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Strange Things Done
A dark and suspenseful noir thriller, set in the Yukon.
When the body of a local politician washes ashore in Dawson City, journalist Jo Silver sets out to learn the truth about what happened before the roads snow over and the town is cut off from outside help.
Strange Things Done is a top-notch thriller — a tense and stylish crime novel that explores the double themes of trust and betrayal.
2014 Telegraph/Harvill Secker Crime Competition — Shortlisted
2014 Southwest Writers Annual Novel Writing Contest — Winner
2014 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award — Longlisted
When the body of a local politician washes ashore in Dawson City, journalist Jo Silver sets out to learn the truth about what happened before the roads snow over and the town is cut off from outside help.
Strange Things Done is a top-notch thriller — a tense and stylish crime novel that explores the double themes of trust and betrayal.
2014 Telegraph/Harvill Secker Crime Competition — Shortlisted
2014 Southwest Writers Annual Novel Writing Contest — Winner
2014 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award — Longlisted
304 pages, Paperback
First published September 24, 2016
39 people are currently reading
932 people want to read
About the author
Elle Wild
5 books27 followersELLE WILD grew up in a dark, rambling farmhouse in the wilds of Canada where there was nothing to do but read Edgar Allan Poe and watch PBS mysteries. She is an award-winning short filmmaker and the former writer/host of the CBC radio program Wide Awake. Her short fiction has been published in Ellery Queen Magazine and her forthcoming literary short, “California Pure”, won Second Place in the National Capital Writing Competition 2017. Wild’s debut novel, Strange Things Done, just won “Best First Novel” presented by Kobo at the Arthur Ellis Awards 2017. Strange also won the Arthur Ellis Award 2015 for Best Unpublished First Crime Novel, as well as being shortlisted in multiple contests internationally before publishing. Strange Things Done is out now with Dundurn Press and recently made the #1 Amazon Best Seller list in Canada for Noir. In April 2017, Strange was a Winner in the Women in Film & Video Vancouver “From Our Dark Side” genre writing competition, and as such is participating in a 5-month film incubation program.
Recently returned from the U.K., Wild resides on an island in the Salish Sea named after the bones of dead whales.
Recently returned from the U.K., Wild resides on an island in the Salish Sea named after the bones of dead whales.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 109 reviews
September 13, 2016
I enjoyed reading this book and rate it four out of five stars. I want to thank the author, publisher and NetGalley.com for sending me this book in return for an honest review. The book is about a woman reporter who goes to Dawson City, Yukon, Canada to be the editor of the local newspaper. She has left Vancouver, B.C.,Canada because she feels guilty about holding back information, at the request of the police, about a serial killer.
Unfortunately people start to die in Dawson City and she is a suspect. She decides to find out who, what and why, placing herself in danger.
Some quotes: "Dawson City was a ghost town, with snow drifting along the wooden boardwalks instead of tumbleweed."
"Sourtoe Saloon. Between the human toe in her drink...."
This book takes place at the start of a brutal Yukon territory winter, when the population of Dawson City shrinks from summer peak of 60,000 to 1,000. A great book to read during a hot summer. There were enough plot twists that I was not sure who the killer was until near the end. Once I was halfway through,I found it hard to put down, reading it in two days.
Unfortunately people start to die in Dawson City and she is a suspect. She decides to find out who, what and why, placing herself in danger.
Some quotes: "Dawson City was a ghost town, with snow drifting along the wooden boardwalks instead of tumbleweed."
"Sourtoe Saloon. Between the human toe in her drink...."
This book takes place at the start of a brutal Yukon territory winter, when the population of Dawson City shrinks from summer peak of 60,000 to 1,000. A great book to read during a hot summer. There were enough plot twists that I was not sure who the killer was until near the end. Once I was halfway through,I found it hard to put down, reading it in two days.
February 6, 2017
ARC requested through Netgalley, and kindly provided by Dundurn in exchange for an honest review.
I really enjoyed this dark and mysterious story. Be warned, this story is a slow burn so it will not be for everyone. For me, the pace of the story worked well by filling my mind with imagery of a desolate, cold community as winter hits. Something about imagining the cold made me feel all cozy, curled up on my couch and taking it in without actually being there.
Jo Silver, running from her past, had moved to Dawson City, Yukon, on the cusp of the the northern city freezing over for the winter. She hadn’t even had time to settle before she, a reporter, found herself smack in the middle of a potential suicide surrounded by mystery. Jo was plagued by guilt from the outcome of a story she wrote but sat on, which drove her to search for the truth, despite the town’s desire to keep secrets.
So why not a 5 star for me? While I enjoyed this mystery, I would have preferred a little more insight into the characters to compensate for the lack of action. It felt like we barely scratched the surface of Jo and what made her tick. I also found myself wanting to learn more about some of the secondary characters.
Overall, an enjoyable read.
“Dawson would be cut off from the rest of the world. Jo thought about the shots ringing out in the darkness, and wondered who would be shut in with her.”
I really enjoyed this dark and mysterious story. Be warned, this story is a slow burn so it will not be for everyone. For me, the pace of the story worked well by filling my mind with imagery of a desolate, cold community as winter hits. Something about imagining the cold made me feel all cozy, curled up on my couch and taking it in without actually being there.
