Helpful Score: 1
Littleport, Maine appears to be an idyllic small town, a vacation retreat for the wealthy. There are two separate towns though - one for those who have and one for those who have not. The summer after a wealthy young summer guest dies under suspicious circumstances, her best friend lives under a cloud of suspicion. This is a suspenseful thriller full of twists and turns.
Helpful Score: 1
This book was so boring! It is full of very lengthy descriptions of what people are wearing and how rooms are decorated. I don't care what pattern the dead woman's bed spread has, nor do I care what colors it was. Boring!
I dont get the low star ratings for this book. Not saying its a 5 star but it was better than the reviews are saying in my opinion. It had a slow pace yes but I think that goes with leisurely pace of summertime. I found the ride interesting but can't say to much don't want to spoil it. I give it a thumbs up.
What a huge dud this is!!!!!
Most of this book is made up of descriptions of the surrounding landscape, houses, beaches (really? aren't beaches just sand?), food, drink and etc etc etc
Just so boring and by the 100 pages mark? nothing and I mean nothing is happening, not my kind of reading!
Most of this book is made up of descriptions of the surrounding landscape, houses, beaches (really? aren't beaches just sand?), food, drink and etc etc etc
Just so boring and by the 100 pages mark? nothing and I mean nothing is happening, not my kind of reading!
Typically the locals and the summer visitors don't mix much in the resort town of Littleport, Maine. But when summer resident Sadie Loman and local Avery Greer meet, they form a fast, intense friendship that lasts nearly a decade. It ends the night of the Plus-One party--the one night where locals and summer guests come together at the summer's end. It's also the night Sadie dies; her body is found on Breaker Breach, where she has drowned after falling off a cliff. The police believe Sadie has committed suicide, but Avery isn't so sure. A year later, she begins digging more into Sadie's death. What she finds leaves her more convinced that ever that Sadie's death wasn't at her own hand--and the more she discovers, the more she wonders if she's in danger, too.
So, I read this book in about 24 hours. It's a fast, quick read. A lot of the plot seems familiar--it was the second book of the last three, I'd read, for instance, where someone died suspiciously after falling off a cliff. The plot definitely has the tried-and-true feel of "friend obsessed with richer/prettier/etc. friend's death yet won't leave it to police even though it makes no sense to investigate on their own." You know where I'm coming from, right? You've been there before.
In this case, Avery is, of course, the local, with no money, who has been taken in by Sadie's family. They've funded her coursework, given her a place to live, and a job--she oversees all of the Loman's rental properties in Littleport. They even bought her grandmother's house. So Sadie--and her family--mean a lot to Avery.
"Sadie was my anchor, my coconspirator, the force that had grounded my life for so many years. If I imagined her jumping, then everything tilted precariously, just as it had that night."
The book is told entirely from Avery's point of view, but it goes back and forth in time. We get the night of the party, when Sadie died, and then the present, a year later. A memorial is coming up for Sadie, dredging up memories for Avery and causing her to question what happened that night. It's an effective formula--Miranda is good at playing with time.
The book has an ominous, creepy feel to it. Weird things start happening at the rental properties for instance, and you can't help but feel that something bad is going to happen. The setting is a good one--a beachy, resort town--and it's easy to visualize the scene. I did enjoy how much this one kept me guessing. Maybe I should have figured things out earlier, but I didn't. I was intrigued about what happened to Sadie, and I kept reading because of that. That being said, I didn't really care about any of the characters in the book. Most of the characters, including the Lomans, seem rich and spoiled, and somehow, I just couldn't find a ton of affection for Avery. I was reading more out of curiosity versus an investment in their storyline.
Overall, this thriller is a quick read that kept me guessing. The characters aren't particularly likeable but the mystery is interesting and the setting somehow both ominous and picturesque. 3.5 stars.
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and Simon & Schuster in return for an unbiased review.
So, I read this book in about 24 hours. It's a fast, quick read. A lot of the plot seems familiar--it was the second book of the last three, I'd read, for instance, where someone died suspiciously after falling off a cliff. The plot definitely has the tried-and-true feel of "friend obsessed with richer/prettier/etc. friend's death yet won't leave it to police even though it makes no sense to investigate on their own." You know where I'm coming from, right? You've been there before.
In this case, Avery is, of course, the local, with no money, who has been taken in by Sadie's family. They've funded her coursework, given her a place to live, and a job--she oversees all of the Loman's rental properties in Littleport. They even bought her grandmother's house. So Sadie--and her family--mean a lot to Avery.
"Sadie was my anchor, my coconspirator, the force that had grounded my life for so many years. If I imagined her jumping, then everything tilted precariously, just as it had that night."
The book is told entirely from Avery's point of view, but it goes back and forth in time. We get the night of the party, when Sadie died, and then the present, a year later. A memorial is coming up for Sadie, dredging up memories for Avery and causing her to question what happened that night. It's an effective formula--Miranda is good at playing with time.
The book has an ominous, creepy feel to it. Weird things start happening at the rental properties for instance, and you can't help but feel that something bad is going to happen. The setting is a good one--a beachy, resort town--and it's easy to visualize the scene. I did enjoy how much this one kept me guessing. Maybe I should have figured things out earlier, but I didn't. I was intrigued about what happened to Sadie, and I kept reading because of that. That being said, I didn't really care about any of the characters in the book. Most of the characters, including the Lomans, seem rich and spoiled, and somehow, I just couldn't find a ton of affection for Avery. I was reading more out of curiosity versus an investment in their storyline.
Overall, this thriller is a quick read that kept me guessing. The characters aren't particularly likeable but the mystery is interesting and the setting somehow both ominous and picturesque. 3.5 stars.
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and Simon & Schuster in return for an unbiased review.
Very Disappointed! I struggled to read this book, and frankly if I wasn't stuck at hospital visiting my niece for hours at a time over several days, I likely wouldn't have even finished reading it!
Some authors can switch timeframes in each chapter and make the transition smoothly. The switching from one year to the last in each chapter was just confusing. Not enough time had passed, so it became annoying to try to place characters one year apart.
Murder in a beach resort town, how original. Rich girl befriends local girl, how original. Big party where someone dies....I'm getting bored.
It was difficult to finish and only the surprise ending was worth the torture of reading it!
Some authors can switch timeframes in each chapter and make the transition smoothly. The switching from one year to the last in each chapter was just confusing. Not enough time had passed, so it became annoying to try to place characters one year apart.
Murder in a beach resort town, how original. Rich girl befriends local girl, how original. Big party where someone dies....I'm getting bored.
It was difficult to finish and only the surprise ending was worth the torture of reading it!
