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Spilling CID #7
Kind of Cruel
Described as having "perfected the psychological thriller" (Bookseller), Sophie Hannah deserves plenty of praise for Kind Of Cruel, a chilling novel which takes fear and suspense to a whole new level.
When Amber Hewerdine consults a hypnotherapist as a last resort, she doesn't expect that anything much will change. She doesn't expect it to help with her chronic insomnia ... or to hear herself, under hypnosis, saying words that mean nothing to her: "Kind, cruel, kind of cruel". Words she has seen somewhere before, if only she could remember where ...
She also doesn't expect to be arrested two hours later in connection with the brutal murder of Katharine Allen, a woman she's never heard of ...
When Amber Hewerdine consults a hypnotherapist as a last resort, she doesn't expect that anything much will change. She doesn't expect it to help with her chronic insomnia ... or to hear herself, under hypnosis, saying words that mean nothing to her: "Kind, cruel, kind of cruel". Words she has seen somewhere before, if only she could remember where ...
She also doesn't expect to be arrested two hours later in connection with the brutal murder of Katharine Allen, a woman she's never heard of ...
376 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2012
177 people are currently reading
4315 people want to read
About the author
Sophie Hannah
107 books4,539 followersSophie Hannah is an internationally bestselling writer of psychological crime fiction, published in 27 countries. In 2013, her latest novel, The Carrier, won the Crime Thriller of the Year Award at the Specsavers National Book Awards. Two of Sophie’s crime novels, The Point of Rescue and The Other Half Lives, have been adapted for television and appeared on ITV1 under the series title Case Sensitive in 2011 and 2012. In 2004, Sophie won first prize in the Daphne Du Maurier Festival Short Story Competition for her suspense story The Octopus Nest, which is now published in her first collection of short stories, The Fantastic Book of Everybody’s Secrets.
Sophie has also published five collections of poetry. Her fifth, Pessimism for Beginners, was shortlisted for the 2007 T S Eliot Award. Her poetry is studied at GCSE, A-level and degree level across the UK. From 1997 to 1999 she was Fellow Commoner in Creative Arts at Trinity College, Cambridge, and between 1999 and 2001 she was a fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford. She is forty-one and lives with her husband and children in Cambridge, where she is a Fellow Commoner at Lucy Cavendish College. She is currently working on a new challenge for the little grey cells of Hercule Poirot, Agatha Christie’s famous detective.
Sophie has also published five collections of poetry. Her fifth, Pessimism for Beginners, was shortlisted for the 2007 T S Eliot Award. Her poetry is studied at GCSE, A-level and degree level across the UK. From 1997 to 1999 she was Fellow Commoner in Creative Arts at Trinity College, Cambridge, and between 1999 and 2001 she was a fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford. She is forty-one and lives with her husband and children in Cambridge, where she is a Fellow Commoner at Lucy Cavendish College. She is currently working on a new challenge for the little grey cells of Hercule Poirot, Agatha Christie’s famous detective.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 634 reviews
June 13, 2023
A married couple hire a large house and fill it with relations for a family Christmas. On Christmas morning the couple disappear with their two small boys, returning on Boxing Day unharmed but resisting all requests for explanations.
Seven years later their sister-in-law, Amber, has become so obsessed by the mystery that she consults a hypnotherapist ostensibly to be cured of insomnia. Under hypnosis she utters the incomprehensible phrase “kind of cruel”, and shortly afterwards finds herself the suspect in the brutal murder of a total stranger.
Slow and wordy to this point, the action quickens with the appearance of police, a motley team - the blustering D.I. taunted by a maverick D.C, his brilliant wife, a lusty straying dog, a prim Greek sergeant - all good for comic effect, as are the bright children who write plays and teach their parents grammar.
Characterisation, dialogue, and plot are excellent.
Halfway the reader may pierce the fog to identify the killer but then find themselves engaged in a compulsion to discover the connection between the two murders and the weird family disappearance seven years ago.
The ending, if unwieldy and lengthy, is satisfying. A tantalising and disturbing book.
Seven years later their sister-in-law, Amber, has become so obsessed by the mystery that she consults a hypnotherapist ostensibly to be cured of insomnia. Under hypnosis she utters the incomprehensible phrase “kind of cruel”, and shortly afterwards finds herself the suspect in the brutal murder of a total stranger.
Slow and wordy to this point, the action quickens with the appearance of police, a motley team - the blustering D.I. taunted by a maverick D.C, his brilliant wife, a lusty straying dog, a prim Greek sergeant - all good for comic effect, as are the bright children who write plays and teach their parents grammar.
Characterisation, dialogue, and plot are excellent.
Halfway the reader may pierce the fog to identify the killer but then find themselves engaged in a compulsion to discover the connection between the two murders and the weird family disappearance seven years ago.
The ending, if unwieldy and lengthy, is satisfying. A tantalising and disturbing book.
April 21, 2012
Reading some of the other reviews for this book, I see the problems I have with it must be within myself. This is the first Sophie Hanna novel I've read and it will be the last. I found myself skimming through it. I found some of the scenes particularly claustrophobic, especially those involving the whole family and page after page of dialogue that seemed to go nowhere. I found that if I just read the last few lines of it, I got to the point a lot faster. The chapter separators were equally annoying since at first I had no idea who the narrator was or why they were even in there. Once the killer was "named", about 40 pages from the end, the rest of the book was psychoanalysis of the motivation of the crimes which I found ludicrous. It felt as if Ms. Hannah was saying "Look how much research I've done and look how clever I am". It was as if a good chef throw loads of ingredients in the pot together and expected to pull out a five course gourmet meal. The whole book just felt mashed together and tedious.
If you're a fan of her work, more power to you. This isn't for me but, thankfully, there a million other books out there that are.
If you're a fan of her work, more power to you. This isn't for me but, thankfully, there a million other books out there that are.
June 19, 2018
Following the feedback that I received from a number of readers for my anthology 'Manipulated Lives', I am very pleased that I chose to write fictional stories, as I feel that this was very effective and helpful in relaying the very important message that I was trying to convey on a serious subject such as narcissistic abuse. I picked up Sophie Hannah's book 'Kind of cruel' as it looked like she chose a similar mix in her book between fiction and aspects that could pass as sound self-help advice.