Jo Silver, running from her past, had moved to Dawson City, Yukon, on the cusp of the the northern city freezing over for the winter. She hadn’t even had time to settle before she, a reporter, found herself smack in the middle of a potential suicide surrounded by mystery. Jo was plagued by guilt from the outcome of a story she wrote but sat on, which drove her to search for the truth, despite the town’s desire to keep secrets.
So why not a 5 star for me? While I enjoyed this mystery, I would have preferred a little more insight into the characters to compensate for the lack of action. It felt like we barely scratched the surface of Jo and what made her tick. I also found myself wanting to learn more about some of the secondary characters.
Overall, an enjoyable read.
March 1, 2018
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Strange Things Done begins with Josephine or Jo's journey, heading to the Yukon to escape her professional and moral failings as a journalist. She accepts a job working for a small hometown paper and almost immediately strange things, a.k.a. mysterious deaths, start happening. The book grabbed my attention until about halfway through at which point it becomes repetitive. Every time it seems that the culprit will be revealed, we go back to a past suspect . I hate to say that by three quarters in, I no longer cared "whodunnit." I've heard it described as a "slow burn " which I normally don't mind but the pace was much too slow for my taste; others may disagree and might not feel like they're being strung along. The author's story line was very compelling but just went on too long.
September 23, 2016
Review originally posted at
All Books Considered: 3 STARS
So I really REALLY didn't like Jo, the MC of this story, when I first started reading. And I never ended up liking her for even a minute during and after I finished the book. So that was strike one for me -- I had a hard time understanding Jo's woe is me attitude and reason for moving to this remote area of the world and I had an equally difficult time following her repeated and stupid actions in the course of the book. She was tracking a killer but she always trusted all the wrong people and I guess I assumed she would have had better sense since she was supposed to be a top notch investigative journalist. The problem is that nothing was unique about this story -- I feel like I've already read this story and seen movies with this exact premise. I kept waiting for something interesting or unique to happen . . . but it didn't. And this wasn't very thrilling -- there was a little action but nothing like those other, superb thrillers that I've read recently that kept me on my toes and the edge of my seat. This was just so-so -- I liked the setting but had this been set in a city, it would have fallen flat.
This was sort of a mash-up of Extreme Exposure (investigative journalism romantic suspense) and In the Barren Ground (remote and insanely cold setting in winter) although not as successful as either and with way less romance than either of those unless you count falling for the VERY wrong person. Strange Things Done comes out tomorrow on September 24, 2016, and you can purchase HERE.
So I really REALLY didn't like Jo, the MC of this story, when I first started reading. And I never ended up liking her for even a minute during and after I finished the book. So that was strike one for me -- I had a hard time understanding Jo's woe is me attitude and reason for moving to this remote area of the world and I had an equally difficult time following her repeated and stupid actions in the course of the book. She was tracking a killer but she always trusted all the wrong people and I guess I assumed she would have had better sense since she was supposed to be a top notch investigative journalist. The problem is that nothing was unique about this story -- I feel like I've already read this story and seen movies with this exact premise. I kept waiting for something interesting or unique to happen . . . but it didn't. And this wasn't very thrilling -- there was a little action but nothing like those other, superb thrillers that I've read recently that kept me on my toes and the edge of my seat. This was just so-so -- I liked the setting but had this been set in a city, it would have fallen flat.
This was sort of a mash-up of Extreme Exposure (investigative journalism romantic suspense) and In the Barren Ground (remote and insanely cold setting in winter) although not as successful as either and with way less romance than either of those unless you count falling for the VERY wrong person. Strange Things Done comes out tomorrow on September 24, 2016, and you can purchase HERE.
Jo stood listening, waiting for something intangible while the steam of her breath moistened her woolen scarf. The sky was still grey, reflected in charcoal shades in the ice beneath blowing snow, like a child's messy chalkboard. The ferry had vanished, as though the river had claimed another victim. Joe wondered how thick the ice would have to be before it could be crossed. She pictured herself skating away on it, doing slow, graceful loops until she disappeared into the horizon line.
July 8, 2016
A murder, cancan outfits, a dead man's toe in whisky and stilettos in the snow - what's not to love!?
Grab this lovely mystery for a chilly read on a hot summer's day (or curl up under the blankets in bed) and let the twists and turns of murder in a small northern town take you down dark paths.
I was particularly fond of that Sally character... ;)
Grab this lovely mystery for a chilly read on a hot summer's day (or curl up under the blankets in bed) and let the twists and turns of murder in a small northern town take you down dark paths.
I was particularly fond of that Sally character... ;)
October 28, 2018
As Dawson City's egress options close, one by one for the winter, reporter Jo risks getting stuck in the same town as the murderer she's trying to expose. I'm just in love with Wild's prose, her knack for metaphor, her ability to build suspense. She really go the core of what survival (physical, monetary) in northern communities necessitates. The ending purposefully left a couple of open-ended threads, the last of which is a twist in itself.
June 30, 2017
There are strange things done in the midnight sun
By the men who moil for gold;
The Arctic trails have their secret tales
That would make your blood run cold...
