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expertbooksmuggler 's review for:
Every Last Lie: A Gripping Novel of Psychological Suspense
by Mary Kubica
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I tend to (thus far) enjoy reading Mary Kubica and always exit her novels with my brain feeling real damn slimy. She excels at this and that is what makes me enjoy her books! She typically gets a 4 star from me and in this case its a 3.75.
I cannot quite put my finger on it entirely, but I can say that I found myself really disliking our main character. Then I feel bad, because she is in the middle of incredibly painful life changes.
Her mother no longer remembers her due to dementia, her husband is dead, she has a newborn baby, and now her four year old is insisting that there is a bad man after her. Clara Solberg is going through hell- I will give her that. However, its often overshadowed in this book due to her outrageous parenting decisions. Such as the decision to force her daughter to interact with a grandmother who does not know who she is and chases the poor girl with scissors!
However, the book is still a good book and typical for MK- you’re going head on a steady mental decline alongside the MC. She does this while also justifying so many of the MC’s concerns or actions through the dual POV we are usually presented with. In this case we are experience present day with Clara as we get windows into the past through her husband Nick’s POV.
Nick- who loves Clara so much, but I think he imagine’s himself a bit more dedicated to his wife than he is. Still, he does is best to care for his wife and children while the world crumbles around him.
Two plot points that were left unfulfilled were:
Conner being incredibly displeased with Nick (who was his boss and best friend) and was presented as an antagonist and yet nothing really happened with that.
Emily’s weird reaction to Clara stating she thinks her husband was killed- though you could also argue that is Clara being an unreliable narrator at that point. </spoiler)
I cannot quite put my finger on it entirely, but I can say that I found myself really disliking our main character. Then I feel bad, because she is in the middle of incredibly painful life changes.
Her mother no longer remembers her due to dementia, her husband is dead, she has a newborn baby, and now her four year old is insisting that there is a bad man after her. Clara Solberg is going through hell- I will give her that. However, its often overshadowed in this book due to her outrageous parenting decisions. Such as the decision to force her daughter to interact with a grandmother who does not know who she is and chases the poor girl with scissors!
However, the book is still a good book and typical for MK- you’re going head on a steady mental decline alongside the MC. She does this while also justifying so many of the MC’s concerns or actions through the dual POV we are usually presented with. In this case we are experience present day with Clara as we get windows into the past through her husband Nick’s POV.
Nick- who loves Clara so much, but I think he imagine’s himself a bit more dedicated to his wife than he is. Still, he does is best to care for his wife and children while the world crumbles around him.
Two plot points that were left unfulfilled were:
Emily’s weird reaction to Clara stating she thinks her husband was killed- though you could also argue that is Clara being an unreliable narrator at that point. </spoiler)