The author did a fantastic job in conveying the devastating consequences of narcissistic abuse in her book here and the story was compelling, intelligently written and the characters intriguing and complex. Narcissism is on the rise and there is an urgent need not only to understand the importance of healthy parenting but also how to help people with narcissistic personality disorder recognize their own behaviour so that thousands of victims are not only damaged for life but don't have to go through years of therapy to help them regain their much needed self-confidence and self-worth!
I will certainly look out for other books written by the author now as she has a unique style and her work shows thorough research skills!
The author did a fantastic job in conveying the devastating consequences of narcissistic abuse in her book here and the story was compelling, intelligently written and the characters intriguing and complex. Narcissism is on the rise and there is an urgent need not only to understand the importance of healthy parenting but also how to help people with narcissistic personality disorder recognize their own behaviour so that thousands of victims are not only damaged for life but don't have to go through years of therapy to help them regain their much needed self-confidence and self-worth!
I will certainly look out for other books written by the author now as she has a unique style and her work shows thorough research skills!
August 12, 2015
This book started off ok but very quickly went downhill. There are a couple of very glaring problems. The first being that Ginny is a hypnotherapist, someone who helps people quit smoking, lose weight etc by using hypnosis to alter their automatic thought processes. She is not a psychoanalyst. The two are very different with very different training and purposes, yet Ginny behaves as though she's a psychoanalyst who dabbles in hypnotherapy. She psychoanalyses everyone in the book from just meeting them briefly which is just preposterous. There's a reason psychoanalysis takes years.
It's as though her character's main function in the book is to explain the motives of the other characters, which is fine if it's absolutely necessary, but at least get the characters profession right. Make her presence in the book vaguely plausible. Or better yet, don't make the characters behaviour and motivations so ridiculous that they need third party explanations.
The second being that the words kind, cruel, kind of cruel are not so obscure. To suggest that somebody uttering them under hypnosis would attract so much attention that the police be involved is pretty far fetched. That it would be considered so strong a lead that a detective would spend the whole day sitting in while the suspect/witness undergoes hypnosis is ridiculous.
I call bullshit on the extent of Ambers insomnia. If she really did sleep as little as is claimed, she could not function, she would not be able to hold down a job or look after two kids. You need a certain amount of sleep for brain function. Amber would have been physically sick, depressed, forgetful, accident prone, paranoid, if not experiencing some degree of psychosis. I also think the reason given for the insomnia was weak.
What was the relevance of the pages and pages of psychoanalysis of Simon's character? Why do we care how he feels about having sex with his wife? In fact, what is the relevance of that whole Charlie and Simon relationship? And the Charlie and Olivia relationship? And while I'm on this Olivia character, why would a non-cop be involved in a murder investigation? Let alone solving it.
Which brings me to the killer. Who didn't see that coming from the first few chapters? Jo's motives are asinine. If she really didn't want to look after her disabled sister sometime in the distant future, she'd have killed her sister and not a slew of strangers, in an incredibly convoluted and dubious plot to have people think she has her hands full. Or she'd just plant the idea that she's got her hands full in people's heads. She's a narcissist, they're very good at spin. Her "plan" is just so ludicrous that she'd probably get off in court because you can drive a truck through the holes in the logic.
I don't think I'll be reading any more of these Spilling CID books.
It's as though her character's main function in the book is to explain the motives of the other characters, which is fine if it's absolutely necessary, but at least get the characters profession right. Make her presence in the book vaguely plausible. Or better yet, don't make the characters behaviour and motivations so ridiculous that they need third party explanations.
The second being that the words kind, cruel, kind of cruel are not so obscure. To suggest that somebody uttering them under hypnosis would attract so much attention that the police be involved is pretty far fetched. That it would be considered so strong a lead that a detective would spend the whole day sitting in while the suspect/witness undergoes hypnosis is ridiculous.
I call bullshit on the extent of Ambers insomnia. If she really did sleep as little as is claimed, she could not function, she would not be able to hold down a job or look after two kids. You need a certain amount of sleep for brain function. Amber would have been physically sick, depressed, forgetful, accident prone, paranoid, if not experiencing some degree of psychosis. I also think the reason given for the insomnia was weak.
What was the relevance of the pages and pages of psychoanalysis of Simon's character? Why do we care how he feels about having sex with his wife? In fact, what is the relevance of that whole Charlie and Simon relationship? And the Charlie and Olivia relationship? And while I'm on this Olivia character, why would a non-cop be involved in a murder investigation? Let alone solving it.
Which brings me to the killer. Who didn't see that coming from the first few chapters? Jo's motives are asinine. If she really didn't want to look after her disabled sister sometime in the distant future, she'd have killed her sister and not a slew of strangers, in an incredibly convoluted and dubious plot to have people think she has her hands full. Or she'd just plant the idea that she's got her hands full in people's heads. She's a narcissist, they're very good at spin. Her "plan" is just so ludicrous that she'd probably get off in court because you can drive a truck through the holes in the logic.
I don't think I'll be reading any more of these Spilling CID books.
September 2, 2013
Well, i would really say that title of the book has more relevance to what the reader might feel after reading the book then it having much to do in the story itself.
I really wonder if "Psychological" thriller means reading pages after pages about the protagonist thought process, making very little sense to the reader and wondering whether i am reading case file of a psychlolgist.
80% of the book is devoted to problems of Amber and in the end very little gets explained of its reasons and origins.
Even the police investigation part further dwells on the thought process of various cops, again making very little logical sense to the whole plot.
In fact, the plot itself is much blurry throughout the book as one wonders whether what Amber says and believes is actually true or not?
Last 70 pages bring to light a complete new twist to the plot and Amber is shown living happily after, leaving reader to guess if the problems of Amber were real or her imaginations? As it disappears from the climax without a trace.
As you can possibly make out by now that i am terribly disappointed in having reading the book
I really wonder if "Psychological" thriller means reading pages after pages about the protagonist thought process, making very little sense to the reader and wondering whether i am reading case file of a psychlolgist.
80% of the book is devoted to problems of Amber and in the end very little gets explained of its reasons and origins.
Even the police investigation part further dwells on the thought process of various cops, again making very little logical sense to the whole plot.
In fact, the plot itself is much blurry throughout the book as one wonders whether what Amber says and believes is actually true or not?
Last 70 pages bring to light a complete new twist to the plot and Amber is shown living happily after, leaving reader to guess if the problems of Amber were real or her imaginations? As it disappears from the climax without a trace.
As you can possibly make out by now that i am terribly disappointed in having reading the book
February 9, 2017
4 stars, I really liked it. Probably my favorite Sophie Hannah book.
