Reviews

Truly Unfortunate by C.A. King

efabri123's review

1.0

I hate leaving bad reviews. It takes great effort to finish a book and ready it for publication. In my opinion, this one wasn't ready.

The dialogue is severely lacking. I'm shocked that this author has supposedly won awards. Over halfway through the book there is a scene where a detective confronts the main character's doctor. Not only does the conversation come across as awkward but the detective convinces the doctor to tell all within about a page. Then suddenly the doctor becomes this sleuth who somehow gains access to all of the police files and is convinced he has solved the whole mystery and explains it to the main character...

By the way the doctor's name is Dr Stevenson but in one instance he is referred to as Dr Sven. Looks like the editor didn't catch that.

Overall, the concept was interesting but the characters seemed rather uninspired. All of the men in the main character's life are pieces of s***. I have a hard time feeling sorry for the main character because she seems to have done nothing in her life to get out of these bad situations. I see why this author is able to pump out books so quickly. What she has in quantity she lacks in quality.

Even the description of this book on Goodreads talks about Knoll County, when the book specifically calls it Knollville. This is what happens when you rush a publication. And this is part of myself published authors have such a bad reputation.

shannlynn's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This was an amazing read to get lost in! I couldn’t read it fast enough and was constantly surprised by what would happen next. The way this author creates Truly’s world is nothing short of incredible. I’m not often taken by surprise by books as they can be fairly predictable, but this one delivered. The blend of paranormal and crime was so superb I am searching out others that fit this bill as best as possible! The chapters themselves are a bit shorter than most books I read, but they flow so well together that I barely noticed. I highly recommend picking this up and answering this question yourself…is Truly really unfortunate? 

duckygal's review

5.0

 

This is the first book in the Welcome to Knollville series. I was really drawn to the not remembering anything aspect of this story. The book is on the shorter side but is certainly not lacking. There were great characters, brilliant world-building and an enjoyable writing style used.  

I love Truly the most of all the fabulous characters, she’s so lovely and works hard to provide for herself. Despite amnesia she powers through, and you can’t help but root for her. 

Other characters are just as memorable, easy to love and relatable to people you may encounter in everyday life. 

I loved it and can’t wait to get started on the next book! 

tarajohnson's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative lighthearted mysterious tense medium-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

5.0

 

Truly Unfortunate is Book One in the Welcome to Knollville Series. It is a superbly written supernatural crime book with twists and turns that will hook you and keep you reading to the end. The story centers around Truly who is seeing a doctor in the hopes of regaining her childhood memories. Her doctor feels that something terrible must have happened to Truly as a child that she has repressed for all these years. Truly’s life at present is not going well and she is struggling to make ends meet even while working three jobs. Her landlord has just increased her rent, will not do necessary repairs in her apartment, and is trying to blackmail her into sleeping with him to help pay her rent. Then, of course, she is having visions that she is unsure whether are suppressed memories coming back to her or if she is hallucinating.  Each vision has her blacking out for small amounts of time and leaves her feeling like she was in a fog. To make matters worse people around her seem to be dying at an alarming rate and she was the last one to have had contact with each of the victims.  

Jeff is the other character that the story focuses heavily around. He is a member of the Knoll police who is determined to solve the mysterious deaths in Knollville. He does not believe that these deaths were accidents and suspects that these are all linked. Jeff suspects that they might even be linked to when he was a child and his nine-year-old classmate died in an accident. He always felt her death was suspicious and that is what compelled him to join the police force. Jeff strongly feels that the other girl who was present during the accident of his classmate was somehow involved but he has never been able to prove it. Not only was this young girl present when the classmate, a notorious bully, died but the young girl’s stepfather and mother also died when she was young. Now this young girl, Truly, just happens to be the last person to have seen each of the victims in a recent string of mysterious deaths. Jeff is determined to prove that Truly is involved in all the deaths and that they were not accidents but were instead murders. 

This book was entertaining and had me captivated from the first few pages. The author’s writing style is unique, brilliant, and masterful. The storyline was a bit dark and twisted at times as Truly’s story took center stage. The characters were engaging, lovable, and relatable. As I was introduced to Truly, I immediately felt sympathy for her because of her horrific childhood. It was obvious that she had been horribly abused and therefore her mind suppressed the memories for her to cope. Yet, at the same time, I could not help wondering if she was involved somehow in all the deaths, even those going back to her childhood.  Was that the real reason behind her suppressing the memories of her childhood for so long? I also wondered about the current visions that left Truly feeling as though she had lost chunks of time. How long were these lapses and what else was going on at the time? These mysterious little tidbits kept me reading to learn more. I was intrigued by the mysterious undertones, the links between past and present, and whether Truly was involved, or if it was coincidental.  The twists and turns the book took had me on the edge of my seat, well done! I cannot wait for the next book in this superbly written series. This is a great read and I highly recommend it! 

debrobinson's review

adventurous lighthearted mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

 

Truly, our main character is a 9 year old girl at the beginning of the book.  Her mother works 3 jobs and she is left with her mom’s boyfriend.  Truly is traumatised and does not remember her childhood. She has been going to a doctor for help for years with no success. 

