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A review by bookph1le
The Breakdown by B.A. Paris
2.0
Wow. It's hard to believe how much less I liked this book than this author's other book. Super spoilers beyond the tag!
It did take me longer to figure out that Rachel was involved, but I reached that conclusion somewhere around the middle of the book, knowing the inheritance had to be a factor.
For the most part, I found the book boring and tedious, and Cass grated on my nerves a lot of the time. The whole first half felt so dragged out.
What kept me from totally disliking the book was that the final quarter really, really picked it. It was so fast-paced from there that I read compulsively all the way to the end.
Really, though, my biggest issue with this book was that the construction of it was really obvious to me. I could see all the pieces being slotted into place, and it kept me from being invested in the book. I can imagine it must be extremely difficult to put together intricate psychological suspense novels, so I know that plotting and outlining must be necessary to the process, but it's disappointing how much of a letdown these types of books end up being when I can tell the author is laboriously laying everything out. It prevents me from having the sense that things are happening organically, which makes it impossible for me to lose myself in the book.
Spoiler
I knew immediately that her husband was gaslighting her. From the moment he told her he was going to the gym the day after the murder, I knew he was involved in something. There are a LOT of clues that he's up to something, so many that I found them glaringly obvious.It did take me longer to figure out that Rachel was involved, but I reached that conclusion somewhere around the middle of the book, knowing the inheritance had to be a factor.
For the most part, I found the book boring and tedious, and Cass grated on my nerves a lot of the time. The whole first half felt so dragged out.
What kept me from totally disliking the book was that the final quarter really, really picked it. It was so fast-paced from there that I read compulsively all the way to the end.
Really, though, my biggest issue with this book was that the construction of it was really obvious to me. I could see all the pieces being slotted into place, and it kept me from being invested in the book. I can imagine it must be extremely difficult to put together intricate psychological suspense novels, so I know that plotting and outlining must be necessary to the process, but it's disappointing how much of a letdown these types of books end up being when I can tell the author is laboriously laying everything out. It prevents me from having the sense that things are happening organically, which makes it impossible for me to lose myself in the book.