Stacy Kingsley - The blog of author Stacy Kingsley

Book Review - I'LL NEVER TELL by Catherine McKenzie

5/21/2020

I'll Never Tell by Catherine McKenzie is a novel about a dysfunctional family who find that they must make a decision about everyone's future when their parents die. The family is made up of Ryan, Margaux, Mary, and twins Liddie and Kate, and they grew up having to spends their summers at their parents camp, being campers and then counselors. One summer, Margaux's best friend, Amanda Holmes, is found bludgeoned and close to death. What happened to Amanda? Is someone in the family to blame? Twenty years later, after their parents die, they must find out who was responsible and decide the fate of their inheritance and their siblings.

At first this novel was slow reading, as most of the characters were unlikable. I also have become annoyed at books where each chapter is from the point-of-view of another character. This trope is beginning to make me feel as if I don't get to know any of the characters in a novel well enough to care about them. This did have moments like that, and as I stated in the first sentence, most of the characters were unlikable. Throughout the novel, you get snippets from Amanda, from that night to after.

There are a lot of secrets in this novel, and the fact that none of these siblings talked at all was a little annoying and it seemed unrealistic to me. I have siblings, yes you go moments without speaking, but in today's day and age there are times when you can not talk for months but you might at least send a snap to one another. After reading halfway the novel started becoming a little more interesting.

I started to wonder a little more about Amanda. In fact, I wished that there were more about her in the novel. As stated earlier, there were snippets, but we didn't really get to know anything about her, and I wanted more. I wanted to know a little more about her background and her history, even more about her family and her familial relationships would have been something. I would have liked to know more since the entire book revolved around her.

Instead, we read more about the family, and learn that no one knows anything about anyone else. There were a few things in the novel that I would have liked to know more about, and I can't write about them here otherwise I'll give away detail that are important to the novel.

Overall, I did end up enjoying this novel. I did not see the end coming, which was a relief since so many books are predictable. I liked how it ended I just wanted a little more. The reason for the bludgeoning felt a little shallow, and it didn't feel like it was worth it in the end. I wanted more, I often want more.

Now, that being said, I did like this because it did keep me interested, and I did want to know who the bad guy was. Plus, I didn't feel like putting this book down, so that is always a plus.

Book Review - THE WOMEN IN THE CASTLE by Jessica Shattuck

4/24/2020

The Women in the Castle by Jessica Shattuck has several parts and it covers several years, before, during, and after World War II.

Marianne is the main character. She is a woman who's husband is a resister of Hitler's, and when he and a few other resisters fail in their mission, Marianne is tasked with finding other lost wives and children of other resisters.

This novel followed three women, Marianne, Ania, and Benita. Marianne is stubborn in her ways, but she also wants to see everyone succeed. She is a stubborn and strong character, everything is black or white. Ania is a woman with a secret, and she is unwilling to tell anyone because it might affect her safety and the safety of her two sons. She is a strong woman, and is willing to help Marianna as much as she can, however, it might only be because she doesn't want anyone to find out the truth she is keeping hidden. Benita is a young woman, who depends too much on her looks and smarts to get and keep men. She doesn't really know how to protect herself, even though later in the book we find that in certain instances she isn't the weak little girl she often appears to be.

I, overall, liked this book. I thought it was interesting and a deep read. Being about the different sides of Germany and the reaction people had to Hitler was thought provoking. Of course this is a fiction book, so you can take from it what you wish.

My complaints are small. I wanted more women in the castle. I wanted to see a wider variety of women who had survived as well as they could have. I wanted to see more from people who had different experiences. I also wanted to see a little more development in some of the characters, or at least hear more about their experiences. We don't get too into depth with Marianne, and I feel that her character should have had more change and development. There were some horrifying parts, but I feel like some of it could have been explored more. Most of us know what happened in WWII, and this could have gone a little deeper into the experiences (even as fiction) of the women, and other people they had met.

