S Booker

Excessively Long and Overhyped: I really wanted to like this book enough to rate it higher than a 2. I had heard really good things about it and decided I wanted to experience it for myself. Nevertheless, I left with the feeling of being underwhelmed and bored and felt I fell into a sinkhole of having higher expectations just to be let down. Now, in all fairness, I do want to mention that I listened to this novel via audiobook. The novel was the unabridged version read by Kathleen Early and with the short story 'Blonde Hair, Blue Eyes' included, the novel clocks in around approximately 20 hours. Perhaps the book version flows better as the audiobook really just dragged on for me. It just felt like the story never quite moved forward at an exciting pace. If I had the book version, I probably would've skipped a lot of the repetitive dialogue and mundane happenings. There was a lot of the same rumination of mindset throughout the entire book. It was very difficult to sit there and listen to it chapter after chapter. The plot twist was pretty predictable, but what made it even worse was that it was revealed pretty early on in the novel leaving the reader to have to sit through the brutal details of kidnappings and murder for the rest of the book as if to say "Hey, murder is bad and here's how bad it can get. Why don't you waddle in this for a while dear reader?" Honestly, I feel like a third of this novel could have been left out altogether not so much due to content, but more so due to lack of elevation in what should have supported a thriller/suspense genre. There were times when I felt like the dialogue was a little too "preachy" (If I can use that as word here) and also at times it was telling the reader how to feel instead of allowing the reader to determine how they feel on their own by just telling the story. Concerning the characters, all of the characters became increasingly annoying very early on. I had high hopes for the sister Lydia when she was introduced, but as it turned out she just ended up being the most annoying character for me the more I listened to her dialogue. I was expecting her to have an "in your face" reveal or dynamic arc in the story, but she just kind of landed flat. Also, I have to mention the number of times someone called Claire's name was overdone almost as if there was a word quota that had to be met. It is possible that if this novel is ever adapted into a movie that it may play out better on screen in which much of the dialogue can be left out. A movie may also switch up the plot twist better in order to make it a more suspenseful whodunit. Tip: If you do decide to listen to the audiobook, I would personally recommend listening to the short story ''Blonde Hair, Blue Eyes' first, and then back track to the beginning of the novel as the short story will help with the timeline of the novel.