I had really high hopes for this book. The description appealed to me, the cover caught my eye, and the story gripped me from the first few pages.
But then it fell apart.
I can't even give an overview of what this book was about. There were so many themes, each touched upon but none explored in great detail (except the fact the main character was in dept - that was certainly made known and God forbid we forget). It covered:
1. Grief (life after the death of a husband)
2. A missing child
3. Debt/homelessness
4. CSE/trafficking
5. Gang-related crime/fraud
This book had huge potential to take one or two of these themes and make them the main focus. There was just too much going on in my opinion, but not in a fast-paced way. The whole story was dragged out, with every element stretched to the point where my interest was well and truly gone. Angie's character grated on me and I had no sympathy for her in the end. I probably sound heartless but I just couldn't deal with her pity. The "red herrings" weren't developed enough. There weren't enough character connections, too many were isolated and I think it would have been easy to create links between certain people just to give the story a bit more depth.
The worst part for me though was the ending. There was zero climax, no twist, and it was unrealistic. It made the rest of the story lose credibility. I was very disappointed as I do believe the story had something, it just wasn't refined enough for me.
But then it fell apart.
I can't even give an overview of what this book was about. There were so many themes, each touched upon but none explored in great detail (except the fact the main character was in dept - that was certainly made known and God forbid we forget). It covered:
1. Grief (life after the death of a husband)
2. A missing child
3. Debt/homelessness
4. CSE/trafficking
5. Gang-related crime/fraud
This book had huge potential to take one or two of these themes and make them the main focus. There was just too much going on in my opinion, but not in a fast-paced way. The whole story was dragged out, with every element stretched to the point where my interest was well and truly gone. Angie's character grated on me and I had no sympathy for her in the end. I probably sound heartless but I just couldn't deal with her pity. The "red herrings" weren't developed enough. There weren't enough character connections, too many were isolated and I think it would have been easy to create links between certain people just to give the story a bit more depth.
The worst part for me though was the ending. There was zero climax, no twist, and it was unrealistic. It made the rest of the story lose credibility. I was very disappointed as I do believe the story had something, it just wasn't refined enough for me.