My other minor complaint was the children seemed inconsequential. There was a part in the beginning when you thought Marianne's daughters would have more to do with the story than they did. I wanted to hear more from them, and more from Ania's sons. I feel that there could have been more written from the different point of views of the children.

This was not a bad book. I did enjoy it. I thought it was a little too long, and at times a little too slow, so it could have been edited down a little bit. That being said, I do recommend this book. It was pretty good and mostly kept my interest.

Book Review - THE TOLL by Cherie Priest

4/3/2020

The Toll by Cherie Priest is about a couple, Titus and Melanie Bell, who are traveling to their honeymoon destination, a campsite near a swamp for a canoe trip. As they get closer to the campsite strange things start to happen and Titus finds himself on a single lane bridge that seems unsafe for travel. Later Titus wakes up in the middle of the road, unsure of how he got there, his new wife missing. In a town not far away lives a cast of characters, Jess, Dave, Cameron, Daisy, Claire, and a crazy old woman (which every small town has).

There aren't many characters in this book who are likeable, and the ones who are, Daisy, Claire, and Dave, aren't used to their full advantage. I would have liked to see a little more development with them, and at least a little more in Dave's backstory since he is not only important to Jess, but Cameron and Titus as well.

Titus is a very unlikable man, and as we meander through the book it often seems as if he doesn't like his new bride. Melanie and him don't seem to get along from the beginning, which is not only uncomfortable, but it makes the reader not really care what has happened to Melanie. The reader doesn't really get to know her, so in the end we don't care what has happened because we don't get much personality. Jess is underdeveloped as well. She could have been much stronger and used better than she was. As she was there was very little to her. As Dave's girlfriend and Cameron's crush she could have been a key plot device, and yet she herself really wasn't.

I was expecting more from this book than I got. After the first chapter I became confused, and I am really getting a little tired of chapters that switch from one character or setting or even timeline to another. Can we just have one timeline? One character, even two is okay, but five is too many. Can we have strong, interesting characters?

The story didn't seem complete. There wasn't enough information for me to feel fear or scared for the characters. There was a big bad something, but since it was never defined, and it was only repeated that every few years the "something" caused people to disappear, there wasn't a defined thing to be afraid of, or scared for the characters.

I'm not sure that horror is Cherie Priest's genre. After reading Boneshaker I feel she should stick to steampunk. This was not the best novel I've read recently, and I personally don't feel that it really fits in the horror genre. I'm not sure I, personally, will read any more of Priest's novels. I wanted more, so much more.

This book was a chore to read. I had to force myself to read it over several weeks, and I am generally a fast reader.

Interview with Horror Author Luke Walker

3/24/2020

Luke Walker has been writing horror, fantasy and dark thrillers for most of his life. His new novel The Dead Room is out now. Other releases by Luke Walker are The Day Of The New Gods, The Mirror Of The Nameless, The Unredeemed, Ascent, Hometown, Die Laughing, and Dead Sun. Pandemonium and The Kindred will be published by Hellbound Books in 2020. Several of his short stories have been published online and in magazines/books. He is forty-two and lives in England with his wife and cats.

Let's meet Luke!

Does writing energize or exhaust you?
A bit of both. I’m generally pretty pumped when I start a new book and find the certain something about it that works. Before that, I might flail a bit but then it kicks in. Same with the end when it all comes together. However, there are plenty of moments during the process, or the edits, when it’s a drag and I’m wiped out by it. Thankfully, the good outweighs the bad, most of the time.

What are common traps for aspiring writers?
So many. A big one is thinking your first book(s) will change the world and make you a star, and being self-indulgent and writing about yourself, your experiences, and thinking the rest of the world will care. One issue if writing a book that doesn’t really have a plot or a story. If submitting stuff to agents or publishers, submitting books that aren’t anywhere near ready for submission, and being unprofessional in your submissions. A lot of new authors fall into the trap of talking about writing without actually doing much writing.

