rlshnhn's review against another edition
3.0
This started off really strong. It was really pacy and hard hitting. When I got to the 2nd part it dipped a bit for me. I liked the characters and the style, but the story didn’t grab me. It picked up again towards the end though.
msnyderk's review against another edition
4.0
Nora always writes a good book. I liked the premise of this book, especially in the beginning. I loved seeing the way Zane was helped and how he and the family moved forward. Later, Zane and Darby’s relationship was a good one and I loved Darby’s business and Emily’s business too. I think the only thing that bugged me was the way all these different people are coming after Zane and Darby for revenge. It was too many. Made it a little unbelievable for me, even for fiction. Still, Nora writes family and friends really nice and I liked these characters.
theresejanosky's review against another edition
okay...well...i don't want to give this a rating because i knew going into it that this was probably not going to be the book for me. i read this only because my mom read it and then gave it to me to read. my mom (in stereotypical mom fashion) LOVES nora roberts and has been trying to get me to pick up a nora roberts book since at least high school. i don't want to give nora roberts a bad rating because her works are so intrinsically tied to family and childhood for me, and mostly i just don't want to okay!
i did enjoy the the first part of this, but gradually my enjoyment began diminish, until it got to the point where i was only reading about one sentence per page just to get to the end.
so instead of giving this a rating, i have compiled a list of comments and observations about this book that i would like to share, and you can take what you want from them.
○ everyone in this book is either the kindest, nicest, most sociable and helpful person you have ever met OR an absolutely evil, sent from hell monster. actually, that's a lie, there is a cop at the beginning who initially makes a very bad decision but then sees that he is wrong and admits it, so i guess he's the most complex character in this whole thing.
○ i think nora roberts wants to write a book about gardening real bad. just do it, nora! you've earned that right! write your gardening book!
○ everyone in this is WAAAAY too chill and well adjusted for the violence and terror that has been a part of their lives. trauma? what's that?
○ who are any of these people? why are there so many characters? there are so many names to remember, and we learn so many useless details about characters that do not matter. sometimes a character will be described as being "rebecca's husband" or "dan's cousin's sister-in-law who moved back to town a few months ago," (these are not real quotes just made up examples) and well that's only helpful if i can remember who rebecca or dan are, and i definitely never did.
○ our main female character darby has somewhat of a personality. our main man zane? he does not. absolutely so bland beyond being perfect, kind hero man.
○ there are a lot of friendly kisses on the mouth? is this something people do a lot? it's also always between the strangest characters too, and every time it left me feeling like, "what? why'd they do that?"
○ everyone in this town has to be broke because no one EVER pays for anything. these people have a full on bartering economic system set up.
○ there are so many dashes!!! so many!!!! sometimes it's okay to just use commas!!! at one point i counted 10 dashes on a single page!!!
○ lastly, there are some very confusing sentences in this book. sentences where i understand what they mean, but something is just off about them. for example, "And if you wait until tomorrow, you could ask your whole family, use that grill—having picked up red meat." this is a sentence someone says out loud in the book. it reads more like a list of notes about what roberts wants the character to say, but she didn't fill in the rest of the sentence around them. another example is, "Best pasta salad going." this one isn't as structurally weird, but i just think it's an odd thing that no one would say. whatever...maybe i'm just being overly picky.
the reality of this is that i've never read any other nora roberts books, so i don't really want to pass judgement. roberts has been publishing her works for longer than i've been alive. she's incredibly successful and beloved, so i'm sure there's at least book of hers i would enjoy. ultimately, i did not love this though, so maybe if you are new to nora roberts, don't start with this one.
tw: this books focuses a lot on domestic abuse, both physical and emotional. it also includes stalking, harassment, an attack involving a gun, and lot of violence in general. none of it is super graphic, but if any of that upsets you then maybe stay away from this book or find a more detailed list of what sort of triggers are included in this.
i did enjoy the the first part of this, but gradually my enjoyment began diminish, until it got to the point where i was only reading about one sentence per page just to get to the end.
so instead of giving this a rating, i have compiled a list of comments and observations about this book that i would like to share, and you can take what you want from them.