Though Simon and Charlie are as weird as ever, their perplexing relationship is on the back-burner in this book. Instead of one central mystery, there are several (ranging from murder and arson to family secrets), and I was fascinated by all of them.
You have to really suspend your disbelief, but I personally enjoyed the melodramatic, over-the-top plot. I also really liked Amber, the prickly, obstinate protagonist of this book. I enjoyed her fierceness and her relationship with her children. Lots of gothic trappings to this mystery.
Though Simon and Charlie are as weird as ever, their perplexing relationship is on the back-burner in this book. Instead of one central mystery, there are several (ranging from murder and arson to family secrets), and I was fascinated by all of them.
You have to really suspend your disbelief, but I personally enjoyed the melodramatic, over-the-top plot. I also really liked Amber, the prickly, obstinate protagonist of this book. I enjoyed her fierceness and her relationship with her children. Lots of gothic trappings to this mystery.
December 19, 2012
A couple of years prior to the events of this novel, Amber’s best friend, Sharon, dies in a house fire and, as she had agreed so to do should the need arise, Amber and her husband, Luke, take in Sharon’s two daughters.
Seeking help for her insomnia Amber visits a hypnotherapist. She is also obsessed by events several years earlier when she and her extended family stayed one Christmas at a large, rented house. Inexplicably, Amber’s sister-in-law, Jo, Jo’s husband, and their two sons, went missing for 24 hours. Though they returned unharmed, it was understood that this event must never be spoken of again.
The police are investigating the murder of a woman. They have few clues. In the murdered woman’s flat, on a notepad, were found the imprints of the words: “Kind, Cruel, Kind of Cruel”.
Amber is upset by her first hypnotherapy session. As she leaves the hypnotherapist’s office she encounters the woman who apparently has the next appointment. In a kind of stupor she mutters the words found in the dead woman’s flat, and the woman who has the next appointment just happens to be a police officer.
This somewhat unlikely coincidence is just the first of many in a book I found to be, in turns, disconcerting, disorientating, beguiling, fascinating, irritating and annoying.
I had not read one of Sophie Hannah’s books before, nor had I read a book like this one before – psychological crime novel?
I had little clue what was going on for the first 50 pages. I think this was intentional. The narrator – mainly Amber, but not always – is of the unreliable kind. Each chapter is introduced by another narrator and we don’t realise that this is the hypnotherapist until about a third of the way through. Once a few of the pieces fell into place, the pace picked up, my interest was piqued, and I was keen to get through the book.
The problem was, really, about three quarters of the way through, once the murderer’s identity became clear, a lot of the faults in the book also become clear.
Had I rated the book at the 75% point I would have given it 8/10. Immediately after reading it, I would have said 6/10. Now, several hours after finishing it, and having thought about the story in more detail, I realise how unsatisfying it was.
SPOILER ALERT
The murderer is Amber’s sister-in-law – her husband’s brother’s wife – Jo. The reason for the murders is that Jo’s sister, Kirsty, has severe learning disabilities and is looked after (full time) by Jo’s mother, Hilary. Hilary made it clear to Jo when Jo was 16 that Jo would have to take on the full-time care of the sister when Hilary dies. Jo can’t live with this prospect and ends up killing two people as well as setting fire to Amber’s house.
Hannah goes into the psychological reasons for all of this in great detail – over the last 20-30 pages of the novel – but, in essence, it’s all supposition. At no point do we see things from Jo’s point of view. Exactly why looking after Kirsty would be so dreadful is never explained. This would not sit well within anyone who has to care for such people. Jo’s Mum, Hilary, is painted as a villain of the piece, putting too much pressure on Jo, but we never hear her side of the story either.
The police just seem incompetent. Amber seems to easily assume the role of investigating officer – this is surely incredibly unlikely. Furthermore, the sister of one of the police officers also seems able to do the same.
I can see what the author’s done – read about some kind of psychological problem (emotional/covert incest) – and then sort of reverse engineered the story.
When you don’t know what’s going on, your interest is maintained, and then once you find out, you can think “Ah, clever, I see what she’s done here”, but then afterwards you just end up thinking “Hang on, THAT never would have happened”, “Wait, the police would NEVER have let a suspect do that”, “But there’s no good reason why she should have reacted so violently to that situation”, and “Nah, that’s just too unbelievable.”
Ultimately, a highly promising book for the first 75% and then, after that, very disappointing indeed.
2/10
Seeking help for her insomnia Amber visits a hypnotherapist. She is also obsessed by events several years earlier when she and her extended family stayed one Christmas at a large, rented house. Inexplicably, Amber’s sister-in-law, Jo, Jo’s husband, and their two sons, went missing for 24 hours. Though they returned unharmed, it was understood that this event must never be spoken of again.
The police are investigating the murder of a woman. They have few clues. In the murdered woman’s flat, on a notepad, were found the imprints of the words: “Kind, Cruel, Kind of Cruel”.
Amber is upset by her first hypnotherapy session. As she leaves the hypnotherapist’s office she encounters the woman who apparently has the next appointment. In a kind of stupor she mutters the words found in the dead woman’s flat, and the woman who has the next appointment just happens to be a police officer.
This somewhat unlikely coincidence is just the first of many in a book I found to be, in turns, disconcerting, disorientating, beguiling, fascinating, irritating and annoying.
I had not read one of Sophie Hannah’s books before, nor had I read a book like this one before – psychological crime novel?
I had little clue what was going on for the first 50 pages. I think this was intentional. The narrator – mainly Amber, but not always – is of the unreliable kind. Each chapter is introduced by another narrator and we don’t realise that this is the hypnotherapist until about a third of the way through. Once a few of the pieces fell into place, the pace picked up, my interest was piqued, and I was keen to get through the book.
The problem was, really, about three quarters of the way through, once the murderer’s identity became clear, a lot of the faults in the book also become clear.
Had I rated the book at the 75% point I would have given it 8/10. Immediately after reading it, I would have said 6/10. Now, several hours after finishing it, and having thought about the story in more detail, I realise how unsatisfying it was.
SPOILER ALERT
The murderer is Amber’s sister-in-law – her husband’s brother’s wife – Jo. The reason for the murders is that Jo’s sister, Kirsty, has severe learning disabilities and is looked after (full time) by Jo’s mother, Hilary. Hilary made it clear to Jo when Jo was 16 that Jo would have to take on the full-time care of the sister when Hilary dies. Jo can’t live with this prospect and ends up killing two people as well as setting fire to Amber’s house.
