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shannonjumpreads's review against another edition
I’m having a really hard time rating/reviewing this one…in fact, I’ve scrapped this review a couple of times already. The Walls wasn’t at all what I expected…and with a heavy plot like this, I expected it to hit a lot harder. But it came up short for me…
I went into this one blind and honestly had no idea what it was about when I started reading. So when it took a turn about 100 pages in, I was a bit surprised—to the point that I ended up going back to read the blurb. But after that “twist”, everything just kind of happened…it was told, not shown.
From a character development standpoint, all the characters were doing things that felt “out of character” (so to speak). Kristy didn’t seem like the type to put up with the abuse the way she did, or to handle it the way she did…I didn’t even feel like I knew Lance well enough to understand his motives…his character in the beginning was so unlike his character after that 100 page mark that it was like he was an entirely different character altogether. I should have still recognized some of the early Lance, more so than just his use of the term Darling (barf). Beyond that, for the life of me, I couldn’t fathom how Pops and Ryan were so obtuse. For such a tight knit family, none of them seemed to know anything about each other, and their complete naivety over Kristy’s relationship—while living in the same house—drove me nuts.
And this is why I’m struggling with this review. I didn’t hate this one, but as I’m sitting here now I’m struggling to come up with something I liked, beyond the plot itself. The writing wasn’t bad, but I’ll admit, third-person isn’t my favorite POV, especially for a story like this one, and I think it may have impeded my emotional connection to the story and the characters. It just felt a bit one-dimensional.
Despite that, I did read this one through to the end so something must have kept me interested.
I went into this one blind and honestly had no idea what it was about when I started reading. So when it took a turn about 100 pages in, I was a bit surprised—to the point that I ended up going back to read the blurb. But after that “twist”, everything just kind of happened…it was told, not shown.
From a character development standpoint, all the characters were doing things that felt “out of character” (so to speak). Kristy didn’t seem like the type to put up with the abuse the way she did, or to handle it the way she did…I didn’t even feel like I knew Lance well enough to understand his motives…his character in the beginning was so unlike his character after that 100 page mark that it was like he was an entirely different character altogether. I should have still recognized some of the early Lance, more so than just his use of the term Darling (barf). Beyond that, for the life of me, I couldn’t fathom how Pops and Ryan were so obtuse. For such a tight knit family, none of them seemed to know anything about each other, and their complete naivety over Kristy’s relationship—while living in the same house—drove me nuts.
And this is why I’m struggling with this review. I didn’t hate this one, but as I’m sitting here now I’m struggling to come up with something I liked, beyond the plot itself. The writing wasn’t bad, but I’ll admit, third-person isn’t my favorite POV, especially for a story like this one, and I think it may have impeded my emotional connection to the story and the characters. It just felt a bit one-dimensional.
Despite that, I did read this one through to the end so something must have kept me interested.
bushph's review against another edition
5.0
*** Find this review and others on my blog! ***
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone for providing me with this digital ARC. As always, all opinions are honest and my own.
This follows Kristy who is a working single mum who also has to look after her ill father. She works at as a press officer for the department of corrections in Texas handling all the press releases and interviews for the Prisons; including the inmates that are on death row. She meets Lance, her son’s martial arts teacher and things start really looking up until they get married and things take a turn for the worst and then Kristy starts wondering if she can get rid of Lance . . . for good.
Wow this book was amazing. To start with, Kristy’s job was so interesting, and we were actually told a lot about her job within the book itself, without it sounding too much like you were reading a Wikipedia article or job description. I knew that there were still states in the US that had the death penalty, but I didn’t realise that there was such a job as Kristy’s and it really was a fascinating insight into that field. She has to arrange interviews and talk to prisoners on death row to see if they want to give interviews and she also has the difficult task of trying to deal with the protestors against the death penalty and trying to make sure that the death penalty and what was happening at these prisons wasn’t seen in an entirely negative light (which is a difficult task!). We also got to see her form a relationship of sorts with one of the men on death row, Clifton Harris, who starts writing letters to her and they both become ‘friends’ or as friendly as you can become in that situation. We also get to hear Clifton’s story and why he’s on death row and I really feel like al of this could have been a story within itself that I would have been happy to read about!
