Let me start by saying I do adore Krysten Ritter.
I 100% chose this book from Book of the Month because it was written by her and I crossed my fingers in hope. In wishing.
This is Krysten Ritter’s first book and follows the story of Abby Williams. Abby escaped from her small town life to become a lawyer only to return when a new case draws her back in. Williams starts to piece weak spots and memories together to solve the mystery.
“Some of us are out of place even when we are home.”
― Krysten Ritter, Bonfire
Pacing. Pacing in a book is important. It’s what keeps your reader hooked and interested. It was an issue in this for me. Half the time I didn’t know if I was bored or intrigued. I’d zone out while reading down a page and realize nothing major happened. Then there would be random clumps of information all at once. This issue was prevalent for me throughout the whole book. This may be due to the fact that the plot for this was predictable as well. Which is a bummer as it’s a thriller book.
Abby Williams is our protagonist and when reading I need to understand or relate or at least not hate the main character. Krysten Ritter made me hate the main character. HOWEVER, I do think this is strictly a pet peeve for me. I detest when a character is shown as having ‘growth’ and ‘moved on’ and ‘intelligent’ only to make supremely stupid decisions. That based on information in the past chapter, a child wouldn’t do cuz they knew better. Literally my favorite character in this book was Kaycee, and she’s technically not an existing character? haha
Now that I’ve sounded super judgmental. Let me share things I liked haha
“Things dead and buried are best left that way. They don’t look none too pretty when they come up.”
― Krysten Ritter, Bonfire
I did enjoy the last 50 pages of the book. It’s where everything comes together and, though predictable, it is a good read. In fact, I would say it was the only part of the book I enjoyed.
This is Krysten Ritter’s first book and I feel like the author ran into the usual issues. Standard plot, non relatable characters, predictable twists, etc… Her writing style isn’t bad and I do hope she continues to write more. The feel of the book is gritty but fell just short of following through.
- Overall Rating: 2.5 Stars
- Plot: 2 Stars
- Character Development: 2 Stars
- Dialogue: 2.5 Stars
- Writing: 3 Stars
It is a quick read, so if you have the urge – by all means give it a try. I would not recommend this book to Thriller fans but maybe just contemporary readers. The book doesn’t quite live up to the expectations in the description but I have hopes the author will continue writing and improve.
I do believe this is my lowest review so far of a full fledged book….. I guess it had to happen sometime.
~Happy Reading
Ash
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