Before I start, let me include a disclaimer. You should probably disregard my review here. I am like the only person I know who did not enjoy this, and the only plausible explanation I have is that somehow I read a different book altogether. So my thoughts are of the book I did read, which may or may not be the same one everyone else did.
Ok, back to the program. Amelia and Adam are going through a rough patch in their marriage, so they thought a trip to a secluded location would be just what they need to mend their relationship. But when they arrive at the derelict church where they'll be staying, it's not what they expect. Soon enough, things start to go wrong and of course, they have no way to leave.
Oooh sounds chilling, right? So I'm all ready for the twists, and I'm flipping the page, flipping the page, and then I reach the very end. I think my problem is that I've read a lot of domestic thrillers, and they all follow the exact same pattern, including most of the twists in this book. As for the one remaining twist that didn't follow that pattern, not only had I seen it done elsewhere before, but having read Alice Feeney's other books, she has a tendency to a certain style, and it led me to realize this was where it was going pretty early on. So no surprises for me, but that isn't necessarily a deal breaker.
A bigger issue is that a lot of the things in here don't add up or make sense. Like Adam's face blindness is used to explain his inability to recognize people at all, not just their faces, even though people with this condition can still recognize others based on their clothes, voice, mannerism, and context. It's called face blindness, not people blindness... yeesh! Also, tons of clues are dropped that add to the atmosphere, but are then either ignored as coincidences or in direct opposition to the explanations provided.
But probably my biggest problem (you're saying to yourself, there's more?) is the writing style. For some reason, it's stuffed full of fortune cookie wisdom, like so:
Promises lose their value when broken or chipped, like dusty, forgotten antiques.
Secrets are only secrets for the people who don't know them yet.
That's the problem with following in someone else's footsteps; if you leave a bigger mark than they did they tend to get upset.
Sometimes the early bird eats too many worms and dies.
There are so many of these, like at least one per page, sometimes several in one paragraph. So just as I'm getting into the story, I'm yanked out again by ever more silly and superficial sayings. Why it is written this way, I'm honestly baffled.
Everyone else loved this book for its atmospheric setting, crazy twists, and fast pacing. But the book I read had no surprises, lots of things that didn't make sense, and odd one-sentence wisdoms dispensed like there's no tomorrow.
Readaroo Rating: 2 stars
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