– Robert W. Service poem, “The Cremation of Sam McGee”
The protagonist of this debut mystery is twenty-five year old journalist, Josephine Silver. She has just arrived in Dawson City, Yukon after fleeing from a scandal in Vancouver. She feels guilty after being persuaded by the Vancouver Police Dept. to kill a huge story about a serial killer dubbed "The Surrey Strangler". The daughter of a policeman, she did kill the story in order to not alert the suspect. As a result, another woman perished and Jo blames herself... One of the products of her guilt is that Jo now drinks far too much.
Josephine (Jo) has come to Dawson City to take up her role as editor of the Dawson Daily News. Expecting a much bigger operation, Jo arrives to find that the 'Daily' was in actual fact a 'Weekly' and her predecessor, Doug, only works part-time at the newspaper - he is a teacher by day. Also, all the stories she researched online that were written by the paper's 'staff' were in fact all written by Doug. He just used assorted pseudonyms to engender interest. The only other being at the paper besides Doug is in fact, a one-eyed, newspaper munching guinea pig named Marshall. (I loved Marshall !)
"Dawson had a long history of being the last refuge of the desperate.
Still is, she thought. She was living proof."
The novel begins in Jo's first week in Dawson City. She wakes up with little to no memory of the previous evening. Once again, the demon liquor has erased her recollection of events. This time though, it is imperative that she remember because a woman was murdered and she might have been a witness to the murder.
Dawson City is getting very close to 'freeze-up'. A time when the booming summer population of about 60,000 drops to just over 1,000 stoic persons. This is a town where there is no cellular telephone service and the streets remain unpaved to preserve the authentic 'gold rush' atmosphere.
Josephine finds herself in the center of a triangle, finding herself attracted to the policeman in charge of the case, Johnny Cariboo, and the main suspect, artist Chris Bryne. She also finds herself being questioned in connection to the murder. In order to find out what really happened she does some investigating only to find that Dawson, and its population are very secretive and the secrets they hide can be dangerous to those who discover them. One thing she does speculate is that many leads seem to culminate at the mine at Sourdough Creek. Also, she wonders if the town is trying to hide possible water contamination due to 'placer mining'.
This novel is riddled with eccentric and quirky characters. One of the quirkiest (and my favorite) being the woman Jo rents accommodation from, a 'dancer' named Sally LeBlanc.
I found that I couldn't really warm to the main character, Jo Silver. She seemed to make a lot of unwise decisions. Perhaps her youth was to blame? The writing was very good, especially the descriptions of Dawson. You could almost feel the cold and hear the squeak of the snow under booted feet. The pacing was spot-on and kept me avidly turning pages. The ending seemed to tie things up well, but it happened so abruptly that it felt rushed.
To sum up, I enjoyed reading this closed community mystery, but I didn't LOVE it.
I wish to thank TAP Books/Dundurn Publishing via Edelweiss for providing me with a complimentary digital copy of the book in consideration of my review.
By the men who moil for gold;
The Arctic trails have their secret tales
That would make your blood run cold...
– Robert W. Service poem, “The Cremation of Sam McGee”
The protagonist of this debut mystery is twenty-five year old journalist, Josephine Silver. She has just arrived in Dawson City, Yukon after fleeing from a scandal in Vancouver. She feels guilty after being persuaded by the Vancouver Police Dept. to kill a huge story about a serial killer dubbed "The Surrey Strangler". The daughter of a policeman, she did kill the story in order to not alert the suspect. As a result, another woman perished and Jo blames herself... One of the products of her guilt is that Jo now drinks far too much.
Josephine (Jo) has come to Dawson City to take up her role as editor of the Dawson Daily News. Expecting a much bigger operation, Jo arrives to find that the 'Daily' was in actual fact a 'Weekly' and her predecessor, Doug, only works part-time at the newspaper - he is a teacher by day. Also, all the stories she researched online that were written by the paper's 'staff' were in fact all written by Doug. He just used assorted pseudonyms to engender interest. The only other being at the paper besides Doug is in fact, a one-eyed, newspaper munching guinea pig named Marshall. (I loved Marshall !)
"Dawson had a long history of being the last refuge of the desperate.
Still is, she thought. She was living proof."
The novel begins in Jo's first week in Dawson City. She wakes up with little to no memory of the previous evening. Once again, the demon liquor has erased her recollection of events. This time though, it is imperative that she remember because a woman was murdered and she might have been a witness to the murder.
Dawson City is getting very close to 'freeze-up'. A time when the booming summer population of about 60,000 drops to just over 1,000 stoic persons. This is a town where there is no cellular telephone service and the streets remain unpaved to preserve the authentic 'gold rush' atmosphere.
Josephine finds herself in the center of a triangle, finding herself attracted to the policeman in charge of the case, Johnny Cariboo, and the main suspect, artist Chris Bryne. She also finds herself being questioned in connection to the murder. In order to find out what really happened she does some investigating only to find that Dawson, and its population are very secretive and the secrets they hide can be dangerous to those who discover them. One thing she does speculate is that many leads seem to culminate at the mine at Sourdough Creek. Also, she wonders if the town is trying to hide possible water contamination due to 'placer mining'.