I did a few of these back in my early days, I’m sorry to say. We probably all do some of them. The important thing is to learn from them, find our individual voice and go from there.

Have you ever gotten reader’s block?
I haven’t been blocked exactly for the last year, but owing to various personal setbacks, writing has been much harder than at any other point in the last twenty years. I thought I was coming through it earlier this year, but then hit some more personal stuff. Now, of course, we’re dealing with a pandemic and nobody has a clue what’s going to happen. It makes sitting down to make stuff up seem a bit silly. I’m planning a few short stories and a new book and hoping to get stuck in as soon as possible. (This is about writer's block!)

Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?
I think what readers want is something original. Yes, there are always tropes and familiar areas in all genres. It’s like seeing your favourite band play a gig – you want them to bust out the hits; they want to play you their new album. The writer has to be original and still have fun with familiar angles. I often like to take an overdone trope and play with it. Readers aren’t stupid. They know when you’re pandering to them. When it comes down to it, everyone wants a good, well told tale. The rest is just noise.

How did publishing your first book change your process of writing?
It didn’t change it in a big way. I’ve been writing with an eye on publication for close to twenty-five years. My first book was published in 2013 (and then republished a couple of years later by a different company), so I’d had plenty of time to write, work out what I wanted to say, and how to say it. I knew about editing and rewrites, and the long, hard slog of getting the words down before the slightest chance a publisher would like it. My process has always been pretty much the same. I come up with a basic idea, develop it in to a loose plot with a few background details of the characters and research whatever I have to. I average two drafts, then a tidy up. I love the idea of winging the entire thing and seeing where it goes, but while I did that with my early stuff, I find it hard now. I like it work with notes and an idea. The story often goes its own way which is fine. As long as I can find my way out of it.

What’s your favorite under-appreciated novel?
Not so much novel as writers. Gary McMahon, Simon Bestwick, and Laura Mauro are three writers producing some first-rate stuff. Anyone who likes horror that stays with you needs to check them out. Ditto with the smaller publishers. They’ve got the writers I suspect the big presses won’t touch because horror is a dirty word in publishing. If you want great modern horror, the little guys are where you to need to go. (What he says is true, horror gets a bad rap in publishing houses)

What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?
It depends purely on the book. I often need to research guns, the police, locations, and distances. For my most recent book (yet to be submitted anywhere), I had to get into a lot of medical and tech stuff which really isn’t my thing. The trouble is, the more you look into unfamiliar areas, the more you find you don’t know, so it’s easy to get swamped and lose sight of the story. On average, I probably spend a couple of weeks researching for the first draft and then another couple when I rewrite.

Do you hide any secrets in your books that only a few people will find?
Not often, but I have done. My books Hometown and The Unredeemed share a couple of characters. Ditto The Unredeemed and Dead Sun. I often use the same town (Dalry) as a backdrop, but that doesn’t mean every book exists in the same version of Dalry. Far from it. As a character in Hometown says: “Dalry has a lot of sides.” Observant readers might spot a line that pops up in most of my books which sums up my fiction. No, I’m not saying what it is. You’ll have to read the books to find out.

What is your favorite childhood book?
Probably The Voyage of QV66. It’s a book by a British writer named Penelope Lively about a group of animals who live together after environmental collapse means humanity has left Earth. They go on a trip across a flooded Britain to find out what animal one of their number is. It’s very 70s and still charming. If you can find it, I definitely recommend it.

What is the most difficult part of your artistic process?
It’s the business side of the artistic process. Publishing is a slow, uncertain industry. The ‘no reply means no’ from agents has become much more prevalent in recent years which is understandable, but it still leaves the writer wondering if their submission has actually been received. Writing in a genre that mainstream publishing doesn’t seem to care for is also hard. My choice, of course, but still a pain. Horror has a loyal, hungry audience, but the big companies aren’t keen on it for the most part. The smaller companies give it the support they can, but their resources are obviously limited.