Hannah goes into the psychological reasons for all of this in great detail – over the last 20-30 pages of the novel – but, in essence, it’s all supposition. At no point do we see things from Jo’s point of view. Exactly why looking after Kirsty would be so dreadful is never explained. This would not sit well within anyone who has to care for such people. Jo’s Mum, Hilary, is painted as a villain of the piece, putting too much pressure on Jo, but we never hear her side of the story either.
The police just seem incompetent. Amber seems to easily assume the role of investigating officer – this is surely incredibly unlikely. Furthermore, the sister of one of the police officers also seems able to do the same.
I can see what the author’s done – read about some kind of psychological problem (emotional/covert incest) – and then sort of reverse engineered the story.
When you don’t know what’s going on, your interest is maintained, and then once you find out, you can think “Ah, clever, I see what she’s done here”, but then afterwards you just end up thinking “Hang on, THAT never would have happened”, “Wait, the police would NEVER have let a suspect do that”, “But there’s no good reason why she should have reacted so violently to that situation”, and “Nah, that’s just too unbelievable.”
Ultimately, a highly promising book for the first 75% and then, after that, very disappointing indeed.
2/10
October 14, 2012
Liked this one much more than the last few Hannah books. As always, it's necessary to suspend disbelief in regard to the unlikely coincidences and bisarre plot twists, but once you've done that, it's a very entertaining read.
Kind of cruel stars the usual dysfunctional middle class families keeping secrets from each other, as well as the equally dysfunctional detectives completely disregarding proper procedure. There's also a hypnotherapist, a locked room, mysterious scribblings in a notebook, insomnia, arson, murder and general craziness. Really, who could ask for more? Well, I could, come to think of it. I wish Charlie and Simon would resolve their issues already. Maybe Hannah's dragging it out because she doesn't know how to redeem Simon after his boorish behaviour in the past years? We get an inkling on why he might be the weirdest, most repressed guy in the Northern hemisphere, but at this point I'm not sure I care.
On the plus side, I liked Amber, the stubbornly rational protagonist who calls bullshit on the lies, inconsistencies and irrational behaviour of cops, teachers, other parents as well as the hypnotherapist. She and her almost adopted daughters bring a delightfully dark humour into this excellent thriller.
Kind of cruel stars the usual dysfunctional middle class families keeping secrets from each other, as well as the equally dysfunctional detectives completely disregarding proper procedure. There's also a hypnotherapist, a locked room, mysterious scribblings in a notebook, insomnia, arson, murder and general craziness. Really, who could ask for more? Well, I could, come to think of it. I wish Charlie and Simon would resolve their issues already. Maybe Hannah's dragging it out because she doesn't know how to redeem Simon after his boorish behaviour in the past years? We get an inkling on why he might be the weirdest, most repressed guy in the Northern hemisphere, but at this point I'm not sure I care.
On the plus side, I liked Amber, the stubbornly rational protagonist who calls bullshit on the lies, inconsistencies and irrational behaviour of cops, teachers, other parents as well as the hypnotherapist. She and her almost adopted daughters bring a delightfully dark humour into this excellent thriller.
August 13, 2012
Two and half stars. I like Sophie Hannah's books though I didn't like this one as much as some of the others. It seemed to ramble at times and lack cohesion and any impetus to drive the plot forward. The intertwining of the two plots - the part with Amber, Jo etc and the policemen and women investigating, didn't always work for me. I can see the link that Ms Hannah was making with regard to children's relationships with parents affecting adults in different ways but it all seemed to run alongside rather than be twisted together. I really like Charlie and Simon - I enjoyed hearing more about them. I think I'd rather hear about them than the others who were a really weird bunch. I felt a bit cheated at the reason for the Christmas day disappearance too.
But it was an involved plot in some ways, made more complicated by the sheer number of characters. I did lose track of who was who a few times. I still enjoyed it but it's not her best.
But it was an involved plot in some ways, made more complicated by the sheer number of characters. I did lose track of who was who a few times. I still enjoyed it but it's not her best.
January 2, 2016
This book started off strong with an interesting scene involving hypnosis. But it went downhill from there. Total confusion, like trying to see something through mud. It was a struggle to decide whether to finish the book. Only did because it had been recommended to me and I kept thinking it would improve. It didn't.
August 8, 2013
Just loved this dark, intriguing psychological thriller. Learnt much about narcissistic personality disorder and emotional incest. I knew about physical incest, but never knew of the emotional counterpart. I read about it and was horrified to know that most parents practice it at one level or other, and if its too much it makes an emotional cripple out of your child. I loved the story part. Till the end, though there were subtle clues, I couldn't fathom why the characters acted out like they did. All in all, a wonderful book, perhaps the best of Sophie Hannah I've ever read so far. The first few pages were really difficult (like all her books), but when I started understanding the story I was hooked.
A must for all 'psycho' lovers.
A must for all 'psycho' lovers.
August 6, 2012
Where to begin...?
I stumbled across Sophie Hannah's book Lasting Damage and thought "WOWZERS! That looks like my kind of mystery... it was! I have now read all of the Spilling CID series (to date) but I did feel like Hannah lost her way during A Room Swept White and Hurting Distance so I was a tad apprehensive about picking this one up.
Hannah is back on form!
I will get my cons out of the way first...
Hannah seems to have this ability to create really annoying protagonists. In this case she comes in the form of Amber Hewerdine, an insomniac with a real attitude problem! I could have done without all of the snide comments when she was talking about Hypnotherapy - I get that many people do believe it is hocum but do we really need to be reminded over and over and over and....
...you get my point!
Amber hasn't slept since the murder of her best friend 18 months ago, leaving her in charge of her two daughters Dinah and Nonie (who are also just as annoying!)
Anyhoo, the big mystery for me was why Amber woke up on Christmas day 7 years ago to find her sister in-law has disappeared and taken her husband and two children with her... *gasp* ... to then reappear on Boxing day and reassuring everyone that it was all fine and pretending it didn't happen
So you'd think the book would focus on the whole disappearing family as its main mystery??
Basically ***DO NOT READ ON IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS!***
Jo (the woman who disappeared) murdered Amber's best friend and then murdered another woman a few years later (to cover up first murder) so she wouldn't have to look after her handicapped sister....
I read the books mainly for the permanent CID characters. I like seeing how they have developed and I enjoy seeing them work together.
