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A review by natashaniezgoda
Tonight You're Dead by Viveca Sten
2.0
2 ⭐️ No blatant spoilers. Just basic observations.
This was my least favorite book in the series. It’s not that it was poorly written (though, I think some of the translations were awkward this time around), it’s just that it was disjointed and slow.
The intrigue of the murder doesn’t start until you’re 200 pages in, which to me is too long for a build up... especially because the build up was for such a predictable ending (I honestly didn’t need to read the last 50 pages).
This was also the first book in the series to deal with mental illness and I don’t think it was handled all that well. There was so much finger pointing and blaming rather than opening up the psychology behind it, that was was slightly offensive. I mean, there was one chapter that kinda explored the topic but with one word answers. I guess with mental illness becoming more prominently discussed, I think some more research and tact could have been used. Also the topics surrounding mental illness were so heavy that it shouldn’t have been glided over: suicide, mental torture, and post traumatic stress.
When it came to the ending, I was still left with questions. Like who killed Marcus and truly why? Why was he even a pivotal role in this? Why introduce the character in Australia if only to never follow up on him? The detergent part: was that really the reason it was used? Etc...
Eh, I wasn’t too impressed. And I’ve also noticed a theme within the last 3 books of of using a narrative that’s both present and past. It was clever the first time, but now is starting to complicate a simple storyline.
And then unlike the first two cases (books) in this series, Nora had no role in this one. She was like an afterthought. And her storyline was so forced - just to keep her name in the series. It was kinda off putting.
To be honest, I would read the first two books of this series and then stop.
This was my least favorite book in the series. It’s not that it was poorly written (though, I think some of the translations were awkward this time around), it’s just that it was disjointed and slow.
The intrigue of the murder doesn’t start until you’re 200 pages in, which to me is too long for a build up... especially because the build up was for such a predictable ending (I honestly didn’t need to read the last 50 pages).
This was also the first book in the series to deal with mental illness and I don’t think it was handled all that well. There was so much finger pointing and blaming rather than opening up the psychology behind it, that was was slightly offensive. I mean, there was one chapter that kinda explored the topic but with one word answers. I guess with mental illness becoming more prominently discussed, I think some more research and tact could have been used. Also the topics surrounding mental illness were so heavy that it shouldn’t have been glided over: suicide, mental torture, and post traumatic stress.
When it came to the ending, I was still left with questions. Like who killed Marcus and truly why? Why was he even a pivotal role in this? Why introduce the character in Australia if only to never follow up on him? The detergent part: was that really the reason it was used? Etc...
Eh, I wasn’t too impressed. And I’ve also noticed a theme within the last 3 books of of using a narrative that’s both present and past. It was clever the first time, but now is starting to complicate a simple storyline.
And then unlike the first two cases (books) in this series, Nora had no role in this one. She was like an afterthought. And her storyline was so forced - just to keep her name in the series. It was kinda off putting.
To be honest, I would read the first two books of this series and then stop.