doody's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
franncenee's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
ipekreading's review against another edition
4.0
This book had so many thing I enjoy in books that I knew I would end up loving it as soon as I read the synopsis. 17-year-old Denny Tran gets dinner at a restaurant in Cabramatta, Australia with his friends and is murdered. Despite the restaurant being busy, all witnesses claim to know nothing. Denny's sister Ky, a journalist, returns home for the funeral and starts investigating what happened to her brother and trying to parse the meaning of all the silences.
Despite it being classified as a mystery, in a lot of places this one was light on the mystery. While I was curious to find out the truth, this was a story of so many other things. Dealing with loss, generational conflicts, pressures to adapt and succeed, trying to fit in at the only place you can call home, especially when "home" is unsafe for so many reasons, all through lenses of vivid characters. I also hadn't known anything about how Cabramatta used to be and I went through a wikipedia dive because it sounded so crazy (and yep it was pretty crazy and sad).
Thank you Harper Audio for the ALC and William Morrow and @bookclubgirl for the ARC.
Despite it being classified as a mystery, in a lot of places this one was light on the mystery. While I was curious to find out the truth, this was a story of so many other things. Dealing with loss, generational conflicts, pressures to adapt and succeed, trying to fit in at the only place you can call home, especially when "home" is unsafe for so many reasons, all through lenses of vivid characters. I also hadn't known anything about how Cabramatta used to be and I went through a wikipedia dive because it sounded so crazy (and yep it was pretty crazy and sad).
Thank you Harper Audio for the ALC and William Morrow and @bookclubgirl for the ARC.
exhausted__reader's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
annekap's review against another edition
4.0
I read this for book club and really liked it. A super easy read that beautifully explored complex family and community dynamics. Possibly a bit predictable and the end felt a bit left hanging. Overall a really enjoyable book that gave us lots to talk about.
cmoo053's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
mandyist's review against another edition
3.0
This one was a real challenge to finish and I regularly thought of giving up. I was reminded a lot of my second year Sociology textbook Social Problems and the Quality of Life. It seemed the author wanted to shoehorn every possible social problem into her community with the finesse of textbook rote and we never get more than a superficial glimpse of what all this means.
From a personal perspective, I didn't relate to Ky's reaction to her brother's death and her judging him for not being perfect at school. You tend to lionise those you lose, especially in murders or violent events.
I do relate to the pain of not knowing but disagree with the notion that it makes no difference if you know what happened. It does help to know. In my personal experience, the discovery at trial that a family member had simply been at the wrong place at the wrong time brought us immense peace and closure. To know that they hadn't been targeted for their religion, race or sexual orientation was important to us.
Ultimately, there was a good story here and it all knits together in the end. It was a challenge to get through, in large part due to the textbook trauma-dumping. I also felt my own experience with loss, police investigations, and community outrage following these events made it difficult to relate to a lot of the book but that's on me.
From a personal perspective, I didn't relate to Ky's reaction to her brother's death and her judging him for not being perfect at school. You tend to lionise those you lose, especially in murders or violent events.
I do relate to the pain of not knowing but disagree with the notion that it makes no difference if you know what happened. It does help to know. In my personal experience, the discovery at trial that a family member had simply been at the wrong place at the wrong time brought us immense peace and closure. To know that they hadn't been targeted for their religion, race or sexual orientation was important to us.
Ultimately, there was a good story here and it all knits together in the end. It was a challenge to get through, in large part due to the textbook trauma-dumping. I also felt my own experience with loss, police investigations, and community outrage following these events made it difficult to relate to a lot of the book but that's on me.