Do I care about Simon and Charlie's sexual problems?
But... I do enjoy Proust's meltdowns...he's all like...
So why 4 stars? Well, it's more like 3.5... I enjoy Hannah's style - it is easy to read and it is easy to understand who you are following next. I like the main Spilling characters (though I would love to know where Spilling is!) and her books are good to push through in a few hours. A bit of a guilty pleasure!
I stumbled across Sophie Hannah's book Lasting Damage and thought "WOWZERS! That looks like my kind of mystery... it was! I have now read all of the Spilling CID series (to date) but I did feel like Hannah lost her way during A Room Swept White and Hurting Distance so I was a tad apprehensive about picking this one up.
Hannah is back on form!
I will get my cons out of the way first...
Hannah seems to have this ability to create really annoying protagonists. In this case she comes in the form of Amber Hewerdine, an insomniac with a real attitude problem! I could have done without all of the snide comments when she was talking about Hypnotherapy - I get that many people do believe it is hocum but do we really need to be reminded over and over and over and....
...you get my point!
Amber hasn't slept since the murder of her best friend 18 months ago, leaving her in charge of her two daughters Dinah and Nonie (who are also just as annoying!)
Anyhoo, the big mystery for me was why Amber woke up on Christmas day 7 years ago to find her sister in-law has disappeared and taken her husband and two children with her... *gasp* ... to then reappear on Boxing day and reassuring everyone that it was all fine and pretending it didn't happen
So you'd think the book would focus on the whole disappearing family as its main mystery??
Basically ***DO NOT READ ON IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS!***
Jo (the woman who disappeared) murdered Amber's best friend and then murdered another woman a few years later (to cover up first murder) so she wouldn't have to look after her handicapped sister....
I read the books mainly for the permanent CID characters. I like seeing how they have developed and I enjoy seeing them work together.
Do I care about Simon and Charlie's sexual problems?
But... I do enjoy Proust's meltdowns...he's all like...
So why 4 stars? Well, it's more like 3.5... I enjoy Hannah's style - it is easy to read and it is easy to understand who you are following next. I like the main Spilling characters (though I would love to know where Spilling is!) and her books are good to push through in a few hours. A bit of a guilty pleasure!
February 12, 2018
I was happy to win this book through Goodreads as I've read and enjoyed the earlier books in Sophie Hannah's series. Kind of Cruel is more of the same-- and that's both good and bad.
Sophie Hannah doesn't write straightforward plots, and when the complexity works it's pretty impressive. When it doesn't, her books can feel a bit like an overly-complicated, tangly mess. Kind of Cruel ends up leaning toward the latter while still remaining enjoyable. There were parts, particularly in the middle of the book, that rambled and lacked cohesion. As usual with Hannah, all of the point-of-view changes, twists, and misdirections can get a little confusing and overwhelming, but it makes sense(ish) by the end (though to be totally honest, I found the ending flimsy, even factoring in the necessary suspension of disbelief).
That being said, I do enjoy Sophie Hannah's writing, and even when I'm not totally convinced by her story, I enjoy watching the pieces fall into place. She does a good job of writing compelling, flawed characters whose relationships feel real.
Sophie Hannah doesn't write straightforward plots, and when the complexity works it's pretty impressive. When it doesn't, her books can feel a bit like an overly-complicated, tangly mess. Kind of Cruel ends up leaning toward the latter while still remaining enjoyable. There were parts, particularly in the middle of the book, that rambled and lacked cohesion. As usual with Hannah, all of the point-of-view changes, twists, and misdirections can get a little confusing and overwhelming, but it makes sense(ish) by the end (though to be totally honest, I found the ending flimsy, even factoring in the necessary suspension of disbelief).
That being said, I do enjoy Sophie Hannah's writing, and even when I'm not totally convinced by her story, I enjoy watching the pieces fall into place. She does a good job of writing compelling, flawed characters whose relationships feel real.
October 5, 2018
A mixed bag. Parts of this I quite liked - the unusual plot was more interesting than plenty obvious police procedural novels I've read, and the characters came over a lot more real at times (neither being so dull to feel like cardboard cut-outs, nor so superhuman to feel unbelievable).
But it got really quite weird and confusing. The longer it went on, the less I was confident I knew what was going on, why it was going on, when, and who was talking. Lots of recurring characters I didn't know anything about. Lots of really odd non-recurring characters strangely interlinked in a slightly inconceivable manner. The family drama folk in peril therapist supressed memory crime at the centre of this was frankly bizarre. Sophie Hannah does some things really well, others less so. I will however probably read more of her books, they do have a certain appeal.
But it got really quite weird and confusing. The longer it went on, the less I was confident I knew what was going on, why it was going on, when, and who was talking. Lots of recurring characters I didn't know anything about. Lots of really odd non-recurring characters strangely interlinked in a slightly inconceivable manner. The family drama folk in peril therapist supressed memory crime at the centre of this was frankly bizarre. Sophie Hannah does some things really well, others less so. I will however probably read more of her books, they do have a certain appeal.
December 14, 2013
I was really looking forward to read this book, but I was very disappointed. I thought it was too wordy, very boring, and totally unsatisfactory as a mystery. I also found that I didn't care about any of the characters, except the two young girls. I have read two other books by Sophie Hannah, but I doubt if I will read any more. Basically, I thought it was a waste of time.
August 31, 2012
‘Kind of Cruel’ by Sophie Hannah
Published by Hodder & Stoughton, 16th February 2012. ISBN: 978-0-340-98069-9
Amber Hewerdine does not sleep, has in fact suffered from insomnia since the death of her best friend Sharon who was killed in an arson attack. Amber has temporary custody of Sharon’s children Dinah and Nonie, and is hopeful of formally adopting them. To try and unlock whatever is buried deep in her subconscious that is stopping her from sleeping, Amber decides to consult hypnotherapist Ginny Saxon. Her first session with Ginny Saxon brings to the fore the Christmas Amber spent at Little Orchard with her husbands family. Just what did happen to Jo, her husband Neil and their two children when after renting a huge house for Christmas inviting all the family, mothers, sisters, they just weren’t there Christmas morning – they had just disappeared
Also at that first session she meets Sergeant Charlie Zailer, sitting outside Ginny Saxon’s house. The words, - ‘kind, cruel, kind of cruel,’ surface during her session with Ginny. Where did they come from? Did she
pick them up from Charlie Zailer? Wherever they came from, within a short time of uttering them Amber is arrested for the murder of a woman she has never met. Who is Katherine Allen? Amber is desperate to unlock the memories that will help her understand, but the mind can block out memories if they are too dark, or too painful – just what is Amber hiding?