○ everyone in this book is either the kindest, nicest, most sociable and helpful person you have ever met OR an absolutely evil, sent from hell monster. actually, that's a lie, there is a cop at the beginning who initially makes a very bad decision but then sees that he is wrong and admits it, so i guess he's the most complex character in this whole thing.
○ i think nora roberts wants to write a book about gardening real bad. just do it, nora! you've earned that right! write your gardening book!
○ everyone in this is WAAAAY too chill and well adjusted for the violence and terror that has been a part of their lives. trauma? what's that?
○ who are any of these people? why are there so many characters? there are so many names to remember, and we learn so many useless details about characters that do not matter. sometimes a character will be described as being "rebecca's husband" or "dan's cousin's sister-in-law who moved back to town a few months ago," (these are not real quotes just made up examples) and well that's only helpful if i can remember who rebecca or dan are, and i definitely never did.
○ our main female character darby has somewhat of a personality. our main man zane? he does not. absolutely so bland beyond being perfect, kind hero man.
○ there are a lot of friendly kisses on the mouth? is this something people do a lot? it's also always between the strangest characters too, and every time it left me feeling like, "what? why'd they do that?"
○ everyone in this town has to be broke because no one EVER pays for anything. these people have a full on bartering economic system set up.
○ there are so many dashes!!! so many!!!! sometimes it's okay to just use commas!!! at one point i counted 10 dashes on a single page!!!
○ lastly, there are some very confusing sentences in this book. sentences where i understand what they mean, but something is just off about them. for example, "And if you wait until tomorrow, you could ask your whole family, use that grill—having picked up red meat." this is a sentence someone says out loud in the book. it reads more like a list of notes about what roberts wants the character to say, but she didn't fill in the rest of the sentence around them. another example is, "Best pasta salad going." this one isn't as structurally weird, but i just think it's an odd thing that no one would say. whatever...maybe i'm just being overly picky.
the reality of this is that i've never read any other nora roberts books, so i don't really want to pass judgement. roberts has been publishing her works for longer than i've been alive. she's incredibly successful and beloved, so i'm sure there's at least book of hers i would enjoy. ultimately, i did not love this though, so maybe if you are new to nora roberts, don't start with this one.
tw: this books focuses a lot on domestic abuse, both physical and emotional. it also includes stalking, harassment, an attack involving a gun, and lot of violence in general. none of it is super graphic, but if any of that upsets you then maybe stay away from this book or find a more detailed list of what sort of triggers are included in this.
laughlinesandliterature's review against another edition
4.0
Awww Nora Roberts. Still giving us glorious mystery romance thrillers. 4 out of 5 stars.
magicofthepages's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-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? No
3.75
louetta's review
4.0
Mystery at every turn!
Holy cow! Loved this slam packed story within a story! Fantastic keep you on the edge of your seat writing and a slew of fantastic characters. 4 1/2 stars!
Holy cow! Loved this slam packed story within a story! Fantastic keep you on the edge of your seat writing and a slew of fantastic characters. 4 1/2 stars!
alliepeduto's review
5.0
Another rock solid Nora! This one was really a 4.5 since it was pretty damn fantastic, but I’m also fairly picky about my Nora’s, so I hold out for the elusive 5 stars. I’ve been reading her novels for over 10 years, stealing them from my mom’s bookshelf and later storing them on my Kindle, and this book reminded me why I keep coming back for more. I was Invested with a capital I. I loved Zane (and the whole Walker fam really) and Darby felt like someone I would love to be friends with. It was a more organic love story, which I appreciated since let’s be honest here, a lot of romances veer into ridiculous territory. The only thing I felt was slightly unbelievable was the amount of violence this small sect of people experienced, but honestly, I expected that from a suspense novel. It’s like all these books set around small town murders; it’s kind of the point of the book, even though you would think people would start leaving the town after x amounts of murders. That all being said, it was a great summertime read, and a gorgeous cover to boot!
erin832's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
sad
medium-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
4.5