chantalsbookstuff's review
3.0
An axe murderer on the loose and Gianna finds herself linked to him in an unimaginable way. I found this one fast paced with a good catchy storyline. It did need a bit more development around the characters as I did not fully connect with all of them. I really liked the add in on the 1981 Influenza pandemic. The narrator was a bit monotone at times and wished she could do more voice changes at times. Overall a nice little book with something unexpected. Thank you Netgalley and Tantor Audio for this ARC.
lauren_shilling's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
For what it was, this book was good, and I would certainly recommend it to a younger audience (12-15) who is a fan of thriller/horror books. However, since I have gotten a bit older and have started reading more adult thrillers/horror books, I am often underwhelmed by those in the young adult category. This is absolutely not the fault of the book, however, as I am not really the target audience, so it makes sense that I would not enjoy this as much as others. My complaints that I feel are more considerable to someone who is in the target audience would be that I feel like some of the characters, particularly Enzo, felt a little underdeveloped. I also feel like the ending was a bit unsatisfying to me. It didn't really answer any of the questions I had, particularly those brought up in the climax. I understand why the book ended that way and what the author was trying to do, but as a reader I found it incredibly unsatisfying. I also found the parents in this book to be unrealistic. I feel like a lot of the things the main protagonist is able to get away with, even with her parent's knowledge, is not at all accurate, especially considering what her parents have been through in the past. I also feel like some plot points were underdeveloped as well, and that things that should have had much more of an impact on the protagonist were explained away as her sort of choosing that she doesn't want to think about them at that point? This all being said, I did not hate this book, and I would definitely recommend it to a younger audience that myself. As for things I enjoyed, I did like the main character, despite what I said earlier about how she was more unaffected by things I would expect her to have a larger reaction to. I found her to be a good main character to follow outside of that, and a very good one to have in a story such as this. I liked the writing style as well! It was quick and easy and basically exactly what I expected and was looking for when I picked this book up!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death of parent, Gore, Murder, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Racism
morgan_champine's review
3.0
In terms of historical context, I found this book to be satisfying and interesting to read. The premise is intriguing, and I found the gore to be a nice change of pace from typical YA mysteries. The final confrontation at the end was especially brutal. I felt the influenza plot line combined well with the mystery-solving plot line. The gore really is excellent.
However, I found the characters to be a little lacking. Gianna herself wasn’t very interesting until the end, and I feel the book could’ve done without Enzo’s character. Also, I found the end of the book to be entirely unsatisfying. For all the time the book spends chasing the killer, the confrontation is a great payoff in terms of thrilling suspense and a great fight scene, but with no motive ever discovered, I feel the story falls a little flat.
However, I found the characters to be a little lacking. Gianna herself wasn’t very interesting until the end, and I feel the book could’ve done without Enzo’s character. Also, I found the end of the book to be entirely unsatisfying. For all the time the book spends chasing the killer, the confrontation is a great payoff in terms of thrilling suspense and a great fight scene, but with no motive ever discovered, I feel the story falls a little flat.
acon90's review
dark
emotional
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? It's complicated
3.25
sanmeow's review
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
2.75
a super intriguing and promising premise? yeah. historical fiction? yes, definitely a reason to be excited. i liked that i could see the research that went into writing this, and the plot was more interesting because of the fact that the whole mystery is based on a real story. specifically, the crimes of the axeman of new orleans. i thought the atmosphere was quite good. what i didn't like were the supernatural / magical realism esque elements. they didn't make sense for the story and the author didn't develop them well enough either way. the characters also really lacked development and i wished i'd feel more connected to them.
nelli_lakatos's review
5.0
"A seventeen year old girl goes up against the notorious axeman murderer in 1918 in this suspenseful historical fiction story from the author of Perfect Place to Die."
I normally don't read historical fiction books but this was really good! I was intrigued from the beginning and didn't wanted to stop the book! It was an interesting, unique book with a surprising twist. I would definitely recommend this even if you doesn't normally read historical fictions.
Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an audio ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Release date: August 2nd 2022
I normally don't read historical fiction books but this was really good! I was intrigued from the beginning and didn't wanted to stop the book! It was an interesting, unique book with a surprising twist. I would definitely recommend this even if you doesn't normally read historical fictions.
Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an audio ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Release date: August 2nd 2022
s_shronda's review
Too anachronistic and just didn't seem like the author did any research on New Orleans or the geography of the city or research on the city during the time period.