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.
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.
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