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kazik's review
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Stalking, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Vomit
allyhoo811's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I had previously read Foley's "The Guest List", which I loved (I believe I gave it 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5). I recently finished reading her earlier work "The Hunting Party" and while I enjoyed it a great deal, I didn't find it to be at quite the same level as the "Guest List." I am giving "The Hunting Part" a 3 star rating solely because of my dislike for the epilogue, had that part been done differently I would have definitely given this story 4 stars. The growth between these two works has me excited for what's to come next, Foley is probably going to be an automatic read author for me in the future.
What I Enjoyed About "The Hunting Party": I love Foley's take on the traditional closed-circle mystery. It is so much fun to try to guess both the victim and the murderer. She is also a master at using atmosphere to create suspense.
I also enjoy that Foley lays out the clues so you can solve the mystery yourself, there isn't a big out of nowhere twist if you are paying attention. I prefer my suspense/thriller novels written this way -- though many other people like to be totally shocked.
Where I found "The Hunting Party" lacking compared to "The Guest List": The main plot for "The Hunting Party" was just as compelling as "The Guest List", but the side-plots did not tie into the main story as nicely (The Highland Ripper, the drug trafficking, Mark's past assault incident ). The felt more like red-herrings and less like a smaller part of the over-arching mystery. I also found several of the characters to be completely irrelevant in this story, which wasn't the case with "The Guest List" ( Nick and Bo were basically pointless and Samara and Giles almost were. Perhaps it wouldn't have felt that way if it hadn't been revealed so early that the victim was female, that knocked out a large portion of the mystery and it became obvious who the victim was ).
My Big Complaint That Brought Down My Review
I hated the epilogue, specially the portion from Katie's POV. While reading the story it was quite obvious early on that Miranda was going to be the victim. But because of how everyone was written and the things about Katie/Julien and Emma that I was able to piece together, Miranda was my favorite character. Everyone had beef with her and she wasn't perfect, but she also wasn't a terrible person. Her being the victim isn't why I disliked the book -- that can make for a very interesting story. What I disliked was everyone's reaction to her death and the fact that no one really received real consequences for the things they did to her. Katie still seemed holier-than-thou despite claiming to feel guilty. Julien apparently gets to live the high life after insider trading and cheating on his wife. Even Emma is getting away with a minor sentence and no mental health treatment and Miranda was made out to be the big bad at the trial. So incredibly frustrating. This may very well be a petty thing, but it really dimensioned my enjoyment of the ending and subsequently my enjoyment of the book as a whole. The "Guest List" had a similar issue at the end that brought my rating down from a 5 to a 4.5. I understand that this kind of thing happens IRL, but I like a little justice/consequences in my books
What I Enjoyed About "The Hunting Party": I love Foley's take on the traditional closed-circle mystery. It is so much fun to try to guess both the victim and the murderer. She is also a master at using atmosphere to create suspense.
I also enjoy that Foley lays out the clues so you can solve the mystery yourself, there isn't a big out of nowhere twist if you are paying attention. I prefer my suspense/thriller novels written this way -- though many other people like to be totally shocked.
Where I found "The Hunting Party" lacking compared to "The Guest List": The main plot for "The Hunting Party" was just as compelling as "The Guest List", but the side-plots did not tie into the main story as nicely (
My Big Complaint That Brought Down My Review
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Drug use, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Stalking, Violence, and Sexual assault
Minor: Drug abuse and Homophobia
awells96's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Infertility, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Grief, and Homophobia
Minor: Body shaming, Drug abuse, and Vomit
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