kaitlynisliterate's Reviews (466)

Pros
+ The plot felt like a soap opera, very entertaining with wild plot twists

Cons
- Tries too hard to make Bridget a suspect by having other characters constantly bring up the marriage as a "revenge plot on Tom" but since we're literally reading Bridget's POV, this never actually seemed plausible.
- The ending seems too perfect and easy to me.

Having Bridget and Jill become friends again because Jill has magically transformed into a well-adjusted person

- Okay this is a random nitpick but the woman pictured on the cover (who is presumably supposed to be Bridget) has dark brown hair but in the blurb, she's described as having "ash-blond hair." Very strange detail to get wrong.

Pros
+ I could see other people enjoying this even if it didn't personally work for me. 

Cons
- This didn't feel like a thriller at all until the last few chapters. Half of the book just recounts

Kate's involvement with the cult, Love International

while the other half is Abbi, Kate's daughter, and Meredith, Abbi's stepmother, dealing with Kate's return. Kate's POV is just never-ending trauma and abuse which I had to just skim because it was so gratuitous.
- The way that characters acted did not make sense at all. Scott and even Abbi just dismiss any red flags from Kate's behavior while Meredith is obsessed with finding faults with Kate.
- The FBI investigation into Kate, both before and after she returned, was so baffling.

How did no one suspect Love International or look into them further? They all knew that she was very involved with them prior to her disappearance.

-

The religious aspect of the cult was barely mentioned or explored. Kate, prior to joining Love International, does not ever mention going to church or even being Christian. Then suddenly, she is just so compelled by some guy reciting bible verses to her.  It just felt like some explanation was missing.

Pros
+ Well-written, great prose.
+ Super entertaining to read
+ I liked the subtle foreshadowing and how everything was tied up at the end

Cons
- There's just too much going on. There are essentially two parallel mysteries that Avery is involved in: her investigation into Victoria and

the FBI sting operation about her father

These two mysteries are not connected outside of Avery's involvement and essentially diverge into separate plots so you spend the latter half of the book jumping between these two investigations.
- There are also too many POVs. The main ones are Avery and Walt, the retired FBI agent that led the murder investigation. But there are also chapters from the POVs of

Natalie, Walt's boss, two random FBI agents surveilling Claire's father, Victoria, etc.

It gets confusing.
- The plot twist involving Claire's past didn't make sense.

It's revealed that Claire is trying to help her brother who faked his death years earlier rather than her father, who she turns into the FBI. Her brother found out about their father's Ponzi scheme before the authorities caught on and was convinced that he would be arrested too even though he was never involved. I'm not fully convinced that this is true since he very easily could have just turned his father into the authorities. Especially since Bernie Madoff (which this is clearly based on) had two sons involved in his company who were never arrested (they turned their father in).

- The romance was meh and felt too forced.

I wanted to read the book before watching the Studio Ghibli film. Let me tell you, the book did not disappoint. I loved everything from the worldbuilding to the character development to the dialogue. 

Pros
+ Loved the dual POV, it worked really well.
+ Pacing was good, felt like things were being revealed throughout the story rather than 80% going in circles with the last few chapters revealing everything.
+ The ending/epilogue! 
+ The plot twist with

Eva and her daughter who is actually Danielle, Claire's secretary.

Cons
- The "villains" fell flat.

The Dex is Fish/Felix plot twist basically never amounts to anything. Dex/Fish speaks to Claire once but he never actually does anything to her and she never sees him again. Claire's abusive husband, Rory Cook, never catches up to Claire and she never sees him again either.

- The resolution felt too easy.

Claire basically emails Kate Lane, a TV news anchor, who invites her on her show to expose her abusive husband, Rory Cook. She plays Danielle's recording of Rory basically admitting to killing his ex-girlfriend, Maggie Moretti. And then the next chapter is a few months later when she's back at their house picking up her belongings. Everything worked out! If it were so easy to go public about domestic abuse, why didn't Claire just record Rory's abuse earlier?

Pros
- Entertaining and I enjoyed the time jumps
- The main character, Libby, actually has a reason for hiding things other than to create artificial tension in the plot

Cons
- The middle part of the story just drags on because Libby just goes in circles having the same internal monologue again and again.
- Don’t you love when a side character explains what really happened from beginning to end for no reason other than “she’s crazy”
- The ending felt like the author wanted to have a plot twist that no one could guess but it just ended up not making sense.

The husband, Sean, helps his mother, Marian, cover up the murder of the babysitter, Sasha. But it's not clear why he does this. Sasha's murder is only slightly tangentially connected to Sean being in the closet and having an affair. Not to mention that Sasha is literally the daughter of Sean's affair partner. In the final chapter which is the only one from Sean's POV, he doesn't actually explain or justify his actions other than it's to "protect us" which doesn't make sense.

Pros
+ The main character, Polly, is not simply an observer for the whole book but actually takes action to affect the plot. (A low bar, I know)

Cons
- I despise Zachary and I hate how the narrative treated him. Polly desperately tries to invent excuses for Zachary and his actions.

AND THEN AT THE END OF IT ALL, HE NEVER ACTUALLY HAS TO FACE HIS MORTALITY. HE IS LITERALLY JUST CURED.

- Polly literally has no plan for how to save herself or resolve the conflict.

The one time she actually does something and escapes by swimming away, she immediately returns WITH NO PLAN and then sits around again.

- The grandparents have the exact same conversation over and over about how they don't believe Polly and the priest but in the first book,

the grandfather, Mr Murray, literally travels through time/space. I'm not sure why he now believes it to be impossible.

- Just like in the previous book, Swiftly Tilting Planet, the depiction of Native American societies (the fictional groups: The People of the Wind and The People Across the Lake) is so cringe.

The healers/druids are literally able to cure any ailment, even ones that modern medicine has no treatment for.

Pros
+ Wholesome non-toxic relationship 

Cons
- I disliked the fact that most of their communication was through text messages. I know that's how long-distance works but it does not make for interesting dialogue. It's very difficult to sense any sort of romantic connection or get invested in their relationship through the text messages.
- I understand the desire to have an older couple but it's simply unrealistic that a team would sign such an old driver (I believe he is 40?) who has been retired for six years and has never even won an F1 race. 

Pros
+ Having a character who isn't some amazingly talented F1 driver who can beat all the odds, etc. Feels more realistic.

Cons
- Relationship feels extremely rushed. Connor and Lennox have known each other for maybe a few weeks before they're suddenly in love.

Lennox gets so upset at Connor for getting a new job because it means that they can't be together but it comes off as completely unreasonable and entitled.

- Neither Connor nor Lennox is particularly likable and neither actually works towards solving the conflicts in their lives. 

Pros
+ Neil Gaiman is so good at narrating audiobooks
+ Love the small touches of humor that make the myths more engaging
+ Great pacing