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bobbeym's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Minor: Confinement, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Death of parent
melike_k's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Overall enjoyable book with some mysterious elements and a difficult to predict ending. Occasionally confusing as there seemed to be multiple storylines at once that didn't always fit together.
would have liked to see more development of the relationship between Jack and Millie as Jack seems a very flat character who's storyline in the midst of all the others doesn't go anywhere
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Blood
Moderate: Death of parent
thepuppeteer's review against another edition
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide, Stalking, Death of parent, and Murder
Minor: Confinement and Grief
outsmartyourshelf's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
Millie Westlake lives in Whitecliff, the town where she grew up. She makes her living as a dog groomer & volunteers at the local nursing home. Her business is struggling due to some bad reviews related to her parents' deaths as, thanks to a newspaper article at the time, many people think Millie was responsible. Her marriage to ex-husband Alex broke down after she had an affair (there's a hint of a revelation to come about Alex but we don't find out until the last moment) & he has moved on with Rachel, & Millie is only allowed partial custody of their son.
Whilst she is at the nursing home one day playing a sedate game of Guess Who?, her opponent, Ingrid, suddenly announces that the night before she saw a young woman get pushed off the roof of one of the houses nearby. Millie is sceptical but wanting to put Ingrid's mind at rest, she noses around the outside of the house & speaks to the owner, Dean Parris, who says he is the only occupant. Outside Millie finds a loose roof tile on the floor of the alleyway but doesn't think too much of it, until it seems that Parris has started following her & she thinks she sees his van outside her home before he suddenly drives off when he thinks he has been spotted. Has Millie put herself in danger?
Millie has a nice friendship with Jack (who also works at the nursing home) & his partner Rishi, & it looks as if a bit of a double-act with Guy, a retired journalist who was close friends with her parents, may be in the offing. His contacts help Millie solve the mystery & he has a really cute dog named Barry. Cute dogs aside, I found this to be very slow-going & almost DNF'd it. I carried on as I was intrigued enough to want to find out what had happened but I can't say I'd be in a rush to read the next one. 2.5 stars (rounded up)
My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, Bookouture, for the opportunity to read an ARC. I am voluntarily giving an honest review.
Whilst she is at the nursing home one day playing a sedate game of Guess Who?, her opponent, Ingrid, suddenly announces that the night before she saw a young woman get pushed off the roof of one of the houses nearby. Millie is sceptical but wanting to put Ingrid's mind at rest, she noses around the outside of the house & speaks to the owner, Dean Parris, who says he is the only occupant. Outside Millie finds a loose roof tile on the floor of the alleyway but doesn't think too much of it, until it seems that Parris has started following her & she thinks she sees his van outside her home before he suddenly drives off when he thinks he has been spotted. Has Millie put herself in danger?
Millie has a nice friendship with Jack (who also works at the nursing home) & his partner Rishi, & it looks as if a bit of a double-act with Guy, a retired journalist who was close friends with her parents, may be in the offing. His contacts help Millie solve the mystery & he has a really cute dog named Barry. Cute dogs aside, I found this to be very slow-going & almost DNF'd it. I carried on as I was intrigued enough to want to find out what had happened but I can't say I'd be in a rush to read the next one. 2.5 stars (rounded up)
My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, Bookouture, for the opportunity to read an ARC. I am voluntarily giving an honest review.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity and Death of parent
srivalli's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
3.7 Stars
One Liner: An intriguing start to a new series
Whitecliff is your typical seaside small town where everyone knows everyone and everything is everybody’s business. Millie Westlake volunteers at the local nursing home as a way to avoid her past and the suspicions that cling to her like a second skin. Her parents died a year ago, and people think she killed them. What’s more, Millie has to deal with personal issues too.
However, when Ingrid, an old lady from the nursing home, tells Millie that she saw a young girl being pushed off a roof, Millie doesn’t know what to believe. Something urges her to find out more, and soon she comes across a few things that can be counted as evidence.
This puts Millie in danger, and with most of the town against her, can she find the truth about the young girl on the roof? What about her past that she doesn’t want to think about? Is Millie strong enough to handle the truth?
The story comes from Millie’s third-person POV.
My Thoughts:
This is a slow-burn mystery with more focus on the central character. Mille is intriguing and complex, with flaws, vulnerabilities, and secrets.
Gus is another interesting character. His passion to tell people’s stories and his complicated relationship with Millie and her parents makes him an almost secondary character in the book.
The small town setting is darker and feels oppressive. It suits the plot and the characters. The underlying tension, the secrets, hints of violence, and the narrow-minded attitudes of people seamlessly oven into the narrative.
The mystery itself is weak. It starts out strong, but the reveal and reasons aren’t emphatic. It doesn’t help that the characters themselves say things like it was a miracle so and so happened. It feels like taking an easy way out to deal with the mystery.
However, the mystery also feels like a subplot, something to take the main story ahead and establish the character arcs. It helped to know that this is the first book in the series, and the next two are also available. I could readjust my expectations and read it more as an installment rather than a standalone. (It can be standalone, though my curious nose will never be satisfied unless I know more.)
The supporting characters, especially Jack and Rish, are sweet and just as flawed. The other side characters aren’t fully developed yet but show promise. The pacing is decent; slowish in the first half but medium-to-fast in the second half.
I like that there aren’t a bunch of suspects or the routine amateur sleuthing. Though Millie does get into trouble for being impulsive, it doesn’t happen until the climax.
To summarize, The One Who Fell is a good start to a series, and I am curious to know more. It is a cozy mystery, albeit slightly dark. So dark cozy mystery, maybe?
Thank you, NetGalley and Bookouture, for the eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.
#NetGalley #TheOneWhoFell
Content Warnings
Minor: Infidelity and Death of parent
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