Reviews

Every Last Lie, by Mary Kubica

ashlyreadsevrythg's review

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

kimlovesbooks's review

emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

cath518's review

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.0

 Clara has recently returned home after giving birth to her second child, Felix.  She has asked her husband, Nick, to pick up Chinese food for dinner after he picks up their daughter, Maisie.  When Nick doesn’t arrive home in a reasonable timeframe, Clara starts to worry.  Her life is totally upended when she learns that Nick has been in a car accident and has died…with Maisie in the car, who is unharmed. 

Clara cannot believe that Nick’s accident was his fault, which is what the police have told her – that he was going too fast.  Then, Maisie starts having nightmares about the “bad man” in the black car and Clara starts wondering if Nick was murdered.  She decides to start investigating and discovers that Nick had a lot of secrets.  Along with dealing with the loss of her husband, Clara also has other family issues; her mom who has Alzheimer’s and her dad – who cares for her mom with the help of an aide – is struggling to cope as well. 

The narration alternates between Clara in the present tense and Nick relating the weeks leading up to his death including all the events he kept secret from Clara and this works well. 

prisoner_of_books's review

emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

kaitreneer's review

emotional mysterious sad 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? Yes

4.0

akuhlma03's review

mysterious 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

3.0

teresa_mckiernan's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

nicolesheppard's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

4.5

ltzreads's review

3.0

Just days after giving birth to her second child, Clara Solberg's husband Nick dies in a car crash. The police have ruled it as an accident, but Clara isn't so sure. And so she begins her own investigation. The novel goes back and forth between Clara's present point of view and Nick's point of view in the months leading up to his death.

I enjoyed having the two points of view to catch a glimpse of reality between Clara jumping to various conclusions about who murdered her husband. While Clara is a grieving widow left behind with two young children, her thoughts and actions are not well thought through. From her perspective, I guess this makes sense, but as a reader it annoyed me that every wild conclusion she came to was one that she was certain was true.

I also thought the novel was a bit anticlimactic. There's all of this suspense and buildup, which kept me interested and wanting to keep reading. But the ending of the story doesn't amount to much.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this book. However, it ended in disappointment.

gingerrachelle's review

medium-paced

This was a book and I read it. It’s not a thriller or a mystery of that’s what you’re looking for.