Author: Joanna Barnard
352 pages
Genre: Mystery Thriller *
*only Goodreads information, read the full review to know my thoughts on it
Synopsis:When baby Oliver breaks his arm, no-one can (or will) say how it happened.
His mother is exhausted.
His father is angry.
His older sister is resentful.
And they all have something to hide.
Source: Netgalley (in exchange for an honest review)
This book tells the story of a baby who broke his arm.
The writing’s effective, I was able to know whose POV I was reading without even looking at the name.
The characters, except for Sally, start out as stereotypes – Richard is always angry and Martha’s an upset teenager. However, they actually grow as people (in an almost soap opera kind of way). Sally, however, is interesting, it’s nice to read a book that portrays the mind of a paranoid woman. Something I really appreciate is how she deals with everything, it feels realistic.
Story wise, it’s a really simple book. The story’s linear, however, it does, sometimes, deal with flashbacks.
But we need to talk about it seriously.
I know I’m a tough reader to please when it comes to mystery – it’s the genre I’ve read for the longest time (I grew up reading Geronimo Stilton and other mysteries) and the one I’ve read the most books.
With all that in mind, let’s proceed.
In Goodreads, the book is tagged as a ‘mystery thriller’, which makes no sense. If you squint at the story, you’ll realize it’s only a mystery, and even that’s a stretch. As I read this book, I felt no such thing as anticipation or even anxiety, it makes no sense to see it as a thriller.
And, to me, in a mystery, I shouldn’t be able to predict all the major revelations. In this book, however, I didn’t miss a single one (including the big one – WHO DID IT?).
So, this book is more of a drama than a mystery.
Don’t get me wrong, this book has nice moments, however, those were shadowed by most of the bad ones.
Rating: 3.5 stars
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