A review by eastofreaden
The Trap by Tabitha King
4.0
I admit, I only looked into Tabitha King’s bibliography because of who her husband is. But the synopsis of quite a few of them really piqued my interest, so I added a handful to my TBR.
The Trap introduces you to a family of four spending the summer at their second property (a cabin in Maine, of course). You learn the inner workings of the troubled marriage, and their own relationship with their two children, and some of their neighbours. It was very, very well written but it was still slow for the first half of the book. I normally would’ve followed my “50 page” rule (DNF a book if I’m not into it by the 50th page), but I read so many reviews that said the second half makes up for the first half. And they were right.
The marriage troubles come to a head and Livia goes back to their vacation home for the winter with her son. Three of the townies, which you’re introduced to in a very uncomfortable prologue, are making their rounds by breaking into all of the uninhabited vacation homes. They come across Livia and her son, and this is when it goes from a slowly moving story to a total “what the fuck is even happening”. I honestly felt a little blindsided because I wasn’t expecting some of the things that happen. Even the obvious (there is a rape scene, so please tread lightly if this is something you can’t stomach) was completely different from the way they are normally written.
Tabitha has a way with words, for sure. I feel like maybe this is why she and her husband were meant for each other; they are both so gifted when it comes to writing (which explains their son, Joe). And they also both tend to meander and add in details that seem excessive. In The Trap, Livia’s husband is a screen writer and portions of his newest movie (which honestly seems terrible) are interspersed throughout the actual story’s chapters. I felt like these were pointless and, if I’m being honest, skimmed a few of them.
I’m really looking forward to reading more of her work. I also definitely recommend this, but only for the patient few that are okay with a slow moving 100 or so beautifully written pages.
I would've given this 3.5 stars if possible, but I felt it deserved to be rounding up rather than down.
The Trap introduces you to a family of four spending the summer at their second property (a cabin in Maine, of course). You learn the inner workings of the troubled marriage, and their own relationship with their two children, and some of their neighbours. It was very, very well written but it was still slow for the first half of the book. I normally would’ve followed my “50 page” rule (DNF a book if I’m not into it by the 50th page), but I read so many reviews that said the second half makes up for the first half. And they were right.
The marriage troubles come to a head and Livia goes back to their vacation home for the winter with her son. Three of the townies, which you’re introduced to in a very uncomfortable prologue, are making their rounds by breaking into all of the uninhabited vacation homes. They come across Livia and her son, and this is when it goes from a slowly moving story to a total “what the fuck is even happening”. I honestly felt a little blindsided because I wasn’t expecting some of the things that happen. Even the obvious (there is a rape scene, so please tread lightly if this is something you can’t stomach) was completely different from the way they are normally written.
Tabitha has a way with words, for sure. I feel like maybe this is why she and her husband were meant for each other; they are both so gifted when it comes to writing (which explains their son, Joe). And they also both tend to meander and add in details that seem excessive. In The Trap, Livia’s husband is a screen writer and portions of his newest movie (which honestly seems terrible) are interspersed throughout the actual story’s chapters. I felt like these were pointless and, if I’m being honest, skimmed a few of them.
I’m really looking forward to reading more of her work. I also definitely recommend this, but only for the patient few that are okay with a slow moving 100 or so beautifully written pages.
I would've given this 3.5 stars if possible, but I felt it deserved to be rounding up rather than down.