This novel is riddled with eccentric and quirky characters. One of the quirkiest (and my favorite) being the woman Jo rents accommodation from, a 'dancer' named Sally LeBlanc.
I found that I couldn't really warm to the main character, Jo Silver. She seemed to make a lot of unwise decisions. Perhaps her youth was to blame? The writing was very good, especially the descriptions of Dawson. You could almost feel the cold and hear the squeak of the snow under booted feet. The pacing was spot-on and kept me avidly turning pages. The ending seemed to tie things up well, but it happened so abruptly that it felt rushed.
To sum up, I enjoyed reading this closed community mystery, but I didn't LOVE it.
I wish to thank TAP Books/Dundurn Publishing via Edelweiss for providing me with a complimentary digital copy of the book in consideration of my review.
July 6, 2016
This is my first NetGalley read- I was super intrigued by the premise (I have a soft spot for mysteries) and the setting. Also, saying that it was similar to The Luminaries in one of the descriptions I read certainly helped.
What I enjoyed:
- I liked Josephine. I'm not going to say that I actively tried to hate her, but I find that I'm really picky about my female MCs (not too try-hard, not weak or worthless, etc.). There were times when I was thinking to myself: "Girl, no!!!" in regards to several events. But I liked her. She was reminiscent of Stephanie Plum with slight hints of Jessica Jones.
- I loved the idea of the freeze-up trapping people in town after a certain point. I wish it had been utilized just a little bit more.
- Sally! She was fun, in a slinky, sketchy sort of way.
- As much as I didn't want this to end up being romance-y in any way, I ended up being a damn sucker for Johnny and Jo.
- I thought that the small town atmosphere was captured really, really well. I loved the cast of the town, the venues, all of that. It probably also helped that my boss is menopausal and constantly has the A/C on 60 degrees so while I read this book I was transported right up to the Yukon.
What I didn't enjoy:
- Christopher Byrne. I didn't like his relationship with Jo and .
- The Alice/Johnny subplot was very haphazardly mentioned and in the same way haphazardly tied up. I could have used way less of Byrne and a lot more of Sally and Johnny/Johnny's history with Alice.
- More of Frank! I was so intrigued by his character and his relationship with Jo that I wish we would've gotten to meet him in person.
All in all, I give this a solid three stars because once I started, I couldn't stop reading. I enjoyed the pace of the story, the cast of characters, and most of the subplots. I would read another book by this author, definitely another book featuring Josephine (would love the story of the Surrey Strangler). 3/5 stars.
[ I received my copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest and fair review, and this did not influence my opinions. All thoughts are my own. ]
What I enjoyed:
- I liked Josephine. I'm not going to say that I actively tried to hate her, but I find that I'm really picky about my female MCs (not too try-hard, not weak or worthless, etc.). There were times when I was thinking to myself: "Girl, no!!!" in regards to several events. But I liked her. She was reminiscent of Stephanie Plum with slight hints of Jessica Jones.
- I loved the idea of the freeze-up trapping people in town after a certain point. I wish it had been utilized just a little bit more.
- Sally! She was fun, in a slinky, sketchy sort of way.
- As much as I didn't want this to end up being romance-y in any way, I ended up being a damn sucker for Johnny and Jo.
- I thought that the small town atmosphere was captured really, really well. I loved the cast of the town, the venues, all of that. It probably also helped that my boss is menopausal and constantly has the A/C on 60 degrees so while I read this book I was transported right up to the Yukon.
What I didn't enjoy:
- Christopher Byrne. I didn't like his relationship with Jo and .
- The Alice/Johnny subplot was very haphazardly mentioned and in the same way haphazardly tied up. I could have used way less of Byrne and a lot more of Sally and Johnny/Johnny's history with Alice.
- More of Frank! I was so intrigued by his character and his relationship with Jo that I wish we would've gotten to meet him in person.
All in all, I give this a solid three stars because once I started, I couldn't stop reading. I enjoyed the pace of the story, the cast of characters, and most of the subplots. I would read another book by this author, definitely another book featuring Josephine (would love the story of the Surrey Strangler). 3/5 stars.
[ I received my copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest and fair review, and this did not influence my opinions. All thoughts are my own. ]
September 12, 2016
Originally posted at Desert Island Book Reviews
This small-town mystery started off with an interesting premise, but for me, there were some flaws that detracted from my overall enjoyment of the book. I liked Jo, the main character, who was a journalist seeking redemption, and I liked Cariboo, the main police officer in the tiny town of Dawson City.
And when I say tiny, I really mean tiny. With under 2,000 residents, you’d think suspicious deaths, murders, missing people, and other criminal activity would be surprising. You’d think people would want to know what’s happening. You’d think it would be rare. And yet, in this book, this tiny town is rocked by crime, and it seems like people don’t really care all that much through most of the book. It seems weird to me that there could be more than one missing person/suspicious death in the span of a week or two in a town this size, especially when these things happen just after a newcomer arrives. It wasn’t entirely believable to me.
I also didn’t love the missing memory idea or the pacing, which I found to be unbearably slow at times.
