disappointing in that it came out of nowhere, that it soured my opinion of the whole book.
If this was another author, I would not read her work again. However, because I've read her other books and I know how great they are, I will actively await her next one and hope it is better than this.
Great novel by Shari Lapena. I felt like I was in Stephanie's shoes, understanding of her actions and feeling all her pain and hurt. Got a little repetitive at some points but by the end I was hooked. I've never hated a character more than I hated Erica, which I suppose is a good thing, it shows how well she's written. One of Shari Lapena's best endings, and left me wanting more.
3.5 stars rounded down to 3 stars. I loved this book right up till the end. There was a lot of suspense throughout the whole book, I may have even missed some lines towards the end because I was to anxious to find out what happened and conclude the story. Unfortunately once everything was revealed it all fell a bit flat for me. If people had made certain fairly obvious considerations/checks at the start the whole thing could have been over in a couple of minutes. The solution was just a bit obvious. Another issue I had the fanatical crazy ending. My first book by this author was Everything She Feared, and this was the only problem I had with that book too. It seems like a theme to have a crazy wild ending just to end the books with lots of drama, but it's taken a bit too far where it seems so unrealistic. The ending for this felt a bit much. But overall a good book, and worth the read for how thrilling it is up till the end.
4.5 stars rounded down to 4. I read this after Wrong Place Wrong Time, and the things I loved about that book are here as well. Gillian's writing style is exactly what I prefer in that we get a good introduction to the characters, the story starts quickly and is well paced, and the twists make sense but are hard to see coming. I didn't give this 5 stars because it was all a bit too fantastical in the end (which was the same and only thing I didn't like about Wrong Place Wrong Time), but it was very well written. For one of the twists, I went back to earlier chapters many times so sure I had seen something but I was wrong. Really well done, I'll definitely be reading more of her books.
3.5 stars rounded up to 4 just because it's Shari Lapena, I'm biased. Good writing, plot, etc. the mystery was revealed a bit earlier than I would have liked, it made sense in the context, but at a point there was no more mystery and just ‘I guess I'll keep reading to see how this ends'. Was a good book overall but not my favourite by Shari Lapena.
4.5 stars rounded up to 5. A beautiful touching novel. The ending threw me off in a way I didn't expect, and I wish it had gone a slightly different way. Other than that a great worthwhile read.
A very good book that was very tough to read, it should almost come with a trigger warning for abuse. The summary hints at it, but what is happening to the girls and how it affects them is described so well and explicitly, it is heartbreaking. Read it in a couple sittings and could be an even quicker read, but I needed to take breaks. Definitely one of the most heartbreaking and gut-wrenching books I've ever read, second only to perhaps Beartown.
This book was very engaging from beginning to end, with lots of twists and turns that kept the story fresh and exciting, I spent a lot of my time not reading it trying to figure out what the heck was going on.
However the ending just didn't do it for me. Some aspects of it were incredible and there was an Agatha Christie level plot twist, but the whole time travel thing just because a bit much and too sci-fi. Took off one star because of that, but it really was overall a fantastic book, and I'll be looking out for more books the author writes.
This novel had me completely engrossed from the start and on the edge of my seat, to the point where I couldn't read it at night for fear of having dreams about it (you definitely wouldn't want to be a character in this book). I'd have to take breaks to catch my breath and do something else for a bit, it is that tense. Alice Feeney does a fantastic job of creating an atmosphere that feels so real.
Similar concept to And Then There Were None, but a very original and surprising ending that makes you want to reread the whole thing.
Loved this, this is the kind of messaging we need to get to little black girls everywhere, I wish I had a book like this when I was little. Read it on Apple Books but buying a physical copy to have ❤️