This book starts so well but unfortunately does not follow through with that early promise. The flow is completely jagged and I soon came to realise that the reason it is split into parts is so that the author can jump ahead to scenarios that make no sense compared to earlier passages. I am a big fan of narrative flow and flash back and flash forward chapters can work well within that but, sadly, not in this case.
The characters are pretty much unlikeable and very one dimensional. There was so much scope with Billy Orr. Damaged by his father's perceived indifference and his mother's debilitating illness and then further by their deaths we never really explore anything of his character except for his obsession with his childhood girlfriend Aimi - the Her he would do anything for.
His much older sister Mia is a bit of a doormat and even when they are having a game of Truth you don't see much spark from either of them of really get to the roots of the distance between them. Yes, she is worried about her brother but that seems to be her sole role. Her husband, Matthew, is such a peripheral figure with no real characterisation and then suddenly at the end of the book he fizzles into life before suddenly being disregarded again after a few chapters.
Even more galling is Aimi who is depicted as this manipulative woman out to feather her own nest at the cost of all others. Sadly, this is all she is with no nuance or finesse to the character. There is no explanation for why she is this way and no character development whatsoever and she started so promisingly.
The first few chapters are intriguing and gripping but the more I read the more disinterested and bored I became. I just couldn't summon up any empathy for the characters as there is no meat to grab onto and this spoilt what could have been an excellent twisty thriller for me. Passed the time on a couple of boring days off but that's about all that I can really say in its defence.
I RECEIVED A FREE COPY OF THIS BOOK FROM READERS FIRST IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW.
The characters are pretty much unlikeable and very one dimensional. There was so much scope with Billy Orr. Damaged by his father's perceived indifference and his mother's debilitating illness and then further by their deaths we never really explore anything of his character except for his obsession with his childhood girlfriend Aimi - the Her he would do anything for.
His much older sister Mia is a bit of a doormat and even when they are having a game of Truth you don't see much spark from either of them of really get to the roots of the distance between them. Yes, she is worried about her brother but that seems to be her sole role. Her husband, Matthew, is such a peripheral figure with no real characterisation and then suddenly at the end of the book he fizzles into life before suddenly being disregarded again after a few chapters.
Even more galling is Aimi who is depicted as this manipulative woman out to feather her own nest at the cost of all others. Sadly, this is all she is with no nuance or finesse to the character. There is no explanation for why she is this way and no character development whatsoever and she started so promisingly.
The first few chapters are intriguing and gripping but the more I read the more disinterested and bored I became. I just couldn't summon up any empathy for the characters as there is no meat to grab onto and this spoilt what could have been an excellent twisty thriller for me. Passed the time on a couple of boring days off but that's about all that I can really say in its defence.
I RECEIVED A FREE COPY OF THIS BOOK FROM READERS FIRST IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW.