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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
Fun and easy read, found the ending predictable but would recommend!
I simply loved this book. Now THIS is what you can call "literary fiction"! Full review to follow...
I was waiting for the climax and man oh man I didn't see that coming. I had to continue the story to see what happens. Nola was a real person and her character made the story come to life for me. She had flaws and many layers. I got emotionally attached to her. Can't wait for the next book.
The story was compelling, although a lot of the book seemed like 'asides' about other things going on in the world of the protagonist. But the insight into post-Katrina New Orleans was moving. For me, the most interesting random fact was that after the storm, workers went to damaged houses and spray-painted an X with a number to indicate the number of dead in the house, and that during the rebuild some ppl who repainted purposefully left the X and number visible as a tribute. I wouldn't say the writing deserved 4 stars but the sex-offender and Katrina content bumped it up for me.
The second of our trip home audiobooks. This story gave an interesting flavor of NOLA - one of our favorite places, complete with little historical lagniappes, all superimposed on a story about sexual abuse and child molestation. Sounds like a horrible mix, but it was well written and eased us along the story at just the right pace.
I'd have liked this a lot more if not for the totally bizarre inclusion of incorrect Spanish phrases from the main character, who constantly claims not to know much Spanish but is made to employ it as though it's her first language.
Post Katrina NOLA reporter is given her first big story (sex crimes) to write for the Times-Picayune. Great New Orleans ambiance, a flawed and troubled narrator who didn't drive me crazy, better than decent writing, the obligatory gay roommate, and, best of all, I didn't guess the ending. Castro has a second novel out with the same narrator, so it's an official series, now. Sign me up!
3.5 - 4 stars - my first book read in 2013! A very gritty read - not for the faint of stomach. A good solid, gritty female lead with qualities most often read in a male character. Good thrills and chills and twists. Full review pending...
If you had told me what this book was about, I wouldn't have picked it up. I don't, generally, like books that are this dark. But having said that, I'm glad I picked it up at the library thinking it would be a straight forward mystery (which it wasn't). Thank you new book shelf at the library.