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typedtruths 's review for:
The Special Ones
by Em Bailey
Like [b:Gena/Finn|19254725|Gena/Finn|Hannah Moskowitz|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1463450838s/19254725.jpg|27301031], I have such conflicting feelings about the two halves of this story! I honestly do not know how to review this book because, overall, I think that it was a generally well-written and downright engaging read. But man, that second half! It certainly dragged the story down overall. I just didn’t enjoy the direction the story took and the ending was disappointing.
The First Half:
Like I said, the first half of The Special Ones was brilliant. It was so easy to slip into the story despite how bizarre the situation initially seemed. The cult-ish setting completely upped the stakes and the tension was practically palpable. If you know me, you know I have a weird obsession for cults and true crime so that’s probably why I loved this first half so much. I have always found criminal behaviour and psychology fascinating and because of that I loved how character-driven the first half of the story was. We really got to dive into the head of Esther and it was fascinating to see the balance of her strong-willed, tough attitude and moments of weakness. I wish we got to know a little more about the other Special Ones but I can understand that would have taken the focus of the story in a different direction to what the author intended.
The Second Half:
However, the second half was a different story. The introduction of the “him” chapters really did not sit well with me. They were so confusing! Because there were no distinctive chapter headings, we didn’t actually know whose POV it was until we read a few chapters (both of the POVs were in first person POV/present tense so there was literally no difference). I also found his voice irritating. I did not think he was particularly well-developed and he just needed to be to tie the story together. You cannot have a good mystery - especially one like this - if the ‘bad guy’ isn’t interesting! I also just was not a big fan of the character arc of Harry. I didn’t connect with him in the slightest and I thought his relationship with Esther got more and more forced as the story went along. The ending was okay. I liked that it wasn’t a perfect HEA because that would have been so unrealistic. I did find it a tad unsatisfying, though. I’m not sure how it should have been changed, but I don’t know… something didn’t sit right with me about it.
Two things, I did really love were:
• How the writing style balanced the dialogue and descriptions perfectly; and,
• I loved, loved, loved how it talked about the media’s role in cases like this. I took a legal studies class last year and after studying Lindy Chamberlain's case, in particular, I can really appreciate the entire “trial by media” concept and how justice can be affected by the role of the media. It’s actually quite fascinating and I thought that was a fantastic little extra thing to throw into the story.
Overall, I think this book had a lot of elements that I love in a story but it kind of missed the mark. Our protagonist was well-written but I didn’t get attached to the secondary characters liked I would have hoped too. The first half was everything I love in a good Criminal Minds episode - just from the victims’ perspectives rather than the BAU’s - but the second half was frustrating and the ending didn’t help it out. I’m not sure if I’d recommend this on or not but I’ll definitely be trying more of this author’s book in the future to give her a second chance.
The First Half:
Like I said, the first half of The Special Ones was brilliant. It was so easy to slip into the story despite how bizarre the situation initially seemed. The cult-ish setting completely upped the stakes and the tension was practically palpable. If you know me, you know I have a weird obsession for cults and true crime so that’s probably why I loved this first half so much. I have always found criminal behaviour and psychology fascinating and because of that I loved how character-driven the first half of the story was. We really got to dive into the head of Esther and it was fascinating to see the balance of her strong-willed, tough attitude and moments of weakness. I wish we got to know a little more about the other Special Ones but I can understand that would have taken the focus of the story in a different direction to what the author intended.
The Second Half:
However, the second half was a different story. The introduction of the “him” chapters really did not sit well with me. They were so confusing! Because there were no distinctive chapter headings, we didn’t actually know whose POV it was until we read a few chapters (both of the POVs were in first person POV/present tense so there was literally no difference). I also found his voice irritating. I did not think he was particularly well-developed and he just needed to be to tie the story together. You cannot have a good mystery - especially one like this - if the ‘bad guy’ isn’t interesting! I also just was not a big fan of the character arc of Harry. I didn’t connect with him in the slightest and I thought his relationship with Esther got more and more forced as the story went along. The ending was okay. I liked that it wasn’t a perfect HEA because that would have been so unrealistic. I did find it a tad unsatisfying, though. I’m not sure how it should have been changed, but I don’t know… something didn’t sit right with me about it.
Two things, I did really love were:
• How the writing style balanced the dialogue and descriptions perfectly; and,
• I loved, loved, loved how it talked about the media’s role in cases like this. I took a legal studies class last year and after studying Lindy Chamberlain's case, in particular, I can really appreciate the entire “trial by media” concept and how justice can be affected by the role of the media. It’s actually quite fascinating and I thought that was a fantastic little extra thing to throw into the story.
Overall, I think this book had a lot of elements that I love in a story but it kind of missed the mark. Our protagonist was well-written but I didn’t get attached to the secondary characters liked I would have hoped too. The first half was everything I love in a good Criminal Minds episode - just from the victims’ perspectives rather than the BAU’s - but the second half was frustrating and the ending didn’t help it out. I’m not sure if I’d recommend this on or not but I’ll definitely be trying more of this author’s book in the future to give her a second chance.