Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - Don't Believe It

“To kill someone required perfection, timing, and luck. I hoped all three were with me this evening.”

This is the second book I’ve read by this author and certainly won’t be my last. This is the perfect read for true crime and crime documentary lovers.

Don’t Believe It follows Sidney; she’s a documentary maker who has a knack for making documentaries on the wrongfully accused and imprisoned. Her newest documentary is showcasing Grace, who may or may not have been wrongfully convicted of killing her boyfriend on a vacation ten years prior. Sidney is her last chance at an acquittal.

Since Sidney makes documentaries, it switches back and forth between the actual storyline and the “documentary” that she’s developing as the story moves along. It took me a minute to get used to this writing style, but once I did I flew through this. I really liked that the story follows the documentary timeline. It’s very cool to find out info at the same time as the investigator (and world watching the documentary essentially).

A few things felt maybe a little far fetched or left me with questions, but overall I was pretty satisfied how it all tied together. I kept switching who I thought the actual murderer was chapter by chapter, but was still left baffled and surprised. Little clues are left throughout the story to steer your mind in all directions, along with enough clues that makes the final reveal make sense and feel satisfying. I’m by no means an expert in crime scenes or autopsies, but the way he writes these scenes are super fleshed out and realistic feeling. It really did feel like watching an episode of dateline. The ending felt a little abrupt, but overall I liked it.

Would highly recommend picking this up!

Content Warnings

patientlysarah's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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seagullsaga's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

Slow to warm up and quite an abrupt ending. Maybe It’s just been a while since I’ve read this genre, but this book didn’t click with me until about two thirds of the way through. The whole thing is wrapped up by a quick series of twists that feels a little sudden but not out of place. When it lands though, it’s great.

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rochelleisreading's review

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dark mysterious sad medium-paced

3.5

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upgirlcd's review against another edition

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adventurous tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

Plot was interesting & really amped up the last /4 of the book. Characters had no depth whatsoever...really good twist in the end. Best part of the book.

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parasolcrafter's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

the premise of this book was interesting and it was pretty good for the majority of the book, but the ending falls completely flat and makes the entire book completely unenjoyable overall. there are far too many loose ends and tidbits of information that ended up not meaning anything in the long-run, and the end is a cheap way at a 'gotcha!' ending as the ONLY reason it catches readers off guard is because there is no way for us to have predicted it. its not satisfying. this isnt a book that i think back on and see where i could have connected dots and didnt for one reason or another; dots arent able to be connected in a way where the reader feels like theyre figuring things out because everything is so convoluted. ugh.

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