Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

What Never Happened by Rachel Howzell Hall

1 review

braveprincess11's review against another edition

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challenging dark 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? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

4 1/2 ⭐️

An obituary writer returns to the island where her family was murdered 19 years earlier, and ends up entangled in a new string of “mysterious deaths.”

This is my first novel by Rachel Howell Hall, and it certainly won’t be my last. This is such a fresh take on what I would describe as a domestic thriller - it had me on the edge of my seat the entire time.

Opening the book with Collette’s own obituary, and then beginning each chapter with the current date and time created a sense of urgency parallel to the urgency felt from the increasing body count in Avalon. The entire time, we as readers, are able to count down the days left in Collette’s life right alongside her, adding to the tension. Her use of the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic to create forced proximity, establishing a reason why Collette isn’t able to flee Catalina Island, is one that I haven’t seen before. The amount of misdirection and red herrings throughout the book made it so that I was suspicious of everyone Colette came into contact with, and yet the reveal was still a total surprise. 

The only thing keeping this from being a 5 star book for me, bumping it down to 4 1/2, is that the ending felt a bit rushed. The transition from the final chapter to the epilogue was somewhat jarring, with everything suddenly neat and tidy - no more deaths, no more corruption, justice served, penance repaid. 

It also was a bit too convenient for me that both Flynn and Noah survived. Noah in particular, especially after bleeding out in the cellar for an unspecified amount of time. Fighting for his life, maybe. But “recovering” felt like a choice made specifically so that Colette could still have one more stable and happy thing after her harrowing experience. I understand why it was done, it just wasn’t a choice I would have made.
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