mrsfishreads's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
I did not expect this book to take so many dark turns! It's definitely keeps you listening/reading.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, and Violence
Moderate: Abandonment, Child death, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Addiction, Suicide attempt, Stalking, Death, Confinement, Infidelity, Gun violence, Sexual harassment, Cannibalism, Grief, Child abuse, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Blood, Animal death, Violence, Medical trauma, Religious bigotry, Mental illness, and Infertility
A lot of cursing and extreme violence.sjj169's review against another edition
2.0
This book was hard to rate for me. I liked it and it kept my attention but then it just seemed choppy at times.
ozzyf's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
lye's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
feedmefiction's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
kba76's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- 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? Yes
3.25
Abandon is one of those strangely frustrating stories, with some really good elements and sections that meander awhile before not really going anywhere. At its heart this is a story about greed, secrets and guilt.
The story takes place over a number of time periods and the setting is the remote town of Abandon. Ever since the residents of the town disappeared on Christmas Eve people have wondered what happened there. Rumours abound, and nobody has been able to establish the truth.
Over the course of the book we learn what happened.
Initially, the feeling was that paranormal events were behind this occurrence. As the book progressed we learn a much baser truth…it’s all about desire for untold wealth, and the extent to which people are prepared to do awful things in the pursuit of it.
I found the modern story rather frustrating, but as we learn more of the past it made more sense. The parallels between key characters were poignantly drawn out, though nothing seems to end well for anyone. I was angry on behalf of Lana’s character…a woman who’d suffered so much to try and help others, cruelly abandoned so a frustrated man could get his hands on the gold. Thankfully, we see that doesn’t really work out for him (or his descendants). I can’t help but hope that the ending had its own secrets!
Thanks to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this.
The story takes place over a number of time periods and the setting is the remote town of Abandon. Ever since the residents of the town disappeared on Christmas Eve people have wondered what happened there. Rumours abound, and nobody has been able to establish the truth.
Over the course of the book we learn what happened.
Initially, the feeling was that paranormal events were behind this occurrence. As the book progressed we learn a much baser truth…it’s all about desire for untold wealth, and the extent to which people are prepared to do awful things in the pursuit of it.
I found the modern story rather frustrating, but as we learn more of the past it made more sense. The parallels between key characters were poignantly drawn out, though nothing seems to end well for anyone. I was angry on behalf of Lana’s character…a woman who’d suffered so much to try and help others, cruelly abandoned so a frustrated man could get his hands on the gold. Thankfully, we see that doesn’t really work out for him (or his descendants). I can’t help but hope that the ending had its own secrets!
Thanks to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this.
thymrman's review against another edition
3.0
To me this was a decent enough book, it was just not what I expected it to be from the synopsis at all. And felt really poor in some aspects. The actual writing and editing was good and didn't let me down or confuse me. My issues come from the misleading synopsis, poor characters, and honestly just too much death.
Lets start on that misleading synopsis. It gives you the idea that something supernatural might be at foot here. But that doesn't actually mean anything, everything that happens is 100% natural and just fueled by greed. But with that being the case, the synopsis should be different to give that view.
The characters I feel suffered due to the two consecutive timelines the book used. It worked well to show the story happening in the past and the present, but it also doubled the cast of characters. And of those characters vary few felt like they got the time needed to become actual characters, and not just a warm body to be killed off.
And man do they get killed off, and often. It seems that every 3rd chapter has another person dead or some atrocity occurring. The worst by far for me was a mute character, who escaped it all to have the worst fate of anybody in the book for really no reason but to show more pain occurring. By the end it just started feeling unnecessary the amount of death, it could have been told with much less in a much more satisfying way.
So I can see somebody enjoying this book maybe, but it is not my style of book at all. While competently presented, it just doesn't feel like it does a very good job at telling a story.
Lets start on that misleading synopsis. It gives you the idea that something supernatural might be at foot here. But that doesn't actually mean anything, everything that happens is 100% natural and just fueled by greed. But with that being the case, the synopsis should be different to give that view.
The characters I feel suffered due to the two consecutive timelines the book used. It worked well to show the story happening in the past and the present, but it also doubled the cast of characters. And of those characters vary few felt like they got the time needed to become actual characters, and not just a warm body to be killed off.
And man do they get killed off, and often. It seems that every 3rd chapter has another person dead or some atrocity occurring. The worst by far for me was a mute character, who escaped it all to have the worst fate of anybody in the book for really no reason but to show more pain occurring. By the end it just started feeling unnecessary the amount of death, it could have been told with much less in a much more satisfying way.
So I can see somebody enjoying this book maybe, but it is not my style of book at all. While competently presented, it just doesn't feel like it does a very good job at telling a story.
judefire33's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Thanks go to Pan MacMillan for sending me a review copy.
I’d never heard of Blake Crouch before seeing Abandon, but from the cover and the blurb, I knew I had to read it.
What a book! A dual time thriller set n the Colorado mountains around a now abandoned mining town, we skip from the late 1800s to the present day, and a cast of characters that are all after one thing…. The apparently hidden pile of gold ingots, but also our modern day adventurists want to know why the townsfolk just vanished overnight. What follows is a bloody excellent adventure through a snowy landscape with plenty of events to keep the reader gripped to Abandon.
The writing is amazing, the descriptions of the Wild West era are superb, and I loved that part of Abandon, I also thought it really set the scene for the modern day action.
Abandon is basically a novel about, greed, secrets and lies, and how far would humans go to become rich! The consequences of their actions make the story, and it was thrilling and I was totally gripped all the way through!
A fantastic 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ star read from me!
I’d never heard of Blake Crouch before seeing Abandon, but from the cover and the blurb, I knew I had to read it.
What a book! A dual time thriller set n the Colorado mountains around a now abandoned mining town, we skip from the late 1800s to the present day, and a cast of characters that are all after one thing…. The apparently hidden pile of gold ingots, but also our modern day adventurists want to know why the townsfolk just vanished overnight. What follows is a bloody excellent adventure through a snowy landscape with plenty of events to keep the reader gripped to Abandon.
The writing is amazing, the descriptions of the Wild West era are superb, and I loved that part of Abandon, I also thought it really set the scene for the modern day action.
Abandon is basically a novel about, greed, secrets and lies, and how far would humans go to become rich! The consequences of their actions make the story, and it was thrilling and I was totally gripped all the way through!
A fantastic 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ star read from me!