A superb read, Avery loses her best friend Sadie Loman, who takes a high dive into the sea. A dark shadow is cast over Avery, as she seeks understanding, becoming entangled within a web of deceit.
This book is set within a North American coastal town. As a coast dweller, I found Megan’s description of the coastal town exquisite, finding the right balance between the beautiful bright summers and brooding chilling winters, the danger of the jagged rocks and turbulent seas set the scene for the upcoming events.
Avery is the outsider protagonist, who serves the powerful Loman family. She has a good depth of character, loyal to the Loman’s but also struggling with internal conflicts, trying to understand her past and how she will meet her future. She is lost, seeking understanding so that she can come to terms with Sadie’s death.
The Loman’s are an ominous presence within the town, revered and in a way feared. Avery looks after the family’s extensive coastal rental properties, a role which she came to through her best friend Sadie. We get to know the Loman family through the present (2018) and flashbacks to times before Sadie’s death at the end of Summer 2017.
Sadie’s parents act as stand in parents to Avery, who lost her own parents to a car crash. This is an interesting dynamic, the Dad is a control freak and the Mum a loose cannon looking for somebody to blame. This relationship could have been investigated further to make a deeper and more fulfilling read. The main Loman is probably Parker, in many ways his father’s character development serves as a foil to his own. Parker comes across as cold, arrogant and self serving, at first he is a stereotypical privileged well educated character. But he demonstrates inner depths with his own inability to assimilate his sister’s death and sharply guarded weaknesses.
Sadie Loman is the carefree friendly character, her close relationship with Avery stands as a centrepiece upon which the story hangs. She is very much likeable, although lacks complexity and depth, some aspects of her character are withheld, only coming together towards the end.
This book becomes a little Loman-centric, the other characters who live in the town serve as a contrast and source of friction for the all powerful Lomans. Some of the other townsfolk do move from the periphery into the story, there is some character development, but not quite enough to satisfy the plot fully.
The ending is brought together too quick but it does establish the reasoning behind the events through this story. There are a few aspects which need refining within the final sequence, the epilogue was unnecessary, but overall the plot came together nicely. The good writing and the lure of the mystery meant that this was a quick read. Recommended.
This book is set within a North American coastal town. As a coast dweller, I found Megan’s description of the coastal town exquisite, finding the right balance between the beautiful bright summers and brooding chilling winters, the danger of the jagged rocks and turbulent seas set the scene for the upcoming events.
Avery is the outsider protagonist, who serves the powerful Loman family. She has a good depth of character, loyal to the Loman’s but also struggling with internal conflicts, trying to understand her past and how she will meet her future. She is lost, seeking understanding so that she can come to terms with Sadie’s death.
The Loman’s are an ominous presence within the town, revered and in a way feared. Avery looks after the family’s extensive coastal rental properties, a role which she came to through her best friend Sadie. We get to know the Loman family through the present (2018) and flashbacks to times before Sadie’s death at the end of Summer 2017.
Sadie’s parents act as stand in parents to Avery, who lost her own parents to a car crash. This is an interesting dynamic, the Dad is a control freak and the Mum a loose cannon looking for somebody to blame. This relationship could have been investigated further to make a deeper and more fulfilling read. The main Loman is probably Parker, in many ways his father’s character development serves as a foil to his own. Parker comes across as cold, arrogant and self serving, at first he is a stereotypical privileged well educated character. But he demonstrates inner depths with his own inability to assimilate his sister’s death and sharply guarded weaknesses.
Sadie Loman is the carefree friendly character, her close relationship with Avery stands as a centrepiece upon which the story hangs. She is very much likeable, although lacks complexity and depth, some aspects of her character are withheld, only coming together towards the end.
This book becomes a little Loman-centric, the other characters who live in the town serve as a contrast and source of friction for the all powerful Lomans. Some of the other townsfolk do move from the periphery into the story, there is some character development, but not quite enough to satisfy the plot fully.
The ending is brought together too quick but it does establish the reasoning behind the events through this story. There are a few aspects which need refining within the final sequence, the epilogue was unnecessary, but overall the plot came together nicely. The good writing and the lure of the mystery meant that this was a quick read. Recommended.