What I did like, though, was Jo’s perseverance and her insights into a town that has many secrets. I didn’t expect many of the plot elements and I liked the idea that anyone could be guilty. In many mysteries, the sleuth has ruled out certain people because of his or her personal relationships, but here, because Jo is new to town, everyone is a suspect. We’re left wondering what’s going on and who’s involved up through the end, which I really enjoyed.
Overall, I gave this book three stars. Some parts of it worked for me, and some didn’t, but I think that this could be a good read if you’re interested in small-town mysteries where everyone is a suspect and no one is safe.
*ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This small-town mystery started off with an interesting premise, but for me, there were some flaws that detracted from my overall enjoyment of the book. I liked Jo, the main character, who was a journalist seeking redemption, and I liked Cariboo, the main police officer in the tiny town of Dawson City.
And when I say tiny, I really mean tiny. With under 2,000 residents, you’d think suspicious deaths, murders, missing people, and other criminal activity would be surprising. You’d think people would want to know what’s happening. You’d think it would be rare. And yet, in this book, this tiny town is rocked by crime, and it seems like people don’t really care all that much through most of the book. It seems weird to me that there could be more than one missing person/suspicious death in the span of a week or two in a town this size, especially when these things happen just after a newcomer arrives. It wasn’t entirely believable to me.
I also didn’t love the missing memory idea or the pacing, which I found to be unbearably slow at times.
What I did like, though, was Jo’s perseverance and her insights into a town that has many secrets. I didn’t expect many of the plot elements and I liked the idea that anyone could be guilty. In many mysteries, the sleuth has ruled out certain people because of his or her personal relationships, but here, because Jo is new to town, everyone is a suspect. We’re left wondering what’s going on and who’s involved up through the end, which I really enjoyed.
Overall, I gave this book three stars. Some parts of it worked for me, and some didn’t, but I think that this could be a good read if you’re interested in small-town mysteries where everyone is a suspect and no one is safe.
*ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
October 10, 2016
Just loved Elle Wild's Strange Things Done. Actually read it over two days, as I couldn't put it down. I adored the characters, worried incessantly about Jo Silver, the lead. And am really hopeful that this new novel is the start of a series. Characters and storylines are that fun, with some great Canadian landscape twists. Can't wait for your next book Elle Wild!
March 11, 2016
A dark murder mystery in a northern city cut off by winter, where the detective was actually there for key events, but can't remember.
July 15, 2017
This book came to my attention because it won the 2017 Arthur Ellis Award for Best First Novel. The fact that its setting is in the Yukon also appealed to me.
Jo Silver is a journalist who arrives in the Yukon just as winter is closing in. After losing her job at a Vancouver newspaper, she has accepted the position of editor of the Dawson City paper. As soon as she arrives, she finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation, and it quickly turns out not to be the only criminal investigation in the remote northern community. Being new to the town, she doesn’t know whom she can trust when she starts trying to get to the bottom of the deaths and disappearances.
One of the things constantly emphasized is that Dawson City is almost totally isolated from the outside world in the winter: “Last chance [to leave Dawson City] before freeze-up: when the Yukon River froze and the ferry to the west was dry-docked. Then the Top of the World Highway to Alaska would close, the airport would follow suit, and the Klondike Highway – the only route out via the south – would begin to snow in.” My understanding is that the Klondike Highway is maintained and kept open year-round, though obviously a snow storm might make driving difficult. And in March, a friend posted a photo from the Dawson City airport before taking a flight south. The author also repeats several times that Dawson City has no cellular service. Again, my research suggests that this is not true; the town has had 4G service since 2012. The novel is set in 2004 so perhaps the community was absolutely isolated in the winter at the beginning of the century? Surely there must have been some way of bringing in provisions. People with medical emergencies could not be taken for treatment outside the town? Is the author guilty of some exaggeration in order to heighten the suspense?
Jo is not a convincing character. For an investigative journalist, she certainly lacks common sense. She knows so little about Canadian geography that she brings only rubber boots when she moves north? On her first night in town, the day before she is to begin her new job, she gets so drunk that she has almost no memory of what happened? She makes stupid, thoughtless decisions; for example, how many times will she visit a site where she is in danger of being shot? She breaks the law in order to investigate a person’s disappearance?
Jo is also a poor judge of character. She may be a cheechako, a newcomer, but when choosing whether to trust someone, she ignores all the clues pointing to that person’s trustworthiness or lack thereof. She is attracted to a man who has a reputation as a womanizer and is a viable murder suspect? After a few of her actions, she just becomes irritating.
The police are portrayed as inept. Jo keeps stumbling over bodies and so becomes a suspect when she reports them to the police? The police seem not to investigate a disappearance very seriously, yet arrest Jo on the flimsiest speculation? Even the police in Vancouver are inept: Jo feels guilty for going along with a police request, a request that had dire consequences. Her constant agonizing over this decision becomes annoying because it is the police who are responsible for what happened. The focus seems to be on showing Jo to be smarter than the police. Naturally, she also has the ability to melt the heart of a policeman: “melted him like snow”!
