I have been slacking on everything this week. Slacking on reading, slacking on writing, slacking on reviewing. Don't worry though, I have been super active when it comes to stressing out about things I cannot change or control, so I've got that one covered.
Like most people, I don't sleep very well when I am feeling anxious or I am under more stress than usual. This has definitely been the case this past week, so maybe I am not slacking on reading as badly as I thought. Maybe the 112 degree weather is sapping my energy and fuzzing my brain when it comes to reality. Luckily for me, as a reader, I much prefer to be entrenched in a fictionalized setting anyhow.
One peaceful night, I happened to notice that some really great titles had landed themselves on a Kindle sale and I just couldn't resist. Never mind the hundreds of unread books on my Kindle, iBooks, Play Books, Glose, Libby, and (unheard on) Audible. Turn away from the stacks on the bookshelf, the nightstand, and the end tables. Shhhh, I needed these. One of them was "Lying in Wait" by Liz Nugent, which I was seeing EVERYWHERE. I had requested an ARC, but sadly did not get approved, so I was anxiously awaiting the release. Needless to say, finding it on a flash sale for under $5 really tickled my peach. I figured since I couldn't even begin to feel the first inklings of sleep, I might as well make the most of it and get immersed in a story. I was not at all expecting the immediate fascination and horror that ensued.
This is absolutely a book about murder. It's not a mystery, because the murder (and the perpetrators of said murder) are revealed right away in the very first chapter. Instead of a whodunit, it's a whydunit. It was a very effective storytelling device, as I was holding my breath the entire time waiting for the twist, or the reveal that the narrator had been unreliable all along. Instead, the story slowly unspools from alternating viewpoints after the event has taken place. We slowly get to know Lydia and Andrew, who have killed Annie in the opening scene. We get to know their son Laurence as he grows up under the shadow of a secret he doesn't even know lives within his own home but consumes him just the same. Lydia's relationship with, and dependence upon, Laurence is one of the most subtly insidious facets of this story. It crept under my skin in a way that I cannot explain, and left me feeling haunted and slightly sick during certain chapters and long after finishing the book. As Laurence comes of age, so does his obsession with the old murder case of Annie Doyle. As his life intertwines with those closest to her, the lines become so blurry you aren't even sure who you're rooting for anymore. There is a lot of manipulation present in this story, and if you're anything like me, it will leave you shaken. Even at the higher price point, I would say this book is well worth the cost. It was a really fun read, and there is a nice little twist at the end. Let's say a soft twist. For me, the book had a very vintage V.C. Andrews feel to it. You could almost pretend you were in the grand mansion Avalon, with its once-glorious furniture and curios worn down to a soft scuff and the multitude of rooms feeling far emptier now that they're occupied by ghosts. I look forward to reading it again in a year or so when the details become foggy to me.
Scrolling through Facebook the other day, I saw an ad for Shannon Kirk's "In the Vines". The synopsis sounded quite intriguing...
"Mary Olivia Pentecost, known as Mop, was born into one of the wealthiest families in the country—and one of the most guarded. Now, two years after her mother’s mysterious death, Mop is seeking closure on the disquieting tragedy by returning to the New England seaside estate of her cloistered Aunty Liv—once her closest relative and confidante.
But behind the walls of the isolated estate, the shadows of the past are darker than Mop imagined. The puzzles of the family history are not to be shared, but unearthed. With each revelation comes a new, foreboding threat—and for Mop, the grave suspicion that to discover Aunty Liv’s secrets is to become a prisoner of them.
How well do we know the people we love? How well do we want to know them? The answers are as twisted as a tangle of vines in this throat-clutching novel of psychological suspense."
I saw that it was free on Kindle Unlimited, so I was about to grab it, when I noticed that I already had it in my Kindle app, as an ARC from Thomas & Mercer (love them!). Since my Netgalley feedback ratio is nowhere NEAR where it should be, I figured I should get this one read so I could review it more quickly. If you don't have Kindle Unlimited and would like to buy the Kindle edition, it's $4.99 (just click the cover image above).
My first impression is that the writing is slightly overwrought, and just not cohesive. There's also a bit of overuse of strange words, like "consumptions". The storyline bounces back and forth between narrators and timelines, and is quite confusing. There is an outlandish murder by peanut dust scene very early on. I am having a hard time plowing through - it's like trying to force the heel of a baguette to be soft enough to masticate without endangering your dental work. The writing is too verbose, too flowery, not cohesive at all. The meandering descriptions that don't seem important are a little annoying. I want to know what is actually going on, but not in a fun, traditional unreliable narrator way. More like your narrator is some flighty hippie chick who is so overly emotive that you can't stand to be around her on her best day, and today she chugged an entire magnum of dandelion wine and you want to strangle her with her hemp choker. I will continue to push through, if only to see what is actually happening. But this one is not wrapping me up in it like the last few I have plowed through. A quick glance at the Amazon reviews reveals that I am not even close to being alone in my opinion of this being confusing and strange. An honest review is what they wanted - better late than never. They're gonna get one when I am finished powering my way through this crusty, confusing loaf of bread.
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