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bsmith27's review
4.0
I'd actually make this a 4.5 Stars book. Really drew me and I finished it in just over a day. Nina and Simon are a young couple who are visiting his family's property in Vermont. Nina comes from a blue collar family and Simon is from a wealthy family. They really do vilify people with money in this book which was a bit annoying. Story was told from Nina's point of view, her parents, her sister, Simon's parents. It was interesting to see everybody's point of view. From the beginning you assume that Simon has killed Nina. And there weren't us. No great twist which was actually kind of refreshing. You do see how horrible it is when a child is missing. In this story. They talk about how the media went after the parents and even made up lies about them. You also see how parents will protect their child at all costs. Simon killed Nina and buried her on the property. But then Nina's parents asked to have a search party go up to that property and so Simon's father watches the video footage from their cameras. He sees that exactly 12:00 One of the cameras is slightly moved so you can't see a trail. He assumes this was his son. So he goes up to the property and stumbles upon the body. Knowing that everyone is coming up tomorrow, he moves the body into the lake. The police are not able to get the camera footage because the company is based in Panama. Even though on the search a retired cadaver dog finds evidence of Nina, the police are having a hard time putting it all together. Then Simon takes Nina's sister Grace to a place where they can be alone. He hits on her and this is is where Nina's family can see his true character. I think it's a flaw to think that a person would have acted this way. Any way Nina's father goes to try to scare Simon into telling him what happened. He follows him out on a trail and then. You really get the idea that he didn't want to do this that he's a good guy, in the end he does kill him. He calls Nina's min to tell her that he messed up and is going to have to go to prison for a while and Nina's mom figures out an alibi and a Barry Simon underneath the barn. At the same time the police have gotten a warrant to search for Simon's phone. Simon's mom threw it in the lake to try to stop the police from getting it. Not knowing that that was the lake where the body was buried. So the police start searching and finding Nina. So everyone starts to assume that Simon has run off. His father does go to jail for moving the body. And the mother pleads with Nina's family to tell her if they did till they say just so she can have some closure. However, they don't tell her. This book was a lot about the character of people when something overall happens.
emilypriddy's review
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
5.0
tmaynor's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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
5.0
really good book
nextfavoritebook's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
cassiecat's review
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
What Happened to Nina Dervla McTiernan 🎧5⭐️
I have heard so many rave reviews for this book I jumped in without reading the blurb or listening to the preview so I was surprised that it’s not set in Ireland. I have loved several of her Irish books and the narrators accents. However that in no way hampered my enjoyment of this excellent book. For me the big thing letting this terrific book down is the cover.
I had the audiobook read by Kristen Sreh and Stacey Glenboski who do a great job.
Nina and Simon are a young couple in love, they go to his parent’s cabin for a weekend but only Simon returns.
This is very suspenseful and tense, it’s very much about how Nina going missing impacts on the two families and their behaviour. The characters are well crafted, and you really feel for what they are all going through, it’s quite emotional in places.
It’s less of a twisty thriller and more domestic noir. It’s riveting reading throughout with a great pace. I absolutely loved it. It’s going into my books of the year. This is definitely one to look out for.
katdid's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A pretty sad story that (for me) went in unexpected directions. Told from multiple POVs and in a mix of first and third person. I wondered at times if this was part of a series 'cause characters made reference to things that seemed like they happened in a different book, e.g. Matthew's friend from the K9 squad asking after his cop sister whom he apparently dated. Maybe McTiernan is setting it up for a series or maybe this was just flavour? The title is kind of a red herring, because you find out maybe halfway through what actually happened to Nina. I expected there to be a fairly sociopathic chapter from Simon's POV but was spared that. Why on EARTH would he try and mack onto Grace, c'mon now, the hubris of that dude. I would definitely read other books by this author.
jerzgrl626's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
katesbookcart's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75