There are some colourful secondary characters, as one would expect. It is these eccentrics who often steal the limelight. Sally, Jo’s roommate, for instance, is a much more interesting character than Jo though some of her behaviour isn’t just oddball, but stupid. A seasoned Yukoner would go out in stiletto boots into the bush during a snowstorm? And no matter how independent and quirky the people, is it likely that a piece of outdoor art would be erected at the beginning of winter?
The ending is very abrupt. The motivation for the killings seems really weak. And though Dawson City in the winter “might as well be on another planet,” the killer has a means of escape not previously mentioned? Much is also left unexplained. Certainly, I craved more information about the Cariboo/Alice story which seems to have a connection to current events in the town.
The writer uses some imaginative comparisons: “Her face looked like a store receipt left in the bottom of a handbag for too long.” Unfortunately, there are too many similar water analogies: “attempting to attribute meaning to anything in Dawson was like trying to look at something underwater, where the shape and size of a thing changed when you reached toward it” and “Somewhere just below the calm surface of her subconscious, something menacing floated yet, threatening to breach the still waters and emerge at any time” and “Jo had the feeling of looking at something underwater, flitting just below the surface, and not being able to make out exactly what it was.”
I so wanted to like this book, but I found too many weaknesses in it. For me, the most memorable line is about a young girl’s disappearance eight years earlier: “’That happens sometimes in the North. Especially to First Nations girls, but nobody talks about that.’”
Please check out my reader's blog (http://schatjesshelves.blogspot.ca/) and follow me on Twitter (@DCYakabuski).
Jo Silver is a journalist who arrives in the Yukon just as winter is closing in. After losing her job at a Vancouver newspaper, she has accepted the position of editor of the Dawson City paper. As soon as she arrives, she finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation, and it quickly turns out not to be the only criminal investigation in the remote northern community. Being new to the town, she doesn’t know whom she can trust when she starts trying to get to the bottom of the deaths and disappearances.
One of the things constantly emphasized is that Dawson City is almost totally isolated from the outside world in the winter: “Last chance [to leave Dawson City] before freeze-up: when the Yukon River froze and the ferry to the west was dry-docked. Then the Top of the World Highway to Alaska would close, the airport would follow suit, and the Klondike Highway – the only route out via the south – would begin to snow in.” My understanding is that the Klondike Highway is maintained and kept open year-round, though obviously a snow storm might make driving difficult. And in March, a friend posted a photo from the Dawson City airport before taking a flight south. The author also repeats several times that Dawson City has no cellular service. Again, my research suggests that this is not true; the town has had 4G service since 2012. The novel is set in 2004 so perhaps the community was absolutely isolated in the winter at the beginning of the century? Surely there must have been some way of bringing in provisions. People with medical emergencies could not be taken for treatment outside the town? Is the author guilty of some exaggeration in order to heighten the suspense?
Jo is not a convincing character. For an investigative journalist, she certainly lacks common sense. She knows so little about Canadian geography that she brings only rubber boots when she moves north? On her first night in town, the day before she is to begin her new job, she gets so drunk that she has almost no memory of what happened? She makes stupid, thoughtless decisions; for example, how many times will she visit a site where she is in danger of being shot? She breaks the law in order to investigate a person’s disappearance?
Jo is also a poor judge of character. She may be a cheechako, a newcomer, but when choosing whether to trust someone, she ignores all the clues pointing to that person’s trustworthiness or lack thereof. She is attracted to a man who has a reputation as a womanizer and is a viable murder suspect? After a few of her actions, she just becomes irritating.
The police are portrayed as inept. Jo keeps stumbling over bodies and so becomes a suspect when she reports them to the police? The police seem not to investigate a disappearance very seriously, yet arrest Jo on the flimsiest speculation? Even the police in Vancouver are inept: Jo feels guilty for going along with a police request, a request that had dire consequences. Her constant agonizing over this decision becomes annoying because it is the police who are responsible for what happened. The focus seems to be on showing Jo to be smarter than the police. Naturally, she also has the ability to melt the heart of a policeman: “melted him like snow”!
There are some colourful secondary characters, as one would expect. It is these eccentrics who often steal the limelight. Sally, Jo’s roommate, for instance, is a much more interesting character than Jo though some of her behaviour isn’t just oddball, but stupid. A seasoned Yukoner would go out in stiletto boots into the bush during a snowstorm? And no matter how independent and quirky the people, is it likely that a piece of outdoor art would be erected at the beginning of winter?
The ending is very abrupt. The motivation for the killings seems really weak. And though Dawson City in the winter “might as well be on another planet,” the killer has a means of escape not previously mentioned? Much is also left unexplained. Certainly, I craved more information about the Cariboo/Alice story which seems to have a connection to current events in the town.
The writer uses some imaginative comparisons: “Her face looked like a store receipt left in the bottom of a handbag for too long.” Unfortunately, there are too many similar water analogies: “attempting to attribute meaning to anything in Dawson was like trying to look at something underwater, where the shape and size of a thing changed when you reached toward it” and “Somewhere just below the calm surface of her subconscious, something menacing floated yet, threatening to breach the still waters and emerge at any time” and “Jo had the feeling of looking at something underwater, flitting just below the surface, and not being able to make out exactly what it was.”
