The cover: amazing. the synopsis: amazing. I mean come on. A magical cannibal nun cult? The execution however: not amazing. This was painfully boring The cover: amazing. the synopsis: amazing. I mean come on. A magical cannibal nun cult? The execution however: not amazing. This was painfully boring for most of the book and I lost interest real quick but pushed myself through. I'm deeply disappointed. The character's don't have much distinction or personality and nothing interesting happens either....more
Alright so I’m disappointed and definitely in the minority. I’m all for literary fiction but there was something I couldn’t get into with this book. IAlright so I’m disappointed and definitely in the minority. I’m all for literary fiction but there was something I couldn’t get into with this book. It’s told in present day and past day, explaining how Laura and Bea’s brother went missing. A stranger in Thailand contacts Laura claiming to be their brother Phillip and she flies off to go meet with him. There are way too many characters and we even hear the point of view from the parents and I just really lost interest after part one. I gained interest again later but then I lost it pretty quickly. The premise is interesting enough but there are so many unnecessary details through out the book. It’s almost 500 pages and really did not need to be this long. I think it would’ve benefited shaved off 100 pages but maybe that’s just me since again, I’m in the minority. I do think that Schwarz did really well character development and knows how to tie together a story but this one just didn’t work for me.
I won this from a giveaway so I do have a physical copy but this was also given as an arc from Netgalley. Thank you so much to Netgalley, Atria books, and Goodreads for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. ...more
I’ve come to the conclusion that slow burn mysteries are just not for me. I won this book from a goodreads giveaway about 3 years ago so if it weren’tI’ve come to the conclusion that slow burn mysteries are just not for me. I won this book from a goodreads giveaway about 3 years ago so if it weren’t for that, I doubt I would have ever picked this up in the first place.. But also it took me over 3 years to pick this up. I think the portrayal of sexism and racial discrimination was important as this was prevalent in the 60’s (and STILL GOING ON TO THIS DAY!!).
Maddy wasn’t a strong main character, she came off extremely boring and possibly needing therapy. I thought this could have been a good story but perhaps if Maddy was an entirely different person I would’ve liked it a little bit more. I also hate when there’s a million POVs. I don’t want to have to keep a chart of every single character!! Anyway, I’m going to need books to start letting me know if they’re slowburn and multiple POVs because I CAN’T STAND IT!!! If you’re into that, you’ll probably love this.
Sadly, I don’t get the hype with this one, most reviews were 4-5 stars so I went into this thinking that this would be a new favorite. This book startSadly, I don’t get the hype with this one, most reviews were 4-5 stars so I went into this thinking that this would be a new favorite. This book started out SO strong and I was so mad I let this sit on my shelf for 3 years. Then, I got uninterested. It was so character driven that it got slow and the actual story dragged out. That’s not a bad thing but for a psychological thriller, that’s not really what I’m looking for the main focus to be on. I loved the reveals of what happened years ago to Charlotte and Samantha and I think their relationship was so complex as they tried to move past it together and still care for the other. I think the shooting was sort of a filler and became a useless storyline. So much that I started to believe this was no longer a thriller. I also won this from a GR giveaway so I think if that weren't the case I probably would have never picked this up.