A review by tillytom
Every Vow You Break, by Peter Swanson
2.0
Wow, my reading is moving slooooow right now. But anyways—
I don’t understand thrillers yet. Like, I haven’t gotten there. In my wide reading of, say, maybe 5 thrillers, I have yet to feel any level of excitement close to that I feel during a romance or ya contemporary. Am I broken or am I just a niche thriller reader? Who’s to say, but Im going to keep trying.
The writing in this book was the only thing that kept me going all the way through. Like, for me, the first 2/3 of the book were just… meh. Nothing was really happening? I felt absolutely nothing for any of the characters, I didn’t like the husband right off the bat so. And the main character? She’s just a faceless protagonist now. My favorite bits were when she talked about her parents’ theatre in her hometown. Otherwise, I’ve already forgotten her name. But the writing kept the story so fast paced I was able to just read, something I haven’t been able to do in a long time. So props for that.
There were about, maybe, 45 pages in the last third that had me fully gripped? And then it went away. The last 50 pages or so did nothing for me. There were no more big plot lines to be solved and there were only two ways this would end: she dies or she gets away. The whole cult-like group story line just fell flat to me. I was never afraid or bamboozled, I was just like “oh, it’s a cult or whatever… cool, I guess.” And obviously that was what was going on. I’m not stupid. I knew right off the bat this was some shady group project, I just wanted to see it unfold. Cue disappointing trumpet sound.
In the end, I loved the setting, but everything else just fell flat. I wanted to be spooked, I wanted to be caught off guard, I wanted more weird things to be happening throughout the stay on the island. So many things I wanted, but didn’t get.
Guess I’ll try again with this thriller thing. I’m open to recommendations, I want to be spooked. I need a thriller with actual *thrills*.
I don’t understand thrillers yet. Like, I haven’t gotten there. In my wide reading of, say, maybe 5 thrillers, I have yet to feel any level of excitement close to that I feel during a romance or ya contemporary. Am I broken or am I just a niche thriller reader? Who’s to say, but Im going to keep trying.
The writing in this book was the only thing that kept me going all the way through. Like, for me, the first 2/3 of the book were just… meh. Nothing was really happening? I felt absolutely nothing for any of the characters, I didn’t like the husband right off the bat so. And the main character? She’s just a faceless protagonist now. My favorite bits were when she talked about her parents’ theatre in her hometown. Otherwise, I’ve already forgotten her name. But the writing kept the story so fast paced I was able to just read, something I haven’t been able to do in a long time. So props for that.
There were about, maybe, 45 pages in the last third that had me fully gripped? And then it went away. The last 50 pages or so did nothing for me. There were no more big plot lines to be solved and there were only two ways this would end: she dies or she gets away. The whole cult-like group story line just fell flat to me. I was never afraid or bamboozled, I was just like “oh, it’s a cult or whatever… cool, I guess.” And obviously that was what was going on. I’m not stupid. I knew right off the bat this was some shady group project, I just wanted to see it unfold. Cue disappointing trumpet sound.
In the end, I loved the setting, but everything else just fell flat. I wanted to be spooked, I wanted to be caught off guard, I wanted more weird things to be happening throughout the stay on the island. So many things I wanted, but didn’t get.
Guess I’ll try again with this thriller thing. I’m open to recommendations, I want to be spooked. I need a thriller with actual *thrills*.