A review by whatemsreadingx
The Devil's Staircase by Helen Fitzgerald

2.0

1 - Bronny was one of the most ANNOYING characters I have ever had to read. She was selfish, self centred and at points, downright stupid.

2 - None of the other characters really added any value either, they were incredibly irritating and flat.

3 - I am honestly still confused as to how she ended up getting in with this crowd, like I have no sympathy for her at all after the way she treated her Dad and sister...

4 - I am beyond confused as to why the book skipped from first person to third, out of no where with no indication of the change? Even just a different chapter or part would have made things a little easier to understand.

5 - Part two really took a turn didn't it! Possibly one of the only points that made me rate the plot quite highly. It got really fucked up.

6 - I really cannot cope with the plot holes in this book, they're illogical and completely ruined the enjoyment of this book. I just couldn't look past them.

7- Dear lord, this book isn't for the faint hearted...

8 - Bronny did grow on me as we made our way through the book, towards the end she really showed some resolve that I was proud of, it's just disappointing that we didn't have this at the start of the book, as I imagine some people wouldn't have stuck with it to this point.

9 - I was definitely intrigued to see how things played out but at the same time, I knew there would have to be some crazy leaps by the author to make everything make sense. I had no idea how everything would link together.

10 - I felt really let down by the way the author wanted us to believe it was one person then when they realised that would be too easy, it suddenly changed and became someone else. Except by it being that someone else it opened up plot holes and questions that there were no answers to.

11 - The whole book was incredibly hard to keep up with and the ending was just a complete let down and waste of time. I honestly feel so disappointed to have wasted my time with this one. I'm absolutely fuming with how it ended.

12 - It's described as a coming of age novel, and I thought it was more just a complete waste of time.

For me, this book just did not hit the mark. The only thing it had going for it was the intrigue that it built up, everything else was just a complete waste of my time, I'm sorry to say. I wish I'd have stuck with my earlier instinct of DNFR this one.