How can you reach Luke Walker:
www.lukewalkerwriter.com
@lukewalkerbooks
https://www.instagram.com/lukewalkerwriter/
author.to/LukeWalker

Luke welcomes comments at his blog which can be read at www.lukewalkerwriter.com and his Twitter page is @lukewalkerbooks. Sign up to his newsletter at

www.tinyletter.com/LukeWalkerWriter

Luke's New book PANDEMONIUMis available for pre-order now and will be released on 27th March.

http://www.hellboundbookspublishing.com/pandemonium.html

Kidnapped in broad daylight from a busy Edinburgh street, Hannah Wilson has no idea what her abductors want with her, as they chain her in the back of their van and speed out of the city. They tell her she's perfectly safe when she's terrified for her life. Transported to the far north of Scotland with dozens of others, all yanked from their lives across Britain, Hannah is taken to an isolated compound they call Pandemonium, which is an ultra-secure prison ruled by creatures that should exist only in nightmares - a place no one has survived for more than a few months. Hundreds of miles away from help, her family's lives at risk if she disobeys any order, Hannah knows the key to surviving her captivity is to bond with strangers and teach them all to refuse to be victims. But, she's running out of time to convince the other captives to take their fight to the black heart of the prison and its inhuman warden; Hannah is yet to discover she is not the only one about to start a war.
In Pandemonium, all Hell is going to break out.

Book Review - THE ONLY GIRL IN THE WORLD by Maude Julien

2/10/2020

The Only Girl in the World by Maude Julien is the non-fiction tale of her upbringing. She was raised by a controlling father and an absent, self-righteous mother. Throughout her telling of her childhood she goes into detail how her mother treated her, and how her father used every thing in his power to assert control over her. Maude grew up alone, in a large house, with no friends except a few animals, and sometimes, her mother.

This story does have some hard parts to read. There are a few detailed descriptions of sexual abuse, physiological abuse, and mental abuse. Maude's mother continually tells her that she hates her, and is jealous of the concern her husband has for Maude. She constantly tells Maude that she is trying too hard to get her father's attention, but she also laughs at times with Maude. The mother/daughter relationship is awkward and unloving, although it seems as though the mother does have feelings for her daughter, because of her own upbringing she doesn't know how to show or be appropriate to her daughter. Maude's mother was raised by Maude's father is a sort of incestuous grooming relationship.

The father seems to be the main abuser in this story, but throughout most of it, it seems as though he is a sad old man who is controlling because he has nothing better to do. There are several uncomfortable scenes, but throughout the mother seems to be crueler than the father. Included in the abusive, imprisoned upbringing, there are several instances of animal abuse. These instances are used to teach Maude and the animal, which further separates her and causes her to be depressed, self-abusive, and so very alone.

After saying all of this about the book, I do have to say that I didn't think it was as well written as it could have been. For a story of an abusive upbringing I felt that the author distanced herself too far from the situation, and this made the book a little flat. Yes, there were horrifying moments, but they didn't resonate as hard as they could have if there was some emotion behind them. I understand why the author has distanced herself, but this created a book that I didn't feel I could connect with, or feel for. There were few moments that I felt upset by what was happening, but most of these moments were things that happened to animals, so obviously the author has a strong connection with the animals.

I can't say I would or would not recommend this book. I think some people may be more disturbed by it than I was. I wanted to feel more, and some might not want to feel what the author was going through. However, that being said, it is an interesting look into a controlling, abusive, and dysfunctional family.

Book Review - THE LYING GAME by Ruth Ware

2/1/2020

*I want to start by apologizing for not writing anything last month. It is the first month since I started this blog in April of 2014 that I haven't written a single thing in one month. I will update everyone on my life this week, but for today, here is a new book review. Can't say I loved it.

