A review by olivethebooks
The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse
3.0
Everyone I know who's read this book said it was disappointing which I found disappointing because it looked like the sort of book I'd enjoy. Well I finished my last audiobook and wasn't really feeling drawn to any of the others available on Borrowbox, the one I had on reserve was still not available. I found this one and thought hell I'll give it a try how bad can it be?
I'd like to thank everyone who said it was a let down and also Gemma Whelan for narrating it because I think this is the only reason I enjoyed it as much as I did. I am usually quite forgiving with books but even I was exasperated by the protagonist.
She's just so gullible, she's like ET following the Reeses Pieces. "Oh I've been lead to this conclusion I GUESS IT IS DECIDED THIS IS THE TRUTH. Oh, contradicting evidence. Guess I went in too hot there. THIS IS THE REAL TRUTH." Rinse and repeat. It was at least consistent though, she held a grudge against her brother for 10+ years because she had trippy dreams after a traumatic event. Not flashbacks, dreams. Granted there was a lot of investment in setting her brother up as a child sociopath only falling short of explicitly stating it, but this also seemed to be abandoned as soon as she realized she was the one watching their younger brother when he died. Suddenly all memories of her middle brother are softer and you're kinda left to assume that maybe you were dealing with an unreliable narrator situation. Her partner seemed to flip flop between supportive and like the cliché husband in a horror film.
Why was he even with her? In the beginning he seemed exasperated, how had they stayed together - even gotten together - when she's apparently so closed off? At the start of the book it was like she wanted him to go away but hadn't figured out that breaking up with someone is an option, and somehow five days later she can't live without him. What was in it for him? Honestly I was so suspicious of why he was in that relationship that I thought he might be the killer early on. I knew it was a logical stretch and it would take a lot of work to make it even slightly plausible but that's how unconvincing their relationship was to me. If it had been 100 years ago when divorces were almost unheard of I'd have accepted it easily. I'll just have to assume that not seeing much of each other and disapproving of each other's behavior for five days is the key to unlocking true love. But only if someone sustains a life threatening injury which conveniently prevents them from voicing their plot-obstructive opinions.
As much as I adore the insane asylum as a premise, I had to give the novel brownie points for going with the less glamorous tuberculosis hospital. Then I had to retract them when the author clearly wanted to have her cake and eat it too.
The epilogue seems to circle back to the idea that her brother really is a sociopath after all but it just wasn't believable. Whether it was deliberately inconsistent writing and Elin is an unreliable narrator or it was a cheap cliché jammed in for dramatic effect... It didn't work either way. How does that work when it directly contradicts the CCTV footage? If you're going to do unreliable narrator you have to keep the constants constant, there needs to be a baseline the reader can cling to and it has to remain sacred or it ruins all credibility.
I'm not even going to mention the nail polish thing. Actually I am. I've used nail polish when it's really old, I've worked at Lush with nail polish where it won't stay pristine through a full day of work, and I love picking my nail polish off. Never in my life have I left a Hansel and Gretel trail of nail polish. Has the author ever worn nail polish before? Even the peeling paint on my bathroom ceiling hasn't left any deposits yet and it's bad. Fingernails are small and it chips off in relatively large pieces or else tiny tiny pieces you'd never notice. Unless you're sitting there ripping it off (and usually you can peel most of the paint of one nail off in one go) but you wouldn't leave a pile of paint behind every time you use your hands. It would be more believable if Elin thought it wasn't Margot because she'd never seen her with nail polish on BECAUSE IT HAD FALLEN OFF ALREADY.
Anyway it was a fairly enjoyable if clichéd book and I had a mostly unrelated trippy dream this morning while listening to it so.
I'd like to thank everyone who said it was a let down and also Gemma Whelan for narrating it because I think this is the only reason I enjoyed it as much as I did. I am usually quite forgiving with books but even I was exasperated by the protagonist.
Spoiler
I can't decide if the author intended to make her ridiculously gullible and impulsive or if it was an accident - it kinda seems like it was a conscious decision because of the whole job suspension circumstances and other characters somewhat calling her out on it. I don't know why the police want her back but maybe I can't fault the author for that, not all police officers are perfect so there probably are a few like her out there.She's just so gullible, she's like ET following the Reeses Pieces. "Oh I've been lead to this conclusion I GUESS IT IS DECIDED THIS IS THE TRUTH. Oh, contradicting evidence. Guess I went in too hot there. THIS IS THE REAL TRUTH." Rinse and repeat. It was at least consistent though, she held a grudge against her brother for 10+ years because she had trippy dreams after a traumatic event. Not flashbacks, dreams. Granted there was a lot of investment in setting her brother up as a child sociopath only falling short of explicitly stating it, but this also seemed to be abandoned as soon as she realized she was the one watching their younger brother when he died. Suddenly all memories of her middle brother are softer and you're kinda left to assume that maybe you were dealing with an unreliable narrator situation. Her partner seemed to flip flop between supportive and like the cliché husband in a horror film.
Why was he even with her? In the beginning he seemed exasperated, how had they stayed together - even gotten together - when she's apparently so closed off? At the start of the book it was like she wanted him to go away but hadn't figured out that breaking up with someone is an option, and somehow five days later she can't live without him. What was in it for him? Honestly I was so suspicious of why he was in that relationship that I thought he might be the killer early on. I knew it was a logical stretch and it would take a lot of work to make it even slightly plausible but that's how unconvincing their relationship was to me. If it had been 100 years ago when divorces were almost unheard of I'd have accepted it easily. I'll just have to assume that not seeing much of each other and disapproving of each other's behavior for five days is the key to unlocking true love. But only if someone sustains a life threatening injury which conveniently prevents them from voicing their plot-obstructive opinions.
As much as I adore the insane asylum as a premise, I had to give the novel brownie points for going with the less glamorous tuberculosis hospital. Then I had to retract them when the author clearly wanted to have her cake and eat it too.
The epilogue seems to circle back to the idea that her brother really is a sociopath after all but it just wasn't believable. Whether it was deliberately inconsistent writing and Elin is an unreliable narrator or it was a cheap cliché jammed in for dramatic effect... It didn't work either way. How does that work when it directly contradicts the CCTV footage? If you're going to do unreliable narrator you have to keep the constants constant, there needs to be a baseline the reader can cling to and it has to remain sacred or it ruins all credibility.
I'm not even going to mention the nail polish thing. Actually I am. I've used nail polish when it's really old, I've worked at Lush with nail polish where it won't stay pristine through a full day of work, and I love picking my nail polish off. Never in my life have I left a Hansel and Gretel trail of nail polish. Has the author ever worn nail polish before? Even the peeling paint on my bathroom ceiling hasn't left any deposits yet and it's bad. Fingernails are small and it chips off in relatively large pieces or else tiny tiny pieces you'd never notice. Unless you're sitting there ripping it off (and usually you can peel most of the paint of one nail off in one go) but you wouldn't leave a pile of paint behind every time you use your hands. It would be more believable if Elin thought it wasn't Margot because she'd never seen her with nail polish on BECAUSE IT HAD FALLEN OFF ALREADY.
Anyway it was a fairly enjoyable if clichéd book and I had a mostly unrelated trippy dream this morning while listening to it so.