This book. Hmm.
I think it would be easier to break this down into four parts: a thing I loved, I thing I liked, a thing I disliked and a thing I hated.
A thing I loved…
Being a mainline Protestant minister in the post-church western world, I think CJ Tudor captures the subtleties and nuances of what parish ministry is like. She herself is not religious but whoever advised her did an excellent job. I appreciated it.
A thing I liked…
I don’t read a lot of horror but the writing is pacy and entertaining. Tudor does a good job with scene descriptions and I found myself really getting into most of them.
A thing I didn’t like…
This book just didn’t have the bandwidth for all of those twists near the end, especially the big, final reveal. It felt cheap instead of earned and almost made me drop a star. I try not to judge books too harshly by their endings but I was disappointed with this one.
A thing I hated…
Spoiler but I really do encourage you to read on because this needs to stop in film and literature…
The violent, psychopathic adoptee who acts out because they cannot accept their background is such a harmful trope. It pops up frequently when cheap twists are needed in a story. Adoptees have high rates of suicide and depression because of social stigma.
Creatives, especially good ones like CJ Tudor, I am BEGGING you to discontinue this trope immediately. Find another way to bridge your story. It’s tired, it’s harmful and, more often than not as is the case here, it’s cheap and unnecessary.