Truly as an adult is struggling.  As the book progresses you will find out how and why.  Everywhere she turns, life is kicking her and she really has nowhere to turn.  Deaths begin to happen and the connection comes back to Truly, although, she wasn’t at any of the deaths.  Is there a way Truly can be free of all these unfortunate occurrences.

 

rayne's review

5.0

Mysterious and dark paranormal

This was wonderfully put together dark supernatural story. I love my Grimm fairytales and this was a brilliant twisted version. Truly is an easily relatable character and soon has the reader vested in her story. The writing and imagery draw you in as the thrills and spills keep coming. This had me thinking long after I had finished the last page. Highly recommend

aylaphipps's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

5.0

 “Accidents”. While this is not the first book, I have read by the amazing C.A. King it is the first book of this kind, previously read Grave Digger Academy books one and two. The mystery that seeps off the pages fills you up until you can’t take it, reading as quickly as you can to discover the next twist and how it will all end. Told mostly from the perspectives of Truly and Jeff the mystery that is fortune telling is a dangerous one to follow, especially in Knollville. 

Truly is currently twenty-four years old and working three jobs to afford the psychiatrist that is trying to help her recover her memories from age nine. Jeff also twenty-four years old is a detective in Knollville, and according to his partner Miranda they get all the weird calls because of his crazy ideas. Only one day the crazy call ends up triggering a memory, which gets stranger when it happens a second time in as many days. Two men on their phones walk into oncoming traffic and killed, both after getting a “fortune” that told of their demise. Jeff thinking back to when he was nine years old remembers an identical “accident” of the class bully Priscilla. Her favorite target was Truly. Knowing she is involved he gets his partner on his side and the captain agrees to get them a meeting with the detective from fifteen years ago that covered Priscillas case and the case of Truly’s mother and her boyfriends’ death. All three separate events but all three tied to Truly when she was only nine years old. Docter Stevenson (her psychiatrist) and Doctor Sven (hypnosis specialist) begin a hypnosis study on Truly for a book. The memories they are trying to uncover are from the time frame of the accidents when she was a little girl. Damionion, a magician that Truly states meeting when she was nine told her that he would handle all her troubles all she had to do was read their fortune. Several years later and she is hearing and seeing him again. 

Is Truly really handing out her enemies’ demises or is she another victim of Damionion? Can Jeff solve the “murders” with his job intact? Who is Damionion and is he a real person? One of my favorite things about this author is their attention to detail even down to the more unappealing things such as the yellow sweat stains on Bernard’s shirt. She makes sure you get an entire picture, one that you can nearly smell sometimes. I can’t wait to the next book in the series, Serendipity’s Debt and see where Jeff’s career goes next when his gut tells him something is wrong in Knollville. 

wolfsbane26's review

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

In the present day, Truly has no memories of her childhood. She starts undergoing treatment to try to recover those memories all while life around her keeps getting worse and worse. She’s working 3 jobs and she still is having trouble making ends meet. When her psychiatrist suggests working with another doctor who specializes in hypnosis and zero cost, she jumps on it. Weird visions start happening to her and Truly isn’t sure if she is going crazy or if they are memories. 

Meanwhile people who have been making Trulys life harder are victims of unfortunate accidents. Jeff, the detective for the recent victims, thinks there is more to it than accidents but he can’t figure out how. He witnessed a young girl in his class die from a similar ‘accident’ and he thinks that it's the same killer from back then. The only question is how are these accidents going to be proved otherwise?

I honestly love this author. Their writing style is so unique and this is another masterpiece. I was hooked as soon as I started reading it. The premise was dark and mysterious but also thrilling. You can’t help but feel sorry for Truly since nothing seems to go her way. The author wrote Truly very well. I could see everything vividly. The plot itself is so different from anything I have read and I was truly (haha) surprised with the plot twist near the end.

carla_c's review

5.0

I could read this author all the time! I love her writing style and the fact that she is very versatile in her writing. This supernatural crime story was just what I needed. Truly has nothing but bad luck when it comes to life. As she tries to remember her past and why she cannot remember anything from her childhood life continues to throw curve balls at her. I love the plot twist this book took. I did not expect the ending at all and was really surprised where life took Truly! I cannot wait to read more of the Knollville stories! 

valerie5121's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

 A young girl with a troubled past she can’t remember. As her doctor attempts to transition her meds, memories start to return slowly, as do strange events occurring around her. Truly is working three jobs to pay rent to a sleazy slum lord and pay for a doctor who is trying to help her remember what trauma she faced in her past so she can stop having nightmares and move on with her life.

Nothing is as it seems; every time you think you have it figured out, another twist is thrown at you from beginning to end. King includes great foreshadowing hinting at what is to come, but nothing is quite how you expected it.

Some psychological twists you see coming and a surprise ending that plays out in a way you don’t quite expect. My emotions were up and down with this roller coaster of a thriller. The ending leaves you with just as many questions as it does answers, wondering who really are the good and bad guys and how you really define good or bad.