suchallie's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This would have been a near 5 star for me but the ending?! wtf???? zero closure!
otherwise an excellent read, I devoured this in 3 days. some of the red herrings are obvious in the writing but that I can forgive. The ending I cannot.
otherwise an excellent read, I devoured this in 3 days. some of the red herrings are obvious in the writing but that I can forgive. The ending I cannot.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Suicide, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Infertility, Stalking, Pedophilia, and Miscarriage
Moderate: Child abuse, Alcohol, Infidelity, Drug use, Gaslighting, Blood, and Kidnapping
aharper's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Dementia, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicide, Miscarriage, and Sexual assault
devmerc's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Murder, and Dementia
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Child abuse
slad's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
Spoiler
ending felt like too many twists that didn’t all add up or feel complete. Ending was too graphic for me. No loveable charactersSpoiler
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Infertility, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual assault, Suicide, Body horror, Child death, Death, Dementia, Grief, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, and Miscarriage
readwithsuzanna's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Dementia and Child death
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Miscarriage
atalea's review against another edition
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Grief, and Dementia
Moderate: Kidnapping, Alcohol, Sexual violence, Murder, Death, Infidelity, and Suicide
Minor: Abortion, Death of parent, Infertility, Animal cruelty, Miscarriage, and Panic attacks/disorders
jguerrera77's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Lots of twists and turns. Keeps you on your toes. Two perspectives from two times is an interesting way to tell the same story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Dementia
Minor: Violence
bek_p87's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I really enjoyed this, even though the twists were a mixed bag - some obvious and telegraphed from miles away, others subtle and clever. But I don't appreciate abrupt and ambiguous endings - a few remaining unimportant loose ends are fine, but one big major one? No thanks.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Stalking, Child death, Murder, and Dementia
Moderate: Violence and Gun violence
daithy's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-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
4.0
So many plot twists, every time I thought I had it figured out, I was wrong lol
It's well written... this would have got 5 stars, but leaving it open ended bothers me. I really hope there's a sequel!
It's well written... this would have got 5 stars, but leaving it open ended bothers me. I really hope there's a sequel!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Dementia, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Stalking, and Suicide
rainbowbean's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I generally enjoyed this book while also having mixed feelings on it.
Writing:
I have been a long time fan of Ashley's storytelling via her podcasts and while most of those stories are not written by her (sans the fictional podcast) I was curious to see if it translated well to a fictional work, it did-ish.
The story itself was generally interesting and had the tone of her storytelling that makes you want to keep listening/reading. I approached reading this knowing it was a debut novel and likely would read as such and... it did. Nothing really new to see here, average writing, which is ok for this story.
I did like the style of jumping between the 2 POV's/timelines. It was clear and cleanly done.
World Building:
Well done building the feel of the town and world which I think was fairly easy as it's the literal world we live in and the Author grew up in.
Inconsistencies:
I had nothing that was glaring or bothersome in terms of inconsistencies.
Trope Talk:
No bothersome tropes here. So grateful we did not get a needless romance between a gone off to the big city reporter and the small town cop she knew from grade school!
Plot:
The plot was solid yet less than original. It felt like almost too much Jon Benet Ramsey case with a hint of other cases mixed in. The story was still interesting and while I wanted to read it, it was comfortablely predictable.
Plot Twists:
No spoilers but the "twist" was good, although unsurprising.
Character Development:
We learn much about the characters over the course of the book but I wouldn't say they "develop" into anything other than regular people who's background we learn more about. There's no real strong unexpected character change.
Main Character:
Likeable, smart, slightly damaged typical small town gal leaves home and returns to solve a murder that just happens to happen her first day back. Margot is otherwise largely forgettable.
Representation:
Could have been more but also it's a small town in a flyover state. Potato White.
Pace:
Consistently paced this story keeps flowing with very little dip.
