A review by thissagreads
The Girls in the Garden by Lisa Jewell

challenging slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

This book was a lot slower than her other titles, with a solid mystery, but left me with more questions that I wanted. 

Pros: 

1. Fantastic detailing with the characters and their lives.

2. The best character POV is told from Pip -the younger sister of Grace- because her innocence was refreshing! Plus, it never got in the way of having and using common sense. She was smart enough to listen to her gut feelings and made better choices because of it. 

3. A solid mystery -not thriller- where there were enough secrets to make a second book.

Cons
1.
Grace’s mom could have sought out her own revenge on her daughter’s behalf….. or Grace could herself, but didn’t and for some reason that just doesn’t seem realistic.


2.
Because none of the mom’s brought the 3 sisters and their neighbor Tyler, to justice, they’re all getting away with a LITERAL crime. A crime that could’ve ended in death! Those girls -no matter how much jealousy they had between them- should’ve been forced to take some accountability for their dangerous actions and decisions. 


3. LOTS of unchecked, nasty,
pedophile behavior, that went unchecked. Leo and his gross father, were out of line when they were you get and didn’t really get any consequences.


If there was more justice brought, I think I would’ve given the book 4 stars, but I’d say this is my least favorite novel by Lisa Jewell. However, I will still read her other works, because she’s fantastic at character development and mystery writing.
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