I originally read the independently published version  in 2022 and rated that 5 stars. I think the read I was then and the reader I am now is very different. I still really like the book but I don’t think it’s a 5 star read (like I had previously rated it). I’m still excited to jump into the next book and see how the story grows. 

I totally forgot about the reveal at the end of the book and it honestly is the best part of the book and the reason I plan on reading the next.

 

The audio book is good but I don’t think the narrators voices are different enough. I honestly didn’t realize that there were multiple narrators, and I thought there was one male and one female narrator changing their voices to portray is character. But that could just be me! 

It’s been a while since I read a historical fiction that didn’t have elements of fantasy, and I truly enjoyed it. I read most of the novel in a day and just finished the last hundred pages the next day. 

I wouldn’t call this a thriller like it is labeled. It’s not really a “who done it”, but rather a beautiful story based on the life of Martha Ballard the

murder

was just added to build conflict in the story that sprinkled in a condensed version of real events. 

I truly enjoyed it. I read this for  book club and I’m so happy it was picked! I was unsure if I was going to read it on my own as there are a lot of mixed reviews out there. But it’s definitely a book I will recommend in the genre and hope people love the characters like I did!  

Nothing like the dystopian era of the 2000s. I never finished the series after the first three and I wanted to reread it. I’ve been searching for book four in the same publication that I own the others in for the last couple years and this month I found it! So, I decided it’s time to jump in and I’m not disappointed! It’s fast passed and reads like YA but I’m not going to fault it for that. This is a perfect read for that age group. I realized there are other YA novels if rated poorly in the past because it read so young BUT young me would have given this 4-5 stars. Current me wants to give it 3-4 stars so let’s call it 4 and meet in the middle?! Seems like a good game plan and how I’ll rate YA moving forward! It certainly is a good dystopian story and Im glad I decided to pick this one up again!

I was intrigued in the beginning and had high hopes but the middle was the kind of slow that made it hard for me to care what was happening next. The ending wasn’t much of a twist but it does feel rushed. Additionally, the FMC really didn’t grow on me or grow within the story. I was hoping for a little redemption but that was also not delivered because ending/epilogue kind of annoyed me to be honest.