The premise of this book is memory and false memory. As we go through life we build up memories, but are they a truthful recollection of the event. How often do we recall something with a friend and discover that their memory of the event is different from yours! It has certainly happened to me. I can recall looking in amazement and saying it wasn’t like that, but my friend is adamant that it was.
This is a tantalising mystery, where everything is beyond your grasp. Just as you think OK yes, you realise that it is not so. Eventually you question everything, except that this is an exceptional book.
-----
Lizzie Hayes
Published by Hodder & Stoughton, 16th February 2012. ISBN: 978-0-340-98069-9
Amber Hewerdine does not sleep, has in fact suffered from insomnia since the death of her best friend Sharon who was killed in an arson attack. Amber has temporary custody of Sharon’s children Dinah and Nonie, and is hopeful of formally adopting them. To try and unlock whatever is buried deep in her subconscious that is stopping her from sleeping, Amber decides to consult hypnotherapist Ginny Saxon. Her first session with Ginny Saxon brings to the fore the Christmas Amber spent at Little Orchard with her husbands family. Just what did happen to Jo, her husband Neil and their two children when after renting a huge house for Christmas inviting all the family, mothers, sisters, they just weren’t there Christmas morning – they had just disappeared
Also at that first session she meets Sergeant Charlie Zailer, sitting outside Ginny Saxon’s house. The words, - ‘kind, cruel, kind of cruel,’ surface during her session with Ginny. Where did they come from? Did she
pick them up from Charlie Zailer? Wherever they came from, within a short time of uttering them Amber is arrested for the murder of a woman she has never met. Who is Katherine Allen? Amber is desperate to unlock the memories that will help her understand, but the mind can block out memories if they are too dark, or too painful – just what is Amber hiding?
The premise of this book is memory and false memory. As we go through life we build up memories, but are they a truthful recollection of the event. How often do we recall something with a friend and discover that their memory of the event is different from yours! It has certainly happened to me. I can recall looking in amazement and saying it wasn’t like that, but my friend is adamant that it was.
This is a tantalising mystery, where everything is beyond your grasp. Just as you think OK yes, you realise that it is not so. Eventually you question everything, except that this is an exceptional book.
-----
Lizzie Hayes
December 14, 2013
This book could have been great. What should have been tantalizing tidbits designed to keep the reader interested turned into confusing, some times excruiatingly boring, passages when it was hard to determine who was even speaking. The sophisticated, bitingly sacarastic repartee among almost ALL the characters gets old, fast. After this second book (and I confess I skipped two hundred pages in the middle and was STILL able to understand the ending)I am sick of Simon Waterhouse's grandstanding, his angst, his ability to defy all rules and skate away and his never ending rudeness. I couldn't begin to understand who the references to child abuse were about and by page 200 I lost interest. The writer's job is to keep the reader interested not confuse the living daylight out of him. I found all the characters totally unlikable. I know it's fashionable today to be unspeakably rude but with a book you can shut the offender up easily by closing it. And I finally did. I did enjoy her first book "The Other Woman's House". I only speak for myself but I'd suggest the author be less wordy.
January 17, 2015
This is 3.5 stars for me. It took until the last 100 pages to really get me hooked which means I had to read over 300 pages to get into it. This is a psychological mystery with a very convoluted plot. Detective Simon Waterhouse turns out to be a psychological mystery himself. His wife Charlie Zailer has her neurosis. The plot revolves around a hypnotherapist. I had no idea hypnotherapy was a psychological treatment. I thought it was something people did to change behaviors like smoking and overeating. The story begins with a mystery of a family member who invited her extended family to a Christmas getaway and then disappears for more than 24 hours with her husband and children before reappearing. There are some very psychologically disturbed people in this novel. I am intrigued by one of the personalities described, who masquerades as generous, charismatic, and considerate. Although there is a character described as a narcissist, the characteristics of narcissist and sociopath overlap to some extent but are different. I am not sure why I find these personality disturbances so interesting, but if you do as well, you will probably like this book.
July 27, 2020
4.5 stars
Kind of Cruel is #7 in the Spilling CID series.
Confusing to start with but once I got past the nitty-gritty details I was utterly gripped. Kind of Cruel was a great and intriguing story. Love Charlie and Simon the series wouldn’t be the same without them and their dysfunctional relationship. The switching back and forth between the detectives’ personal lives and the unusual plot made this instalment seriously exciting. Finally more is revealed about Simon and his weird behaviour which gave me a few goose pimples and added another layer to this unique story.
Sophie Hannah knows how to deliver a page-turner.
*Book #70/72 of my 2019 coffee table to-read challenge, cont. 2020
Kind of Cruel is #7 in the Spilling CID series.
Confusing to start with but once I got past the nitty-gritty details I was utterly gripped. Kind of Cruel was a great and intriguing story. Love Charlie and Simon the series wouldn’t be the same without them and their dysfunctional relationship. The switching back and forth between the detectives’ personal lives and the unusual plot made this instalment seriously exciting. Finally more is revealed about Simon and his weird behaviour which gave me a few goose pimples and added another layer to this unique story.
Sophie Hannah knows how to deliver a page-turner.
*Book #70/72 of my 2019 coffee table to-read challenge, cont. 2020
January 11, 2014
This was such a good book I just could not put it down. The main character was actually allowed to be intelligent and in control. She didn't go to pieces and do stupid things when the police were involved. She didn't put herself in dangerous situations when she should have known better. She acted like a normal, thinking person and yet there was still an exciting story left to tell. Loved it.
August 31, 2014
Cumbersome to say the least, after previously liking other books by Hannah this one was difficult, at time downright confusing and over complicated. I admit I skipped pages towards the end of the book as just wanted to be done with it. A labour intensive book that left no feelings of joy at all.
July 16, 2012
could not get into this book so decided not to read it
October 22, 2022
Psychological mystery with repressed and denied memories, hypnotherapy, children of narcissistic parents.....sounds like I should give this book 5 stars instead of 3. While the style of story-telling, with multiple characters' POV and long italicized sections that took me awhile to figure out the narrator and subject(s), eventually came together to a mostly satisfying conclusion, it was so disjointed that I had a hard time keeping on track with the story . Maybe it was just me and the fact that while I listen to audiobooks during the day while I'm awake, alert, and driving ( thereby keeping my mind from wandering), I read physical books at night, in bed, when I'm tired. I would try a few more of this author's series, though.
