The Other Side of Night

Up until the big reveal that carries you through the final 1/4 of the book, I was absolutely riveted. Couldn't put it down. Super invested in every single character and the mystery at the center of the novel. But once THE SECRET is revealed, I must admit I felt a little let down. The writing remains beautiful and the plot remains well constructed; I just felt like it came out of left field and I found myself feeling like I was suddenly reading a different book. This falls just short of 4 stars for me because for the majority of the book it was so wonderful and as mentioned, the language is absolutely gorgeous.

I'm not very shocked by my rating of this book. I went into it blind and with an open mind, as I often do with books, and I could tell it was going to be a hit or miss from the beginning.

When I initially started the book, I didn't like the writing style and it took quite some time to get used to. The mystery never truly intrigued me and I found myself not being as engaged as I would've liked to have been. This just wasn't stimulating enough for me. I had to switch to a different book in between my time with this one.

I didn't care much about the plot or the characters and I feel that's a big reason why I wasn't truly connecting with this book. It was recommended to go into this book without having any prior knowledge of it & I agree with that. Still, even then I had a hunch on why that would be the better way to read it and just from that intuitive feeling alone, I knew I was going to be disappointed if the story took the path I was assuming it was going to.

With that being said, my assumption was correct and I didn't like the plot twists or the ending at all. I solely kept reading to figure out what happens at the end & it's safe to say it fell flat for me as did the entirety of the book & I was expecting so much more. At first, I was confused for a bit by the ending and then I just ended up annoyed because honestly, I thought it was stupid.

This novel includes a lot of elements that I heavily enjoy so I'm disappointed that this book didn't work for me, though I think I would love it if it was a movie!