The Lying Game by Ruth Ware was not the best book I've read of hers. The main character, Isa, is a new mother who is unable or uncomfortable leaving her new child, Freya, and who continually states she isn't sure she loves her partner. One night she gets a text, one she dreads, and she finds that she in entangled in something with friends from her childhood, something that is a secret she doesn't want to deal with. Her friends, Kate, Thea, and Fatima, all were in on the secret, something that happened and caused all of them to leave the boarding school they were attending together.

The entire point of this game was in part the title, the lying game, a game the girls play and enjoy while in school. This game was something they did to entertain themselves and something they used to combat the boredom they felt. However, the secrets were all mostly harmless, until they weren't. When Kate's father disappears things go to hell, and her step-brother, Luc, is sent back to live with his drug addict mother. Kate, at sixteen, is unable to take care of both Luc and herself.

I didn't find the main character, Isa, to be very interesting or very entertaining. She was annoying and I thought she was not at all likeable. There were times during my reading that I wanted to switch to another character, I begged for one of those books that followed more than one character. This novel did go back and forth between present day and the past, but it wasn't anything special. None of the characters were very interesting, and the rest, to be honest, weren't very developed. I would have liked more about Thea and her alcoholism, or about Fatima and living a Muslim life with her husband and children, or Kate and how she had been living in the house she had grown up in, the one where bad things happened.

The biggest issue I had with this book was that it was obvious pretty early on what happened, and it wasn't what the author was trying to lead you to believe. While I have enjoyed one of the three books I've read by Ruth Ware, I feel that she tries too hard to try making things "surprising" but in reality they never are.

This was not a great book, in my opinion. I understand others enjoyed it, and I will admit that Ruth Ware isn't a terrible author, I only think her sense of disbelief is misplaced and that she should try a little harder to write a cohesive and appealing story, and not try as hard to mislead the reader as to what is happening.

Book Review - The Exhibition of Persephone Q by Jessi Jezewska Stephens

12/29/2019

I won this book in a goodreads giveaway, and I was excited to read it, until I read it. The Exhibition of Persephone Q by Jessi Jezewska Stephens sounded promising. A young woman, Percy (not my real name), finds herself pregnant, married, and unable to sleep because she keeps holding her husbands nose closed when he sleeps. Her husband, Misha, has no reaction, and this scares her even more than the fact that she keeps doing it. She does worry that if it keeps going she will end up suffocation him, and she keeps letting us (the readers) know that she loves him and she has no idea why she is doing it. She then finds that her picture is in an exhibition of photography put on by her ex-fiance, who she keeps referring to as her fiance. The book seems to meander back and forth through many things that happen or conversations that Percy has. With so little action I found that it felt like it wasn't going anywhere, and at the end I felt that this was true. The actions she takes against Misha aren't resolved, and we never really find out why she has been holding his nose closed. The reader going through this with her, and her hanging out with her ex-fiance (who is annoyingly referred to as the fiance throughout the entire book, which makes it become tedious), and her pregnancy, and her inability to sleep, and nothing seems to really come together.

This book seems to desire to be about the alienation of Percy, but all of this she brought on herself. She is the one who no longer sleeps with her husband because she keeps pinching his nose closed. She is the one walking around New York in the middle of the night. She is the one who chases her ex-fiance to get answers as to why her picture is in his exhibit. And, even though this takes place in post 9-11 New York, the setting doesn't seem important, and besides some conversation, this could take place at any time, anywhere. It doesn't seem to pick up on the paranoia and trauma that followed the 9-11 attacks. Although, maybe this is represented in how paranoid and disturbed Percy seems to be.

Either way, I felt this book tried to hard. The language used didn't seem realistic to me, and I didn't find Percy to be an interesting or relatable character. The language and prose was overdrawn and at times I felt the author was trying too hard to make it sound smart. Of course, if you know anything about the original Persephone, some of the story will make sense, but that is only if you know the story.