The actual main storyline of the book was also a great story. Like mentioned above, we follow Kristy who is a single mum and is looking after her father who is ill whilst also working full-time to hep support her family. Her son starts secretly going to a martial arts class and when she finds out, she confronts his teacher; Lance. It’s from here that Kristy and Lance develop a relationship that turns romantic and they eventually get married where things go south, and Lance starts to abuse her. I would like to first point out that I have no experience with domestic abuse and so I cannot comment on how it is portrayed in this book and I obviously do not condone Kristy’s actions in this book. I really liked how it eased into the abuse and I could see the progression as his abuse got worse. I really felt for Kristy and although I wanted her to leave Lance and get out with her family, it was easy to understand why she couldn’t just up and leave. Lance had managed to insert himself into every aspect her life and had everyone fooled. I found myself rooting so badly for her to win and get out of the relationship and the entire situation that she was in.
The characters were all developed really well. We got to hear plenty about Kristy herself; obviously it mentioned the job and we also got to hear about what happened with her when she was younger in order for her to become a single mom and also with how she got her job. We heard lots about Kristys’ son, Ryan and also her sick father who become an integral part of why she can’t Lance within the story. And we obviously get to deal a lot with Lance and wow I really got to hate him. He seemed great at first; he treated Kristy great and not just that, he treated her family great and was a real family man. He was romantic and loving and made Kristy feel amazing but there always seemed to be someth8ing off with him. And of course, he turns into an arrogant tool who is horrible and you just ending up rally really hating him and I’m glad of what happens in the end. Clifton Harris, the inmate was also a great character. We got to hear his story of why he’s in prison and it really threw some questions up on whether he’s guilty or not and made you really think about the death penalty and also the justice system in general.
I would 100% recommend that you pick this book up and it has definitely become one of my favourite books of this year so far. It’s a griping read but not just that, it’s interesting as well and you just don’t want to put it down. I have Babydoll by Hollie Overton sitting on my shelf and it’s definitely going to be one that I pick up sooner rather than later because of how fantastic this was. You can find this on Amazon in paperback and kindle.
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Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone for providing me with this digital ARC. As always, all opinions are honest and my own.
This follows Kristy who is a working single mum who also has to look after her ill father. She works at as a press officer for the department of corrections in Texas handling all the press releases and interviews for the Prisons; including the inmates that are on death row. She meets Lance, her son’s martial arts teacher and things start really looking up until they get married and things take a turn for the worst and then Kristy starts wondering if she can get rid of Lance . . . for good.
Wow this book was amazing. To start with, Kristy’s job was so interesting, and we were actually told a lot about her job within the book itself, without it sounding too much like you were reading a Wikipedia article or job description. I knew that there were still states in the US that had the death penalty, but I didn’t realise that there was such a job as Kristy’s and it really was a fascinating insight into that field. She has to arrange interviews and talk to prisoners on death row to see if they want to give interviews and she also has the difficult task of trying to deal with the protestors against the death penalty and trying to make sure that the death penalty and what was happening at these prisons wasn’t seen in an entirely negative light (which is a difficult task!). We also got to see her form a relationship of sorts with one of the men on death row, Clifton Harris, who starts writing letters to her and they both become ‘friends’ or as friendly as you can become in that situation. We also get to hear Clifton’s story and why he’s on death row and I really feel like al of this could have been a story within itself that I would have been happy to read about!