November 25, 2018
Excellent mystery/thriller. The heroine goes to a hypotherapist to get to the root of her insomnia. Brilliantly unfolded. Great writing. Can't wait to find more by this author.
August 13, 2021
I think this book is an acquired taste and I personally enjoyed it and benefited from it, especially from the hypnotherapy sessions. I adore the characters and couldn't recommend it enough !
March 24, 2012
Amber Hewerdine was losing sleep, and it really wasn’t surprising.
Her best friend died in an arson attack, the arsonist had never been identified, and now Amber and her husband, Luke, were bringing up her friend’s two young daughters.
An incident that happened at a family Christmas spent in a holiday cottage was still troubling her. Luke’s sister, her husband and their two young sons disappeared on Christmas day, not returning until the next morning when the refused to give any explanation of what had happened.
And things got worse. When Amber took positive action to deal with her insomnia, visiting a psychotherapist, she found herself under arrest. ‘Kind, cruel, kind of cruel,’ she said. She didn’t know what it meant, where the words came from, they just came into her head.
The impression of those words had been found on a notepad in the room where Katherine Allen had been found, beaten to death with an iron bar. The police had no idea what they meant.
That’s how Sophie Hannah set up another fiendishly complicated mystery.
She gave it a few clever twists, and then she offered up a solution that was entirely credible but pretty unguessable. I realised about two-thirds of the way through the book who the murderer would probably be. And I was right, but I couldn’t put all of the pieces of the puzzle into place until the very end of the book.
I loved watching those pieces fall into place.
There were one or two niggles but they were more than made up for by many, many wonderful things. I’m not mentioning specifics, because they really aren’t things you’d want to know before you read the book.
I loved observing the characters. They weren’t overly likeable, but they were interesting, believable and complex. Real, three-dimensional human beings.
And there was none of the slight feeling of ennui I’ve experienced once or twice with Sophie Hannah’s leading ladies: Amber was definitely a one-off. She was an intelligent woman; she was a professional; she’d clearly worked to build a strong relationship with the daughters she inherited ; she had with strong – and sometimes unconventional – opinions, and she wasn’t afraid to speak her mind, though she understood that sometimes it was wiser not to… A great character.
I was enthralled by some wonderful dialogue: between Amber and her two girls, between Amber and the Spilling detectives, between Amber and her usually warm but sometimes spiky sister-in law, Jo.There were times when I could have happily just followed those conversations even if there had been no mystery to be resolved.
The stories of the various members of the Spilling police force evolved nicely, and the mix of their story, Amber’s story and the psychotherapists’ narrative worked very well.
I’m a little tired though of the troubled relationship between Simon and Charlie though, and I think it’s time to call a halt. It’s become a little tiresome, and it so clearly isn’t going to work out.
Otherwise though Sophie Hannah was at the top of her game, and Kind of Cruel was pretty much perfect.
An intriging puzzle and a psychological thriller perfectly balanced.
And all I have left to say is – MORE PLEASE!
Her best friend died in an arson attack, the arsonist had never been identified, and now Amber and her husband, Luke, were bringing up her friend’s two young daughters.
An incident that happened at a family Christmas spent in a holiday cottage was still troubling her. Luke’s sister, her husband and their two young sons disappeared on Christmas day, not returning until the next morning when the refused to give any explanation of what had happened.
And things got worse. When Amber took positive action to deal with her insomnia, visiting a psychotherapist, she found herself under arrest. ‘Kind, cruel, kind of cruel,’ she said. She didn’t know what it meant, where the words came from, they just came into her head.
The impression of those words had been found on a notepad in the room where Katherine Allen had been found, beaten to death with an iron bar. The police had no idea what they meant.
That’s how Sophie Hannah set up another fiendishly complicated mystery.
She gave it a few clever twists, and then she offered up a solution that was entirely credible but pretty unguessable. I realised about two-thirds of the way through the book who the murderer would probably be. And I was right, but I couldn’t put all of the pieces of the puzzle into place until the very end of the book.
I loved watching those pieces fall into place.
There were one or two niggles but they were more than made up for by many, many wonderful things. I’m not mentioning specifics, because they really aren’t things you’d want to know before you read the book.
I loved observing the characters. They weren’t overly likeable, but they were interesting, believable and complex. Real, three-dimensional human beings.
And there was none of the slight feeling of ennui I’ve experienced once or twice with Sophie Hannah’s leading ladies: Amber was definitely a one-off. She was an intelligent woman; she was a professional; she’d clearly worked to build a strong relationship with the daughters she inherited ; she had with strong – and sometimes unconventional – opinions, and she wasn’t afraid to speak her mind, though she understood that sometimes it was wiser not to… A great character.
I was enthralled by some wonderful dialogue: between Amber and her two girls, between Amber and the Spilling detectives, between Amber and her usually warm but sometimes spiky sister-in law, Jo.There were times when I could have happily just followed those conversations even if there had been no mystery to be resolved.
The stories of the various members of the Spilling police force evolved nicely, and the mix of their story, Amber’s story and the psychotherapists’ narrative worked very well.
I’m a little tired though of the troubled relationship between Simon and Charlie though, and I think it’s time to call a halt. It’s become a little tiresome, and it so clearly isn’t going to work out.
Otherwise though Sophie Hannah was at the top of her game, and Kind of Cruel was pretty much perfect.
An intriging puzzle and a psychological thriller perfectly balanced.
And all I have left to say is – MORE PLEASE!
July 11, 2013
3.0 out of 5 stars -- There's a huge difference between a memory and a story...
This was a very convoluted mystery that centered on solving two murder cases that had gone unsolved for years. This is part of a long series featuring Detectives Simon Waterhouse and Charolotte Zailer, and though it is probably good if you have read previous titles in order to know the history of these two characters, I had not and so was a bit confused by their relationship (they are married) and taken aback by their personalities. "Knowing" them better might have improved my reaction to the book.
Amber Hewerdine visits a hyponotherapist as a last resort because she can't sleep ever since her best friend Sharon died in an arson house fire and Amber and her husband Luke took in Sharon's two daughters. The police have never found the killer and Amber has not gotten over her death. During her visit to Ginny's therapy office, Amber meets Charlotte before she goes in to her session and during the hypnosis is told that she has said the words, Kind, Cruel, Kind of Cruel but has no idea where they come from. Amber feels that she has seen those words somewhere before but can't bring the memory to mind. Later that day, Amber is arrested for the murder of Kat Allen, a schoolteacher she has never met. All of this creates confusion and consternation as Amber tries to recall her past accurately and somehow she becomes involved in the investigation which is apparently tied to Sharon's murder as well.
