Scan barcode
A review by mbkarapcik
The Good Son by Jacquelyn Mitchard
2.0
Thea Demetriou thought the day would never come when she had to pick up her son Stefan from prison. He was convicted of killing his longtime girlfriend in cold blood, and, of course, the family harbors mixed feelings about his homecoming. Amid the protesters who frequently surround their home, Thea and her family try to somehow overcome the tragedy and lead her son toward his future.
Although I liked the premise of the book, I could not feel a ton of empathy for the son. Yes, he seems like a good kid until you find out what he did, and it's not like he was in a drunk driving accident--he violently murdered someone he loved. Excuses are made that he was under the influence of drugs. I found that hard to swallow plus, later in the book, it's stated that he allegedly had never been drunk before.
I felt empathy for the parents who struggle to live in their community as they had before with a loving family, fulfilling careers, and the coziness of a community of friends. Their lives are upended, especially Thea's in light of Stefan returning home.
But would you want to stay if your house is constantly surrounded by threatening protesters and news reporters trying to find out what they can about the family? And why didn't these people install a security system? They literally have a door that is not properly hung or has a busted lock.
Also, this part galled me most. I understand that the son is trying to get his life back, but how does he suddenly have this grand plan to run a charity and the motivation and wherewithal to get it off the ground running? And he starts this landscaping business without any prior knowledge about decorating the outside of people's homes.
In fact, he's a genius at landscape architecture even after being 17 and then locked up for murdering the beloved prom queen. This was so incredibly hard to believe, especially that people in the community didn't seem that uncomfortable about welcoming him aboard. I also found it hard to believe that an old high school friend brings him to a bunch of parties and get-togethers with his new crowd, and no one seems to be the least bit afraid of him, especially the women.
Once you get to the thriller part of the story, a few red herrings appear in the plot and then the ultimate twist comes at the very end of the book. Maybe a few hints are thrown in earlier, which did make it surprising, but it came off as confusing to me. Even incorporating this suspense made it seem like two different books colliding.
There are other discrepancies that I could point out, but all I can say is that I was disappointed. The writing flows and the descriptions of places and feelings help you easily imagine and relate to them, but it does not work with the sometimes disjointed story. It seemed like midway through the book, the author decided to change tacks and make it more into a thriller when I think it could have started out that way.
I'm not sure why this book couldn't have been better. Stronger editing or redirecting the plot perhaps? I've read a lot of the author's books, but I don't think this was a strong entry to her catalog.
Although I liked the premise of the book, I could not feel a ton of empathy for the son. Yes, he seems like a good kid until you find out what he did, and it's not like he was in a drunk driving accident--he violently murdered someone he loved. Excuses are made that he was under the influence of drugs. I found that hard to swallow plus, later in the book, it's stated that he allegedly had never been drunk before.
I felt empathy for the parents who struggle to live in their community as they had before with a loving family, fulfilling careers, and the coziness of a community of friends. Their lives are upended, especially Thea's in light of Stefan returning home.
But would you want to stay if your house is constantly surrounded by threatening protesters and news reporters trying to find out what they can about the family? And why didn't these people install a security system? They literally have a door that is not properly hung or has a busted lock.
Also, this part galled me most. I understand that the son is trying to get his life back, but how does he suddenly have this grand plan to run a charity and the motivation and wherewithal to get it off the ground running? And he starts this landscaping business without any prior knowledge about decorating the outside of people's homes.
In fact, he's a genius at landscape architecture even after being 17 and then locked up for murdering the beloved prom queen. This was so incredibly hard to believe, especially that people in the community didn't seem that uncomfortable about welcoming him aboard. I also found it hard to believe that an old high school friend brings him to a bunch of parties and get-togethers with his new crowd, and no one seems to be the least bit afraid of him, especially the women.
Once you get to the thriller part of the story, a few red herrings appear in the plot and then the ultimate twist comes at the very end of the book. Maybe a few hints are thrown in earlier, which did make it surprising, but it came off as confusing to me. Even incorporating this suspense made it seem like two different books colliding.
There are other discrepancies that I could point out, but all I can say is that I was disappointed. The writing flows and the descriptions of places and feelings help you easily imagine and relate to them, but it does not work with the sometimes disjointed story. It seemed like midway through the book, the author decided to change tacks and make it more into a thriller when I think it could have started out that way.
I'm not sure why this book couldn't have been better. Stronger editing or redirecting the plot perhaps? I've read a lot of the author's books, but I don't think this was a strong entry to her catalog.