I so wanted to like this book, but I found too many weaknesses in it. For me, the most memorable line is about a young girl’s disappearance eight years earlier: “’That happens sometimes in the North. Especially to First Nations girls, but nobody talks about that.’”
Please check out my reader's blog (http://schatjesshelves.blogspot.ca/) and follow me on Twitter (@DCYakabuski).
June 6, 2016
I would like to thank Netgalley and Dundurn Press for an advance copy of Strange Things Done, Ms Wild's debut novel set in Dawson City, Yukon. Jo Silver is sacked from her reporter's job in Vancouver for withholding information about a serial killer's M.O. from the public at the request of the Police, information which could have protected his last victim. To keep working and herself out of the public eye she takes a job as editor of the Dawson Daily, which is actually a weekly. She barely has her bottom on the seat when the body of Marlo McAdam, local activist and politician, is found in the river. The RCMP are tight lipped about the circumstances but Jo suspects murder.
Strange Things Done did not really hold my attention and I found the first two thirds a bit of a chore to get through although it did pick up at the end. To be fair to Ms Wild the Yukon is far beyond the ken of most readers so the icy conditions and the constraints of living there do require a fair amount of explanation and scene setting. She does it well as I am fairly sure now that Dawson will not be on list of places to visit - too cold and too much snow. This scene setting, however, makes the plot extremely slow to get going.
I also have to say that I don't like Jo Silver who, I think, makes incredibly stupid decisions on a regular basis. It is hard to identify with her or feel any empathy for her as it is her thoughtless actions that land her in trouble every time. I also have a hard time swallowing the reason she left Vancouver - surely it is the responsibility of the police to warn the public about a serial killer, not a journalist co-operating with them.
I think Strange Things Done is a good effort for a debut novel. The descriptions of Dawson City are very well done, the plot is linear and makes sense and Jo Silver is well enough drawn for me not to like her.
Strange Things Done did not really hold my attention and I found the first two thirds a bit of a chore to get through although it did pick up at the end. To be fair to Ms Wild the Yukon is far beyond the ken of most readers so the icy conditions and the constraints of living there do require a fair amount of explanation and scene setting. She does it well as I am fairly sure now that Dawson will not be on list of places to visit - too cold and too much snow. This scene setting, however, makes the plot extremely slow to get going.
I also have to say that I don't like Jo Silver who, I think, makes incredibly stupid decisions on a regular basis. It is hard to identify with her or feel any empathy for her as it is her thoughtless actions that land her in trouble every time. I also have a hard time swallowing the reason she left Vancouver - surely it is the responsibility of the police to warn the public about a serial killer, not a journalist co-operating with them.
I think Strange Things Done is a good effort for a debut novel. The descriptions of Dawson City are very well done, the plot is linear and makes sense and Jo Silver is well enough drawn for me not to like her.
October 6, 2016
Raw and gripping mystery in the Canadian far north.
Journalist Jo Silver has a history--of doubt and death. Fleeing a story she'd been following in Vancouver that went horribly wrong, Jo heads north to the Yukon and Dawson's Creek--a town where mining and history walk hand in hand.
Only, Jo finds herself once more embroiled in a series of murders that shake her to the core. What to do? Report on it or not? The tourist season is closing down and then only the Dawsonites remain. Once that happens there's no way in or out. Why aren't the Mounties (RCMP) letting the residents know that there's a killer in their midst. Jo's past crowds her out and paralysis her actions. Bowed down by self doubt about the killings and about her own behaviour Jo wonders who to confide in. There's Sally her housemate, dancer at the local bar, Christopher Bryne the handsome woodsman, and RCMP Sergeant Johnnie Cariboo the local law and order. If that's not enough Jo seems to be continually stumbling over the bodies and into related situations. None of this is helped by not being able to remember a single thing after leaving the bar with Bryne when Jo first arrives and a suicide victim is found.
I really enjoyed this mystery. It unravels and reveals at a slapping pace, opening up vistas of isolated communities, exposes people's behaviours, superstitions and fears, all the while reflecting the dark days of winter coming!
A NetGalley ARC
Journalist Jo Silver has a history--of doubt and death. Fleeing a story she'd been following in Vancouver that went horribly wrong, Jo heads north to the Yukon and Dawson's Creek--a town where mining and history walk hand in hand.
Only, Jo finds herself once more embroiled in a series of murders that shake her to the core. What to do? Report on it or not? The tourist season is closing down and then only the Dawsonites remain. Once that happens there's no way in or out. Why aren't the Mounties (RCMP) letting the residents know that there's a killer in their midst. Jo's past crowds her out and paralysis her actions. Bowed down by self doubt about the killings and about her own behaviour Jo wonders who to confide in. There's Sally her housemate, dancer at the local bar, Christopher Bryne the handsome woodsman, and RCMP Sergeant Johnnie Cariboo the local law and order. If that's not enough Jo seems to be continually stumbling over the bodies and into related situations. None of this is helped by not being able to remember a single thing after leaving the bar with Bryne when Jo first arrives and a suicide victim is found.