The actual main storyline of the book was also a great story. Like mentioned above, we follow Kristy who is a single mum and is looking after her father who is ill whilst also working full-time to hep support her family. Her son starts secretly going to a martial arts class and when she finds out, she confronts his teacher; Lance. It’s from here that Kristy and Lance develop a relationship that turns romantic and they eventually get married where things go south, and Lance starts to abuse her. I would like to first point out that I have no experience with domestic abuse and so I cannot comment on how it is portrayed in this book and I obviously do not condone Kristy’s actions in this book. I really liked how it eased into the abuse and I could see the progression as his abuse got worse. I really felt for Kristy and although I wanted her to leave Lance and get out with her family, it was easy to understand why she couldn’t just up and leave. Lance had managed to insert himself into every aspect her life and had everyone fooled. I found myself rooting so badly for her to win and get out of the relationship and the entire situation that she was in.
The characters were all developed really well. We got to hear plenty about Kristy herself; obviously it mentioned the job and we also got to hear about what happened with her when she was younger in order for her to become a single mom and also with how she got her job. We heard lots about Kristys’ son, Ryan and also her sick father who become an integral part of why she can’t Lance within the story. And we obviously get to deal a lot with Lance and wow I really got to hate him. He seemed great at first; he treated Kristy great and not just that, he treated her family great and was a real family man. He was romantic and loving and made Kristy feel amazing but there always seemed to be someth8ing off with him. And of course, he turns into an arrogant tool who is horrible and you just ending up rally really hating him and I’m glad of what happens in the end. Clifton Harris, the inmate was also a great character. We got to hear his story of why he’s in prison and it really threw some questions up on whether he’s guilty or not and made you really think about the death penalty and also the justice system in general.
I would 100% recommend that you pick this book up and it has definitely become one of my favourite books of this year so far. It’s a griping read but not just that, it’s interesting as well and you just don’t want to put it down. I have Babydoll by Hollie Overton sitting on my shelf and it’s definitely going to be one that I pick up sooner rather than later because of how fantastic this was. You can find this on Amazon in paperback and kindle.
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thriller_chick's review against another edition
1.0
The idea for this book sounds amazing and a bit unique. But it is so slow and nearly 100 pages in I was so bored I just could not continue. I like the characters, they were well developed however the story just took way too long to get started. One thing would happen then the story died a little then another thing and the same. I wish it had turned out better.
alexblackreads's review against another edition
3.0
I adored Baby Doll, so I thought I'd give Hollie Overton's next book a try, but this wasn't really for me. I struggle a lot with thrillers about domestic violence where it's treated as a battle of wits. Like the main character doesn't love her abusive husband, she's just a prisoner and considers him a sadistic sociopath. It's just not my thing, so this book had an uphill struggle to begin with.
The first half was so hard for me. I was bored and I didn't care and I honestly started questioning if I liked Baby Doll at all. But I will admit, the second half got a lot better. I was invested and wanted to follow the story. In the end, it wound up being on the verge of four stars because of how much better it got.
I feel like it brought up a lot of interesting questions about justice and abuse and guilt, but never really explored them. I would have liked to see a lot more depth because I could have loved a book like that. What we got felt a little lacking and way too obvious.
It was a fun ride and I would recommend it, but I think it came up a bit short. Not amazing, but I did enjoy it.
The first half was so hard for me. I was bored and I didn't care and I honestly started questioning if I liked Baby Doll at all. But I will admit, the second half got a lot better. I was invested and wanted to follow the story. In the end, it wound up being on the verge of four stars because of how much better it got.
I feel like it brought up a lot of interesting questions about justice and abuse and guilt, but never really explored them. I would have liked to see a lot more depth because I could have loved a book like that. What we got felt a little lacking and way too obvious.
It was a fun ride and I would recommend it, but I think it came up a bit short. Not amazing, but I did enjoy it.
myaf12097's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
cteixeira's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
literarylouhoo's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Good story! Predictable, but the writing kept me on the edge of my seat regardless.
chireadsandchill's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Suicide, Murder, and Rape