This book will be released in February of 2020, and I am glad I won a copy because now I won't have to buy one. I can't say I'd recommend this one.

Author Interview with Kim Darnell

12/5/2019

I'd like to introduce you to Kim Darnell, author, wife, and mother. She recently released her debut novel Ready to Give An Answer. I was with Kim through part of this journey and trust me her book is one you don't want to miss. Her book is about life, and although many might look at it and think they don't want to read about someone's spiritual journey, trust me, you will. It is a book everyone and anyone can relate to, in several different ways. So without any more from me, let's meet Kim Darnell.

Let the internet world know what your debut novel is all about:
Ready to Give An Answer is a book I started out writing for myself and my family, but ended up wanting to share more widely once it was complete. It’s really the story of how I came to faith and how that impacted my life in high school, college, marriage, moving across the country, and handling an early miscarriage.

What do you want people to know about you and why you write?
As a little girl, I loved to write short stories and poems, and in school, I was one of the weird people who actually enjoyed writing book reports and essays, so much so that I ended up being a writing major! I write because it’s the best way I can express myself. I’d like to consider myself an articulate conversationalist, but writing has always been the way I feel I can best organize my thoughts and communicate clearly.

Why do you write the genre you do?
I hadn’t even heard of memoir until I took a class in college, and it was the perfect fit for me! I felt a bit out of place in poetry and fiction classes, but memoir was a place where I could bring my own stories to life.

What is the first book that made you cry?
Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White. It was one of my favorites as a child. How can you not cry when Wilbur has to say goodbye to Charlotte? *I think everyone can feel the same about this one - inserts interviewer*

What are common traps for aspiring writers?
Not being in a critique group. I was so much more productive as an aspiring writing when I regularly attended one. Critique groups keep you bringing new material, enliven your old material, and you get to meet a bunch of great writers — it’s what Michael Scott would call a win-win-win! *Oh yes, who gets this awesome reference?!?!*

How did publishing your first book change your process of writing?
Publishing my first book hasn’t really changed my writing process. It’s made me want to do it again! Self-publishing and marketing is a lot less fun than actually writing, but it is very rewarding to get to hear readers’ feedback. *Agreed

What was the best money you ever spent as a writer?
Probably on books. I don’t think you can be a good writer if you’re not a reader!

How do you select the names of your characters?
Although I write about real people, I do have to change names from time to time. Sometimes I’ll just go with the first name that pops into my head. Other times there has been someone else that the person has reminded me of, and I’ve used that name.

Do you Google yourself?
Not until you just asked that question… I’m pleased to see that my author picture came up!
*It is surprising how many people DON'T google themselves!!!*

How can people get in touch with you?
People can get in touch with me via Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Kim-Darnell-Author-405507216844829/?modal=admin_todo_tour.

What are you working on now?
I’m working on a new book called No One Ever Told Me and am soliciting feedback for readers to be featured in it! This book will be a collection of quotes and short stories from my own life and readers’ lives detailing things we had to learn on our own. Please consider sharing: What is it no one ever told you that you wish they had?
*Internetland, the link to answer this question, and maybe be a part of Mrs. Darnell's next book is below. Please feel free, if you have time to help Kim out!
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/8B8B953

Kim's book can be found on Amazon, or you can click on the link below, and it is available as an eBook and a paperback:
www.amazon.com/Ready-Give-Answer-Kim-Darnell/dp/1072014866

Book Review - THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW by A.J. Finn

12/1/2019

The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn will feel familiar when you start it, especially if you read The Girl on the Train, which this can be compared to. It is not like Gone Girl, which I will admit I totally hated.

