BOOK REVIEW: ALL THE WRONG PLACES BY JOY FIELDING
I seem to be going through a thriller phase at the moment! Having not long read ‘I Know You’ and also Jacqueline Ward’s ‘How to Play Dead‘, I was looking forwarded to reading Joy Fielding’s ‘All the Wrong Places’, especially as I have heard good things about this author.
Unfortunately, in a similar way to ‘How to Play Dead’, I felt that ‘All The Wrong Places’ didn’t really match up to the blurb it promised.
This book follows four women on a mission to find their Mr Right: Paige, her mother Joan, her cousin Heather and her best friend Chloe. All four of these women’s stories related to online dating in a way, and some of their experiences have been pretty awful, for example 70 year old Joan receiving unsolicited underwear shots! I liked most of these women and felt that a lot of their conversations were quite realistic. Joan in particular was very likeable and I enjoyed her story lines the most.
The thriller element of this story isn’t built up or revealed slowly, so it’s not a spoiler to tell you that it’s about a murderer. Between chapters of gossip, dress shopping, haircuts and family feuds, there are occasional short chapters from the murder’s perspective. This guy is a serial killer, choosing his next victim on a series of online dating sites under the name ‘Mr Right Now’ – be careful out there ladies!
“‘So tell me about yourself,’ he says. He smiles what he hopes is a sweet smile – neither too big nor too small, one that hints at a wry, maybe even offbeat sense of humor that he thinks would appeal to her. He wants to charm her. He wants her to like him.”
But in a book that’s more than 400 pages, Mr Right Now’s chapters were always quite short and really this was more of an in depth look at Paige and her relationships with her family, friends and herself. While the story does touch on the dangers of online dating, it wasn’t really prominent enough to have a strong impact and for me I felt that this aspect, including the ending, was quite underwhelming.
I’m afraid to say that I’m fairly disappointed with my latest thriller read. I wonder if I’m going in to these with high expectations or whether the genre of thriller is so broad that I’ve got the wrong impression of what they should be like. I did a little research on Goodreads, however, and it seems I’m not alone in my feelings for this one, with plenty of others sharing my view. I think I’ll take a break from thrillers and read another genre for a bit before heading into another.
Overall rating: “All The Wrong Places” wasn’t my cup of tea. Sold as a thriller, this book is a little more chick-lit than suspense. I enjoyed some of the characters and their story lines but overall this is a 2 star read for me.
Unfortunately, in a similar way to ‘How to Play Dead’, I felt that ‘All The Wrong Places’ didn’t really match up to the blurb it promised.
This book follows four women on a mission to find their Mr Right: Paige, her mother Joan, her cousin Heather and her best friend Chloe. All four of these women’s stories related to online dating in a way, and some of their experiences have been pretty awful, for example 70 year old Joan receiving unsolicited underwear shots! I liked most of these women and felt that a lot of their conversations were quite realistic. Joan in particular was very likeable and I enjoyed her story lines the most.
The thriller element of this story isn’t built up or revealed slowly, so it’s not a spoiler to tell you that it’s about a murderer. Between chapters of gossip, dress shopping, haircuts and family feuds, there are occasional short chapters from the murder’s perspective. This guy is a serial killer, choosing his next victim on a series of online dating sites under the name ‘Mr Right Now’ – be careful out there ladies!
“‘So tell me about yourself,’ he says. He smiles what he hopes is a sweet smile – neither too big nor too small, one that hints at a wry, maybe even offbeat sense of humor that he thinks would appeal to her. He wants to charm her. He wants her to like him.”
But in a book that’s more than 400 pages, Mr Right Now’s chapters were always quite short and really this was more of an in depth look at Paige and her relationships with her family, friends and herself. While the story does touch on the dangers of online dating, it wasn’t really prominent enough to have a strong impact and for me I felt that this aspect, including the ending, was quite underwhelming.
I’m afraid to say that I’m fairly disappointed with my latest thriller read. I wonder if I’m going in to these with high expectations or whether the genre of thriller is so broad that I’ve got the wrong impression of what they should be like. I did a little research on Goodreads, however, and it seems I’m not alone in my feelings for this one, with plenty of others sharing my view. I think I’ll take a break from thrillers and read another genre for a bit before heading into another.
Overall rating: “All The Wrong Places” wasn’t my cup of tea. Sold as a thriller, this book is a little more chick-lit than suspense. I enjoyed some of the characters and their story lines but overall this is a 2 star read for me.