EDITING FEEDBACK:
I was disappointed in the poor editing of word/description choice. The absolutely excessive use of " xyz emotion flickered across a face" "her gaze flicked over his face", "her eyes slid to his", "she hitched a shoulder", "she clapped a hand to her face after xyz injury" was so distracting and amateurish. This definitely could have been fixed with a better editor. If I read the word "flicked or flicker" one more time…ugh.
Ending:
I'm not going to spoil it but while we get answers to two items there is a very sudden unnecessary end that may translate well in a tv show cliffhanger but as a book left me irritated for a standalone novel.
Overall:
A solid 3 ⭐. While I have criticism I liked the book overall and I'd read more from Ashley assuming future works are more original/stronger plot wise with the editing expected of a publisher of this size. Currently she's a library author for me, as in I'll read it for free but it's unlikely I would buy it even as a paying CJ fan club member. I would still recommend this as a beach/vacation/just for fun read.
(As always to be fair: I am extremely picky about purchasing books for my limited shelf space and choose 4-5 stars from my personal ratings and only if I love it, want my children to read some day, or want to re-read.)
Trigger Warnings:
Death of child, CSE, Murder, Suicide, Dementia
Writing:
I have been a long time fan of Ashley's storytelling via her podcasts and while most of those stories are not written by her (sans the fictional podcast) I was curious to see if it translated well to a fictional work, it did-ish.
The story itself was generally interesting and had the tone of her storytelling that makes you want to keep listening/reading. I approached reading this knowing it was a debut novel and likely would read as such and... it did. Nothing really new to see here, average writing, which is ok for this story.
I did like the style of jumping between the 2 POV's/timelines. It was clear and cleanly done.
World Building:
Well done building the feel of the town and world which I think was fairly easy as it's the literal world we live in and the Author grew up in.
Inconsistencies:
I had nothing that was glaring or bothersome in terms of inconsistencies.
Trope Talk:
No bothersome tropes here. So grateful we did not get a needless romance between a gone off to the big city reporter and the small town cop she knew from grade school!
Plot:
The plot was solid yet less than original. It felt like almost too much Jon Benet Ramsey case with a hint of other cases mixed in. The story was still interesting and while I wanted to read it, it was comfortablely predictable.
Plot Twists:
No spoilers but the "twist" was good, although unsurprising.
Character Development:
We learn much about the characters over the course of the book but I wouldn't say they "develop" into anything other than regular people who's background we learn more about. There's no real strong unexpected character change.
Main Character:
Likeable, smart, slightly damaged typical small town gal leaves home and returns to solve a murder that just happens to happen her first day back. Margot is otherwise largely forgettable.
Representation:
Could have been more but also it's a small town in a flyover state. Potato White.
Pace:
Consistently paced this story keeps flowing with very little dip.
EDITING FEEDBACK:
I was disappointed in the poor editing of word/description choice. The absolutely excessive use of " xyz emotion flickered across a face" "her gaze flicked over his face", "her eyes slid to his", "she hitched a shoulder", "she clapped a hand to her face after xyz injury" was so distracting and amateurish. This definitely could have been fixed with a better editor. If I read the word "flicked or flicker" one more time…ugh.
Ending:
I'm not going to spoil it but while we get answers to two items there is a very sudden unnecessary end that may translate well in a tv show cliffhanger but as a book left me irritated for a standalone novel.
Overall:
A solid 3 ⭐. While I have criticism I liked the book overall and I'd read more from Ashley assuming future works are more original/stronger plot wise with the editing expected of a publisher of this size. Currently she's a library author for me, as in I'll read it for free but it's unlikely I would buy it even as a paying CJ fan club member. I would still recommend this as a beach/vacation/just for fun read.
(As always to be fair: I am extremely picky about purchasing books for my limited shelf space and choose 4-5 stars from my personal ratings and only if I love it, want my children to read some day, or want to re-read.)
Trigger Warnings:
Death of child, CSE, Murder, Suicide, Dementia
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Dementia, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Kidnapping, and Murder