Let me start off by saying I'm sorry this post is late. It's the end of the semester and I'm terrible. I apologize, but allow me to make it up to you by reviewing a book :D
***SPOILERS BELOW: PLEASE READ THIS BOOK BEFORE YOU READ THIS POST. THIS WILL BE MOST APPRECIATED IF YOU'VE READ IT AS YOU WILL BE ABLE TO EITHER AGREE WITH ME OR CALL ME A CRAZY LOON***
Let me start off by saying I am glad I read this book. It was worth it. It's an enjoyable and interesting story, with compelling characters. The whole world St. James created is a well loved one. You can feel the affection for the characters and it makes you love them all the more.
That being said, I still had my issues. To set up the context of this review I will say that I'm a writer. So this is going to have more of a workshop feel to it than a traditional review. For those of you unfamiliar with workshops it's the offering of constructive criticism. You don't have to like it, but you have to be able to say why and what you feel could fix it. The writing and story are the focus here. Trying to make it the best it can be. Nothing is perfect and nothing is hopeless. Even the best books could be improved because writing is hard and is never really finished. So here are my opinions (and keep in mind opinions are like assholes. Everyone has one and they're all shitty).
First and foremost, I had issues with the repetition--words as well as information. The overuse of the school's name "Idlewild" for example drove me crazy. Only a handful of times in the entire novel was the school referred to indirectly. It was always named which is distracting because it makes you feel like you're reading the same word over and over again and you feel like you're lost at sea. This could easily have been avoided had the sentences just been restructured. You don't have to name someone or something every time. It doesn't flow as it should and I found myself revising as I went, which prevented me from really getting into it most of the time. I was editor girl instead of escapist reader girl which is unfortunate when you're trying to avoid life by reading lol.
The second issue I had was the repetition of information. This one just made me feel like I was stupid. Maybe it's useful if you're a skimmer or just have a tendency to miss things, but for me personally, it just made me want to scream. Information would be restated all the time, even if it only happened a chapter or so ago. It made me feel as though she didn't trust me to keep up and remember important plot points. While it was a mystery, it wasn't overly complicated or hard to follow. I feel I would have been more on the edge of my seat if I wasn't being reminded of past events every chapter.
Now getting into some story issues I had. These I may have had just because I had a lot of expectations and high hopes for my supernatural thriller mystery Book of the Month. Ghosts? Murders? I am here for it honey. So, so here for it. I live for it. So that possibly may have been the source of my issues here, but nevertheless, here are the issues I had.
The first thing was Mary Hand. Because she haunts the school, I kind of thought she was going to be more of a plot point. She is so prevalent in the 1950's storyline that I was just waiting for her to be tied up in something. Instead, she just kind of served to scare, and, in the end, I'm not sure I appreciated that. The supernatural element of this book was a significant reason I was drawn to it, so maybe I just expected too much, or just had a different idea of what purpose she was going to serve. She was the reason Tim dropped Deb in the middle of the field so that was significant, but she didn't really do much else in the way of influencing what happened. She didn't kill, or help kill anyone. She didn't turn out to help or hinder in anyway. She was just kind of--there. There was a brief moment where Fee is running from Garret and I thought "Oh shit! This is it! She's going to do something to him. She's going to show him the truth of what's he's done and he's going to lose it and it's gonna be awesome!". I think I mostly thought this because it's stated she hates the teachers more than the students, so I thought, problem with corrupt authority was going to make her help Fee get away--but she didn't. I thought she was going to be the enemy that becomes your friend and it was going to be the clinch of why Mary Hand was important--but she wasn't, and then, at the end, they exhume her her body and she's at peace. So her presence was kind of confusing. Her backstory is fascinating and before you realize she's not really important the parts she's in are off-putting and a little terrifying so when that was only as bad as it got I was disappointed. I kept waiting for this big thing, this huge supernatural showdown or something that when she was just a spooky footnote I was sad. She had the potential to be scary AF, because she was there for a minute. She is freaky as hell.
Another issue I had with her is that over and over they say "Don't let her in". It shows up again and again. In the textbooks, Deb's ghost says it. It's repeated so many times that I thought it was going to be important--and it wasn't. It led me to believe she was going to, or had in the past, possessed people or killed or tortured or something, but she didn't. I felt like that, just like Mary, was just meant to scare.
Another issue I had was the climax. Maybe this is because I've read far too many Charlaine Harris novels for my own good, so the heroine running through the woods from a killer isn't as riveting as it once was. I don't know, but it just wasn't as satisfying as I thought it was going to be--I think it was part of the reason I was expecting Mary to do something, because I was just like, this can't be it right? There has to be more--but there wasn't. Even with the added stakes of Fee being sick I just didn't feel the tension I feel I should have. For me, realizing Tim did do it, and that Garrett had covered for him was a holy hell moment. I mean the fact the police were so corrupt was intense and scary because now you're not really safe in your own hometown like you should be. I just felt that whole action scene was missing something. It made me want to at least have been able to see Jamie's encounter with his dad. Something. I just felt that it needed more.
Really I just wanted Mary Hand to fuck someone up lol.
As I said at the beginning, I really did enjoy this book and I'm glad I read it. Getting to see all the girls when they're old was so great. It just made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside and it was the best. I felt such a connection to them that I felt like I was meeting up with old friends. Also, Sonia. She I think was the cream of this book. Her character, her backstory--just everything about her. The history she brings up--I just loved it. It felt so good to have her case solved and that her friends never forgot her. Sonia didn't deserve to die and her friends never let that go, despite everything and everyone writing it off. She was amazing to a degree I can't explain.
Any book that makes you feel all the feels is a good book, no matter it's flaws, and this book definitely made me feel all the feels.
Now, go drink some water, and have a wonderful day :) I will see you next week.
Sincerely,
Cori
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