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pagesplotsandpints 's review for:
She Started It
by Sian Gilbert
Read Completed 7/9/23 | 3.5 stars
It takes a lot to really wow me with a thriller these days but this one was entertaining. It had a bit of a slow start, taking a while to introduce the characters and set up this island adventure getaway (after a very quick first chapter flash forward to the deadly part, of course).
SHE STARTED IT was definitely an entertaining read, so I rounded up to 3.5 for the readability factor. I didn’t know how this was going to play out, but I did have a suspicion very early on at the twist, which when it was revealed, turned out to be correct. I was a little bummed that it was so easy for me to guess and that there wasn’t something else to keep things twisty, but if you don’t guess it, it should be a pretty decent surprise.
Sometimes I have a hard time with so many female main characters like this. Their personalities weren’t enough to really separate them and I mixed them up quite a bit. With five different POVs (the four women and one diary), it got to be a little too much. I honestly don’t think we needed all of the POVs. We could have easily just had the one “important” one and the diary. That would have been plenty and maybe gotten me more connected to the characters.
It was also a book where everyone is unlikeable. The four girls bullied Poppy in high school and now Poppy seems to be out for revenge… but no one’s really matured or changed. They’ve gotten older but they’re still selfish and refuse to apologize. I wanted to root for Poppy but I still didn’t like the way she was handling things either. I kind of wanted to let the mean girls destroy themselves instead of Poppy taking straight revenge.
There were a few unbelievable things but they didn’t bother me and I let them go. Then ending could have used one more little wrap up, for my tastes. A solid revenge thriller but not quite to my tastes, though I can see this being an epic thrill ride for others!
It takes a lot to really wow me with a thriller these days but this one was entertaining. It had a bit of a slow start, taking a while to introduce the characters and set up this island adventure getaway (after a very quick first chapter flash forward to the deadly part, of course).
SHE STARTED IT was definitely an entertaining read, so I rounded up to 3.5 for the readability factor. I didn’t know how this was going to play out, but I did have a suspicion very early on at the twist, which when it was revealed, turned out to be correct. I was a little bummed that it was so easy for me to guess and that there wasn’t something else to keep things twisty, but if you don’t guess it, it should be a pretty decent surprise.
Sometimes I have a hard time with so many female main characters like this. Their personalities weren’t enough to really separate them and I mixed them up quite a bit. With five different POVs (the four women and one diary), it got to be a little too much. I honestly don’t think we needed all of the POVs. We could have easily just had the one “important” one and the diary. That would have been plenty and maybe gotten me more connected to the characters.
It was also a book where everyone is unlikeable. The four girls bullied Poppy in high school and now Poppy seems to be out for revenge… but no one’s really matured or changed. They’ve gotten older but they’re still selfish and refuse to apologize. I wanted to root for Poppy but I still didn’t like the way she was handling things either. I kind of wanted to let the mean girls destroy themselves instead of Poppy taking straight revenge.
There were a few unbelievable things but they didn’t bother me and I let them go. Then ending could have used one more little wrap up, for my tastes. A solid revenge thriller but not quite to my tastes, though I can see this being an epic thrill ride for others!