LITTLE BLACK LIES was the May 2016 pick in my online book club, The Reading Cove.
If you're someone who prefers your plots more clever than contrived, this book likely isn't for you. While grammatically well written, the storyline is extremely manufactured and manipulative, with the best aspect being the Falkland Islands as a setting in and of itself. (I could see a fantastic story set here in the hands of a more clever writer, like Jennifer McMahon)
The three main POVs (Catrin, Callum & Rachel) were written in more or less exactly the same tone; they basically could've been the same person. I felt Catrin's opening portion had a bit more dimension than the second two, who both came across more like two-dimensional clichés than real human beings.
Further, there were just too many coincidences, and way too many convenient plot points used to create tension and build a mystery about a string of missing children on the island. By the end, you get a farce of a resolution that has zero credibility. What thinking person could possibly take these characters (or even this town) seriously?
In addition to some super gross out descriptions of dead whales, seals and general Falkland Islands warfare, there's a very disturbing theme about missing, abused and/or murdered kids. Children seemed to serve as mere plot fodder, which felt quite shallow. All children should be evacuated from this island of nutcases! The adults are all batshit crazy, one-note stick figures, so there's very little hope the poor things will be raised sane.
Overall, I give LITTLE BLACK LIES a C- or 2.5/5 stars. The setting is well established and the flow isn't bad, but the characterizations are pure reader manipulation, which is never clever or talented writing.
If you're someone who prefers your plots more clever than contrived, this book likely isn't for you. While grammatically well written, the storyline is extremely manufactured and manipulative, with the best aspect being the Falkland Islands as a setting in and of itself. (I could see a fantastic story set here in the hands of a more clever writer, like Jennifer McMahon)
The three main POVs (Catrin, Callum & Rachel) were written in more or less exactly the same tone; they basically could've been the same person. I felt Catrin's opening portion had a bit more dimension than the second two, who both came across more like two-dimensional clichés than real human beings.
Further, there were just too many coincidences, and way too many convenient plot points used to create tension and build a mystery about a string of missing children on the island. By the end, you get a farce of a resolution that has zero credibility. What thinking person could possibly take these characters (or even this town) seriously?
In addition to some super gross out descriptions of dead whales, seals and general Falkland Islands warfare, there's a very disturbing theme about missing, abused and/or murdered kids. Children seemed to serve as mere plot fodder, which felt quite shallow. All children should be evacuated from this island of nutcases! The adults are all batshit crazy, one-note stick figures, so there's very little hope the poor things will be raised sane.
Overall, I give LITTLE BLACK LIES a C- or 2.5/5 stars. The setting is well established and the flow isn't bad, but the characterizations are pure reader manipulation, which is never clever or talented writing.
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