Anna Fox is a former child psychiatrist who is now an agoraphobic who can't leave her house without passing out. If you know nothing about agoraphobia it is the fear of open spaces, or spaces you can't control and is often brought on by trauma or anxiety. Her and her husband, Ed, and daughter, Olivia, have separated, possibly due to the agoraphobia, possibly due to other reasons. When the Russell's move in across the street Anna finds herself drawn to the family, especially the teenage son, Ethan, and the wife, Jane. However, nothing is as it seems with the family, and once Anna hears a scream and believes that she sees Jane murdered things go sideways. Anna finds that no one believes her, and due to her condition and her reliance on both alcohol and prescription drugs she starts to not believe herself.

The story has two twists in it. One did surprise me and I was a little shocked, because I should have seen it coming, the other was foreshadowed and I could have guessed if I wasn't so into the story. The story itself was slow at times, and the pacing could have been a little faster. There were times when I felt so bogged down in Anna's feelings and life that I wanted to skip it and get to the story. I also wish that the author had focused a little more on the other characters on the street that Anna watched.

My biggest issue with this novel was with Anna herself. She continually repeated in the novel that she knew she shouldn't be drinking while she was taking her prescription meds, but she continually did just that. I would have liked a character who wasn't drunk all of the time, and I feel that she could have been seen as unstable just with her misuse of the prescription drugs that she was prescribed for her agoraphobia issues. I feel that the alcoholic female lead who isn't going to be believed has been a little over done at this point. There are other ways to create a believable unstable character without the use of booze or meds.

My other issue was with the character of Alister Russell. He was portrayed as a hard ass man who was overprotective of his family, but neither he nor Jane were developed enough to really add to the story. When you have important main characters in a novel they need to serve a purpose, and I feel that neither Jane, who we see little of, and Alister, who we see only when he is angry, aren't used to their full advantages.

I do recommend this, it wasn't bad, and I didn't hate it as much as I did Gone Girl, nor did I dislike it as much as I did The Woman on the Train. Plus, it looks as if a movie is coming and I find it is always a good idea to read the book before watching the movie.

Book Review - MY SISTER, THE SERIAL KILLER by Oyinkan Braithwaite

11/24/2019

Braithwaite's My Sister, the Serial Killer is a fun book about a young woman, the dependable Korede and her younger sister, Ayoola, who murders people. This novel has both good and bad in it.

The novel starts off when Korede is cleaning up another murder her sister has done. The young man who was murdered, Ayoola, claims to have killed in self-defense. Throughout this novel this goes back and forth, with Korede continually cleaning up after her sister, and everyone else stating how beautiful and perfect Ayoola is, even Korede.

I liked this book, but I wanted to like it more than I did. There were moments when the story was stagnant and the pacing was slow. For a book about a homicidal maniac, there was not enough murder. Korede is a young woman who has taken on the life of her sister. She keeps the guilt for herself, feeling guilty and continually seeing and stalking the young man killed at the beginning of the book. She is the one worried about getting caught, while Ayoola continues to do as she does, going out with whoever she chooses, doing as she pleases, thinking that nothing is wrong. Their mother even thinks that all of the issues are with Korede, not Ayoola. In fact everyone seems to think that all of the problems are Korede's not her murderous sister.

This is where I didn't like the book. I think that Ayoola was given too much credit, and I didn't enjoy reading Korede be so down on herself and her looks all of the time. She, in her own right, was beautiful, even as described by the author. I eventually got a little bored by her covering and discussions of Ayoola's beauty and flaws. I wanted more. I wanted more death, and really a reason to care for the characters, which is something that was missing. Even that main love interest, Tade, became a dud.

I was not happy with the ending, but I will say it was fitting for the tone and plot of the book, it also was not a surprise. The most interesting aspects of this novel was the setting, as it was not set in a familiar place. Not only that it was not set in a country that a lot of novels have been set in, being in Nigeria. I enjoyed the setting, the things I had to look up because I had no idea what they were, and the culture that came about. So for that reason I gave this book three stars.

I can't say either way if you should or should not read this novel, but I can say it will likely be like nothing you have read before. It might also be something that someone else might get more out of than me.