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A review by pagesplotsandpints
The Split by Sharon Bolton
3.0
<b>Read Completed 6/15/24 |</b> 3 stars
This sounded like a really unique read and it really ended up falling into a serious thriller trope.
I really liked that this took place in a unique location and had an interesting concept! I figured this would be like a locked room thriller sort of a vibe from the synopsis that had a good twist. It describes Felicity working on a remote Antarctic island trying to escape someone from her past who has now gotten out of prison and came to find her. I was expecting that to be the basis of the book where we have a high octane, heart-pounding thriller as Felicity is chased. I assumed she also had something to hide, etc etc.
Then Part 2 of the book comes in and we spend the majority of the time back in Cambridge before all of this started. Part 3 of the book follows, still in Cambridge, and then we wrap back up in present day. I was pretty disappointed to flash back in huge chunks and not be in the setting that the synopsis promised. The writing and the story were still fine, things were getting interesting, but I felt like I was tricked. It was also an adjustment to follow a few of these different characters and I didn't get how some of them connected for a while, nor did I care.
I didn't really like any of the characters. Felicity is an unreliable narrator with gaps in her memory and sometime's she's hard to root for. Joe is her psychologist and a terrible one at that. He was unethical, unprofessional, and he was supposed to be a good guy trying to help Felicity but I really didn't like him either.
Where the book really lost me was where the twist came in...Felicity has DID (dissociative identity disorder) and they suspect her "alters" are who are killing the homeless. There's also a history of abuse in her family and I hated that they included rape of her mother AND HER AT THREE YEARS OLD. Now was that really necessary. I hate reading about child abuse and more so, I absolutely hate reading about sexual abuse of a child. Rape at three years old was for shock value and it was disgusting. That wasn't necessary for the story and I hated it.
I really didn't like the ending but I did enjoy some of the read and I liked how Sharon Bolton had me interested in all of the confusing things that were going on. I would have rated this lower if I hadn't liked the writing style and vibe, because some of the choices here were things I really, really didn't like. I like her writing style better than a lot of other thriller authors but because of her choices in plot here and a couple of her character decisions, I don't know if I'll pick up another book from her.
This sounded like a really unique read and it really ended up falling into a serious thriller trope.
I really liked that this took place in a unique location and had an interesting concept! I figured this would be like a locked room thriller sort of a vibe from the synopsis that had a good twist. It describes Felicity working on a remote Antarctic island trying to escape someone from her past who has now gotten out of prison and came to find her. I was expecting that to be the basis of the book where we have a high octane, heart-pounding thriller as Felicity is chased. I assumed she also had something to hide, etc etc.
Then Part 2 of the book comes in and we spend the majority of the time back in Cambridge before all of this started. Part 3 of the book follows, still in Cambridge, and then we wrap back up in present day. I was pretty disappointed to flash back in huge chunks and not be in the setting that the synopsis promised. The writing and the story were still fine, things were getting interesting, but I felt like I was tricked. It was also an adjustment to follow a few of these different characters and I didn't get how some of them connected for a while, nor did I care.
I didn't really like any of the characters. Felicity is an unreliable narrator with gaps in her memory and sometime's she's hard to root for. Joe is her psychologist and a terrible one at that. He was unethical, unprofessional, and he was supposed to be a good guy trying to help Felicity but I really didn't like him either.
Where the book really lost me was where the twist came in...
I really didn't like the ending but I did enjoy some of the read and I liked how Sharon Bolton had me interested in all of the confusing things that were going on. I would have rated this lower if I hadn't liked the writing style and vibe, because some of the choices here were things I really, really didn't like. I like her writing style better than a lot of other thriller authors but because of her choices in plot here and a couple of her character decisions, I don't know if I'll pick up another book from her.