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stewartl8's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Murder, and Gaslighting
morethanmylupus's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I enjoyed this thriller. It kept me guessing for a fair chunk of the book. The POV is mostly between Olivia, the girl left behind, and a journalist who's come to town twenty years after the disappearance to do a story on the mystery. I liked both of their characters, but particularly the journalist, Jenna, was compelling.
I think this could have been a 4 star book for me if some things hadn't gotten in the way. For one, we suddenly get some flashbacks to a different group of people in the middle of the book. This was distracting and also gave away a lot of the mystery. For another, some the answer to the mystery of where the girls were was underwhelming although the mystery of why it happened was more interesting.
Graphic: Murder and Gaslighting
Moderate: Drug use
hematthews's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Car accident, and Murder
Moderate: Stalking and Gaslighting
ynaiita_5896's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I normally tend to dislike plots led by main characters that are detectives or journalists looking to unveil a mystery. This is usually because they tend to be unlovable characters. However, Jenna was believable. Her personal situation seemed irrelevant to the story but added colour to her personality.
Graphic: Death, Car accident, and Murder
Moderate: Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
georg_11's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Drug use, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
arielleluana's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Grief, Car accident, Murder, and Gaslighting
lillyrose97's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: Child death, Death, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, and Gaslighting
tnb10's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Moderate: Child death and Car accident
Minor: Drug use, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting
kyahs's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, and Gaslighting
what_heather_loves's review against another edition
4.0
Present day and Manchester journalist Jenna Halliday, making a podcast for the BBC, is visiting the small Wiltshire town of Stafferbury, to investigate the disappearance of three teenage girls, twenty years ago. Recently separated from husband Gavin, she's left their ten year old son, Finn, with him and her mother. She's staying in a cabin in the forest and soon befriends the local police detective, Dale who's been assigned the cold case. A new death springs the case wide open.
Olivia Rutherford lives and works with her mother at the family stables; she doesn't know her father, he's never been in her life. The only survivor of a car accident on 'The Devil's Corridor', a lonely road that splits a supposedly haunted forest and runs near to the historic standing stones, it's an area many locals believe is cursed by mystical and supernatural incidents. The car accident saw her three friends, Sally, Tamzin and Hetty, disappear, leaving Olivia the only survivor, which damaged her physically and mentally. Vulnerable, she is over-reliant on manipulative childhood sweetheart, Wes.
Stacey, boyfriend JeanPaul and their friends are on the holiday of a lifetime in a luxurious villa in Bangkok. They're staying with JP's mysteriously wealthy friend, Derrek, who he seems to be beholden too.
Switching between present day (Jenna and Olivia) twenty years ago (Olivia) and an unspecified other time period (Stacey) has women at the centre of this mysterious tale. It's one of those novels that pulls you in, wanting to unravel the mystery with likeable Jenna. As the reader gets to know Olivia and her circumstances, it's good to see her and Jenna team up. The rural and supposedly mystic setting, with plenty of local characters is atmospheric and the pacey plot with cliff hangers shocks makes for a page-turner. As with the author's previous, The Couple at No9, this is a tense and creepy mystery, making for a great read.
Graphic: Child death and Car accident
Moderate: Gaslighting