Reviews

After the Eclipse by Fran Dorricott

afutt92's review against another edition

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4.0

What a strong debut! One of the best mystery/thrillers I’ve read this year... and I’ve read many!

emmascc's review against another edition

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4.0

This was a great read, I was fully invested in the story of what happened to Olive from the beginning. Well written and heartbreaking.

estelleisreading's review against another edition

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2.0

cw: rape, child abuse
I honestly don't know how to rate this book. Decent thriller but the chapters from the kidnapped little girl's POV made me sick to my stomach. Very hard to get through. I almost dnf'd because of them but I wanted to know who had done it.
I struggled with the main character, as well. She was reckless and the way she acted at the end was so baffling to me ~head empty no thoughts~ literally!! and nobody called her out on it ???
The ending made me uncomfortable. There is a way to talk about rape and the aftermath. That wasnt it.

lisaeirene's review against another edition

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3.0

Pretty good mystery. I liked the characters well enough. It felt similar to a different book I've read which is why I didn't rate it higher.

lautir's review against another edition

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5.0

Trigger warning for: Suicide, sexual assault, child abuse

Mysteries / thrillers aren't usually my genre so Dorricott's novel isn't exactly my cup of tea, but saying that, I did binge read the whole thing in a weekend :')

The main character Cassie is a bit self-righteous to me so I *do* feel like Marion could do better. But Cassie is full of action so she keeps the story moving at a fast pace which I very much appreciated. The mystery develops at a good pace, leaving lots of room for readers to try to figure out the villain before the ending reveal.

zombeesknees's review against another edition

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5.0

Full review here: https://www.criminalelement.com/book-review-after-the-eclipse-by-fran-dorricott/

roxana1989's review against another edition

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5.0

One of the best books I've read in a while. Fast paced, relatable characters and different point of view perspectives bring to life all the details the author craftily insinuates, the ending hopefully and full of emotion.

vondav's review against another edition

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5.0

On the 11th August 1999, the UK experienced a full solar eclipse. I remember standing with my work colleagues outside the office looking up at the sky. This story captures that opportune moment, whilst everyone was excited about the eclipse, 11-year old Olive Warren was abducted. 16 years later and in the build-up to another eclipse, another girl has gone missing. Cassie Warren is still suffering from the guilt of losing her sister, now an unemployed journalist, can she find who took her sister and save the missing girl.
Cassie had a lot of issues, a failed relationship, anger problems that caused the loss of her job and the guilt of her missing sister. Added to this she was sole carer for her Gran who suffered from Dementia. Living back in the village of her sister’s disappearance brought back a lot of memories and whilst the majority were bad, she still had good thoughts of Marion, her 1st love.
From the moment Olive is abducted, you are drawn into a mystery that spans years. The story starts at a steady pace, but when another girl gets abducted, the pace quickens as you can sense Cassie’s urgency in solving the case. The character’s slowly come to life as you are reading and with such detailed descriptions, you would think it would be easy to guess who was behind it. As the story is written in 3rd person, it enables you to follow the investigation step by step and you get to learn more about Cassie’s younger life. Inserted throughout the story, is Olive’s journal and the more you read, the more you find out what happened to Olive after the abduction and what she had to suffer. Cassie and Marion's relationship rebuilds slowly and there were times that I just wanted to yell at Cassie to get her to tell Marion how she felt about her.
I love suspense thrillers that whilst the clues are there I was unable to guess who is behind it and this was one of those books, I think I went through the majority of the characters and still was not right. The story was well plotted and at the end, it was all tied up nicely and well explained.
If you are looking for a thriller with twists that will keep you guessing then this is a book for you. This is a great debut novel and I cannot wait to see what comes next.

ea_sanderson's review against another edition

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5.0

After the Eclipse by Fran Dorricott will keep your suspicion flying around like a ball at Wimbledon! It has been one hell of a ride and I’m sad it is over. I sincerely recommend this incredible book! It has had my heart thrumming like a hummingbird and has sent me through a whole spectrum of emotion. It is a powerful story that is utterly well written.

turtlelullaby's review against another edition

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3.0

The writing was good and it held my attention, but the chapters from Olive's perspective were upsetting and hopeless. The whole book I tried to console myself that SURELY the author wouldn't force us to read this POV if she's actually dead the whole time! I was wrong, and it was just torture porn the whole time. I did appreciate that there were no explicit rape scenes, the writing, and that I didn't guess the bad guy - a star for each.