A review by byashleylamar
See What I Have Done by Sarah Schmidt
2.0
As soon as I finished See What I Have Done by Sarah Schmidt I thought of a quote by Dr. Seuss.
“Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.” – Dr. Seuss
I thought, “No Dr., in this case, I’m crying because it’s over and I’m crying tears of joy! If you follow me on social media then you probably know how much I have struggled with this book since I started reading it three weeks ago. I wanted to like it.; truly I did. When I first picked it up, I wanted to read it then rave about it on social media and my blog. But, I’ll be damned if this book didn’t bore me to sleep almost every single night. I came up with excuses for it and claimed I was simply too tired to read. That was fine at first but when it happened night after night after night I had to admit it wasn’t me, it was the book.
Sarah Schmidt is an amazing writer, no doubt about it. Her descriptions are intense and when the occasion was right, they were stomach-churning. Everything from the crime scene to the weird family relationships had just the right amount of ick factor. It was enough to make me cringe but not enough to turn me away. The horrible awkwardness was perfect but the story didn’t go anywhere. I kept hoping for the plot to be as good as the descriptive setting but it never did.
Every chapter in See What I Have Done is written from a different POV. We have Lizzie, Emma (the sister), Bridget (the maid), and Benjamin (Uncle John’s hired…assassin?). It was really disjointed as we hop from character to character. Sometimes the book retells the same scene from a different POV and sometimes it’s a completely different moment. There was never really any clarity into who Benjamin was and what Uncle John wanted him to do. I mean, was he hired to kill Mr. Borden? Was he just supposed to scare him? Was he an assassin? I mean, what was his deal?!
The whole time I was reading this book I wanted Schmidt to take a stand. This is supposed to be a work of fiction yet it felt like she just regurgitated facts and filled in random details without ever giving us a complete story. *SPOILER* There is no ending. She takes no stand. We have no idea who this tale claims killed Mr. and Mrs. Borden. Maybe that was my problem with this book. I wanted a conclusion and I wanted Schmidt to take a stand with her opinion on what happened. Whether she went with Lizzie being the murderer or she opted to pursue the theories that Bridget (the maid) or Benjamin (the intruder) killed them, didn’t matter. I wanted to see her do historical research, come to her own conclusion, and give her readers a complete journey as she imagined it happening. Instead, we got a half-told story from 4 perspectives that ultimately led nowhere.
Then again, what do I know? Other people loved it.
“Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.” – Dr. Seuss
I thought, “No Dr., in this case, I’m crying because it’s over and I’m crying tears of joy! If you follow me on social media then you probably know how much I have struggled with this book since I started reading it three weeks ago. I wanted to like it.; truly I did. When I first picked it up, I wanted to read it then rave about it on social media and my blog. But, I’ll be damned if this book didn’t bore me to sleep almost every single night. I came up with excuses for it and claimed I was simply too tired to read. That was fine at first but when it happened night after night after night I had to admit it wasn’t me, it was the book.
Sarah Schmidt is an amazing writer, no doubt about it. Her descriptions are intense and when the occasion was right, they were stomach-churning. Everything from the crime scene to the weird family relationships had just the right amount of ick factor. It was enough to make me cringe but not enough to turn me away. The horrible awkwardness was perfect but the story didn’t go anywhere. I kept hoping for the plot to be as good as the descriptive setting but it never did.
Every chapter in See What I Have Done is written from a different POV. We have Lizzie, Emma (the sister), Bridget (the maid), and Benjamin (Uncle John’s hired…assassin?). It was really disjointed as we hop from character to character. Sometimes the book retells the same scene from a different POV and sometimes it’s a completely different moment. There was never really any clarity into who Benjamin was and what Uncle John wanted him to do. I mean, was he hired to kill Mr. Borden? Was he just supposed to scare him? Was he an assassin? I mean, what was his deal?!
The whole time I was reading this book I wanted Schmidt to take a stand. This is supposed to be a work of fiction yet it felt like she just regurgitated facts and filled in random details without ever giving us a complete story. *SPOILER* There is no ending. She takes no stand. We have no idea who this tale claims killed Mr. and Mrs. Borden. Maybe that was my problem with this book. I wanted a conclusion and I wanted Schmidt to take a stand with her opinion on what happened. Whether she went with Lizzie being the murderer or she opted to pursue the theories that Bridget (the maid) or Benjamin (the intruder) killed them, didn’t matter. I wanted to see her do historical research, come to her own conclusion, and give her readers a complete journey as she imagined it happening. Instead, we got a half-told story from 4 perspectives that ultimately led nowhere.
Then again, what do I know? Other people loved it.