The narrative shifts back and forth between Ginny's therapist notes and Amber's first person point of view. In addition, there is another line of storytelling that focuses on Charlie and Simon and the other detectives on the case so the reader is getting many different perspectives on the investigation and various relationships the characters have with each other. Frankly, I didn't like ANY of them. Amber was, to me, unlikeable and very annoying. Simon seems like a cold odd duck, and I found it hard to believe Charlie was so in love with him.
With all the shifts in point of view, and the SLOW SLOW SLOW revelations that brought the case to a close, I found the novel to be less than engrossing and quite confusing at times. The mysteries, and there are several going on at once, aren't that compelling and there was no suspense or thrill involved in the ressolutions.
So, this was an OK read. Probably I would have enjoyed it more had I read previous books with the two main characters, but I don't feel strongly enough to go back and catch up. If you're a Sophie Hannah fan, and like the series, I have no doubt you will want to read this if only to hear Simon's conversation with Charlie toward the end of the book. It explains something profound about his nature.
ARC from LibraryThing
This was a very convoluted mystery that centered on solving two murder cases that had gone unsolved for years. This is part of a long series featuring Detectives Simon Waterhouse and Charolotte Zailer, and though it is probably good if you have read previous titles in order to know the history of these two characters, I had not and so was a bit confused by their relationship (they are married) and taken aback by their personalities. "Knowing" them better might have improved my reaction to the book.
Amber Hewerdine visits a hyponotherapist as a last resort because she can't sleep ever since her best friend Sharon died in an arson house fire and Amber and her husband Luke took in Sharon's two daughters. The police have never found the killer and Amber has not gotten over her death. During her visit to Ginny's therapy office, Amber meets Charlotte before she goes in to her session and during the hypnosis is told that she has said the words, Kind, Cruel, Kind of Cruel but has no idea where they come from. Amber feels that she has seen those words somewhere before but can't bring the memory to mind. Later that day, Amber is arrested for the murder of Kat Allen, a schoolteacher she has never met. All of this creates confusion and consternation as Amber tries to recall her past accurately and somehow she becomes involved in the investigation which is apparently tied to Sharon's murder as well.
The narrative shifts back and forth between Ginny's therapist notes and Amber's first person point of view. In addition, there is another line of storytelling that focuses on Charlie and Simon and the other detectives on the case so the reader is getting many different perspectives on the investigation and various relationships the characters have with each other. Frankly, I didn't like ANY of them. Amber was, to me, unlikeable and very annoying. Simon seems like a cold odd duck, and I found it hard to believe Charlie was so in love with him.
With all the shifts in point of view, and the SLOW SLOW SLOW revelations that brought the case to a close, I found the novel to be less than engrossing and quite confusing at times. The mysteries, and there are several going on at once, aren't that compelling and there was no suspense or thrill involved in the ressolutions.
So, this was an OK read. Probably I would have enjoyed it more had I read previous books with the two main characters, but I don't feel strongly enough to go back and catch up. If you're a Sophie Hannah fan, and like the series, I have no doubt you will want to read this if only to hear Simon's conversation with Charlie toward the end of the book. It explains something profound about his nature.
ARC from LibraryThing
November 13, 2012
like many other books i read, i was intrigued by the title at first. and when i found out that it has a somewhat high rating, i decided to read it.
the overall story is okay, believable enough. seeing the references the author added at the end of the book made me appreciate the fact that she did a thorough research in order to present such a complex story.
but what bothered me (so much, that i had to take away 2 stars from 5) were the characters. the main character, Amber, irritated me so much that i could barely move on to the next page after the first 2 pages of her story. after a long while, i finally could get the hang of it and start to enjoy the story without a care to what Amber thought/said, but then i found other characters to be just as irritating, and some conversations were just too unbearable since everyone seemed to aim to be the #1 sarcastic/smart speaker. whenever 2 characters (or more) talked to each other, what started to be a point A to point B conversation turned to be A through C D E F G to B (or sometimes they didn't even get to point B after all), which really tired me and made me want to skip to the end of the book.
actually, even the end of the book was just the same. when it got to the part that the whole mystery was unveiled, i felt like i was again taken from point B to F and then back to E and back again to C and then forward to D... and, uh, what was the last point again?
it's probably just me, though. maybe if you're a smarter reader than me, who longs for smart & snappy & sarcastic conversations regardless of the topic, you'll enjoy this book more than i did. but since this is my review, i just have to say that i had too high of an expectation before reading this book, and was a bit disappointed with it. it's less entertaining and more annoying, that 'wanting to know who did it and why' was the only reason i kept reading on till the last page.
the overall story is okay, believable enough. seeing the references the author added at the end of the book made me appreciate the fact that she did a thorough research in order to present such a complex story.
but what bothered me (so much, that i had to take away 2 stars from 5) were the characters. the main character, Amber, irritated me so much that i could barely move on to the next page after the first 2 pages of her story. after a long while, i finally could get the hang of it and start to enjoy the story without a care to what Amber thought/said, but then i found other characters to be just as irritating, and some conversations were just too unbearable since everyone seemed to aim to be the #1 sarcastic/smart speaker. whenever 2 characters (or more) talked to each other, what started to be a point A to point B conversation turned to be A through C D E F G to B (or sometimes they didn't even get to point B after all), which really tired me and made me want to skip to the end of the book.
actually, even the end of the book was just the same. when it got to the part that the whole mystery was unveiled, i felt like i was again taken from point B to F and then back to E and back again to C and then forward to D... and, uh, what was the last point again?
it's probably just me, though. maybe if you're a smarter reader than me, who longs for smart & snappy & sarcastic conversations regardless of the topic, you'll enjoy this book more than i did. but since this is my review, i just have to say that i had too high of an expectation before reading this book, and was a bit disappointed with it. it's less entertaining and more annoying, that 'wanting to know who did it and why' was the only reason i kept reading on till the last page.
August 10, 2020
Een apart verhaal. Ik vond het niet goed, maar ik bleef wel lezen om te weten hoe het in elkaar zat.
April 28, 2024
Sorry, gave up
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