A review by byashleylamar
The Girls in the Garden by Lisa Jewell
3.0
Where is 2.5 stars when you need it?
On a midsummer night, as a festive neighborhood party is taking place, preteen Pip discovers her thirteen-year-old sister Grace lying unconscious and bloody in a hidden corner of a lush rose garden. What really happened to her? And who is responsible?
I so wanted to love this book by Lisa Jewell (who is a tremendously talented author). The concept is wonderful and the set-up is great. I mean, who would leave a 13-year old girl bloody and unconscious in a communal garden? It’s a private community and there are only so many suspects so I anticipated an exciting whodunnit but I feel like the guilty party was pretty evident from the beginning of the novel. Or maybe it’s just me. I’ve spoken to a couple of other friends who’ve received an ARC of this same book and they didn’t see it coming. I tend to be a highly analytical reader and by the end of the second chapter I saw the ending coming.
For reasons I can’t say without spoiling the book I feel letdown by the ending. I expected the investigation to come to a close and it didn’t. Jewell set up a couple of other characters as potential suspects (and made them quite creepy and uncomfortable) yet, in the end, they were innocent of any wrongdoing. Despite their innocence, they weren’t likable. There were a lot of great moments in the book but overall it left me feeling uncomfortable and annoyed.
On a midsummer night, as a festive neighborhood party is taking place, preteen Pip discovers her thirteen-year-old sister Grace lying unconscious and bloody in a hidden corner of a lush rose garden. What really happened to her? And who is responsible?
I so wanted to love this book by Lisa Jewell (who is a tremendously talented author). The concept is wonderful and the set-up is great. I mean, who would leave a 13-year old girl bloody and unconscious in a communal garden? It’s a private community and there are only so many suspects so I anticipated an exciting whodunnit but I feel like the guilty party was pretty evident from the beginning of the novel. Or maybe it’s just me. I’ve spoken to a couple of other friends who’ve received an ARC of this same book and they didn’t see it coming. I tend to be a highly analytical reader and by the end of the second chapter I saw the ending coming.
For reasons I can’t say without spoiling the book I feel letdown by the ending. I expected the investigation to come to a close and it didn’t. Jewell set up a couple of other characters as potential suspects (and made them quite creepy and uncomfortable) yet, in the end, they were innocent of any wrongdoing. Despite their innocence, they weren’t likable. There were a lot of great moments in the book but overall it left me feeling uncomfortable and annoyed.