A review by gneumann
The Shape of Night, by Tess Gerritsen
3.0
2.5-3 stars
I have mixed feelings about this book. As a young, naive writer, I am reading as many books as possible to learn what good, and bad, writing looks like. And this book absolutely taught me a lot.
The story, without the interactions with Captain Brodie, was fun and drew me in. I really loved the prose, the imagery and narration, the storytelling. The mystery was fun - what's haunting Brodie's Watch? What's the history behind the mysterious disappearances of previous tenants? What secrets are the town hiding? I breezed through this book, not wanting to put it down.
Not wanting to put it down unless it was a scene with Captain Brodie himself.
The main thing that lowers the rating for me is the interactions with Brodie. They feel forced, stilted, awkward. I was not expecting the BDSM aspects in this book and they did not work for me, and I found myself cringing and skimming every scene that Brodie appeared.
That being said, this was a fun mystery and ghost story, and I do want to repeat how beautiful the imagery was. I loved the descriptions of the food, the sea, the house, the city. It was definitely a fun read, with the exception of the visits from Captain Brodie.
I have mixed feelings about this book. As a young, naive writer, I am reading as many books as possible to learn what good, and bad, writing looks like. And this book absolutely taught me a lot.
The story, without the interactions with Captain Brodie, was fun and drew me in. I really loved the prose, the imagery and narration, the storytelling. The mystery was fun - what's haunting Brodie's Watch? What's the history behind the mysterious disappearances of previous tenants? What secrets are the town hiding? I breezed through this book, not wanting to put it down.
Not wanting to put it down unless it was a scene with Captain Brodie himself.
The main thing that lowers the rating for me is the interactions with Brodie. They feel forced, stilted, awkward. I was not expecting the BDSM aspects in this book and they did not work for me, and I found myself cringing and skimming every scene that Brodie appeared.
That being said, this was a fun mystery and ghost story, and I do want to repeat how beautiful the imagery was. I loved the descriptions of the food, the sea, the house, the city. It was definitely a fun read, with the exception of the visits from Captain Brodie.