I really enjoyed this mystery. It unravels and reveals at a slapping pace, opening up vistas of isolated communities, exposes people's behaviours, superstitions and fears, all the while reflecting the dark days of winter coming!
A NetGalley ARC
August 17, 2016
Strange Things Done is Elle Wild's debut album and what a great debut! The story starts in the in the small town of Dawson City, Yukon, Canada. I love the dark and tense atmosphere that builds up in her narrative. I liked the way Elle Wild developed her characters, but I have to admit that I never quite warmed up to Jo. The chilling small tall narrative reminded me a bit of some of Stephen King's great classics such as Salem's lot. For that same reason, at times the story was a little slow for my taste. Overall, I highly recommend this dark and chilly novel.
I would like to thank Dundurn and NetGalley for allowing me to read an early copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
I would like to thank Dundurn and NetGalley for allowing me to read an early copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
August 12, 2016
I love reading stories set in Canada somewhere. I've never been to Dawson, and find it a bit hard to believe it's this eccentric, but it sure whets my desire to go there.
I never figured it out and at the end, I'm still not sure. The heroine, Jo, is a bit too intrepid for my taste. I could hardly believe she survived all her adventures!
A good, fast paced novel and I did enjoy it.
I never figured it out and at the end, I'm still not sure. The heroine, Jo, is a bit too intrepid for my taste. I could hardly believe she survived all her adventures!
A good, fast paced novel and I did enjoy it.
February 6, 2017
It's 2004 and Jo was a journalist in Vancouver. Because of a scandal, she accepts the position of editor of the newspaper in Dawson City, Yukon. She arrives just before the town freezes up for the winter ... so all access to and from Dawson City will be cut off. When she arrives, she discovers the newspaper is published on a weekly basis and the list of reporters is actually pen names of the editor, who is also a full-time teacher.
On the day she arrives in Dawson City, she gets hammered with her new landlady at a bar and vaguely remembers being driven home by Christopher, one of the locals. A woman in a red coat yells at them as they are leaving the bar ... and then turns up murdered the next day. Jo can't vouch for her whereabouts that night and becomes the number one suspect. Determined to clear her name and deliver the story, she starts to investigate to find the killer.
I really wanted to like this book since it is Canadian and set in the North (there aren't a lot of mysteries set there). But I got about halfway through and finally gave up ... and then jumped ahead to the last couple of chapters to see whodunnit. I didn't enjoy the writing style as I found it draggy. I didn't like any of the characters. I hated how the author dragged things out ... for example, there are lots of references as to why Jo left Vancouver but we don't find out the story until about a third of the way in. Christopher knew exactly what happened the night he drove Jo home but she remembers nothing and I found it annoying that he kept insinuating things that happened without telling her (or us).
Blog review post: http://www.teenaintoronto.com/2017/02...
On the day she arrives in Dawson City, she gets hammered with her new landlady at a bar and vaguely remembers being driven home by Christopher, one of the locals. A woman in a red coat yells at them as they are leaving the bar ... and then turns up murdered the next day. Jo can't vouch for her whereabouts that night and becomes the number one suspect. Determined to clear her name and deliver the story, she starts to investigate to find the killer.
I really wanted to like this book since it is Canadian and set in the North (there aren't a lot of mysteries set there). But I got about halfway through and finally gave up ... and then jumped ahead to the last couple of chapters to see whodunnit. I didn't enjoy the writing style as I found it draggy. I didn't like any of the characters. I hated how the author dragged things out ... for example, there are lots of references as to why Jo left Vancouver but we don't find out the story until about a third of the way in. Christopher knew exactly what happened the night he drove Jo home but she remembers nothing and I found it annoying that he kept insinuating things that happened without telling her (or us).
Blog review post: http://www.teenaintoronto.com/2017/02...
September 5, 2016
Thank you to NetGalley and Dundurn for the copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Set in Dawson, Canada with freeze ready to set in a murder takes place. Jo Silver, new editor for the Daily, sets out to write a story she hopes will put her back on the map in a bigger town at some point in the future.
The town is filled with potentially interesting characters that could provide the basis for a series. I have to say that Jo seemed to lack common sense at times and was not as likable as some heroines I have met in the past. I wanted to sit her down and help her make wiser choices. I had trouble figuring out why she made the decisions she made related to men, the dangerous way she pursued her investigation and the things she shared with others. Cariboo appealed to me but he did not get much time on the page and Byrne was not my cup of tea though he seemed to be just what Jo was drawn to.
The writing was well done, characters developed in a way that I felt I knew them and yet I felt as if there were threads left loose and not tied up neatly and that is why I wondered if this was a stand-alone book or the beginning of a series. If this is a stand-alone book then it should have had those threads neatly tied up. I wondered why the murders really happened. I wondered if perhaps more people were involved than were caught. I wondered about the Surrey Strangler and the tie-in to this story. And I wondered what decision Jo will make about her future and what she will do when winter ends. I guess leaving me wondering could be a good thing BUT not if this was a stand-alone book and not a series in the making.
Set in Dawson, Canada with freeze ready to set in a murder takes place. Jo Silver, new editor for the Daily, sets out to write a story she hopes will put her back on the map in a bigger town at some point in the future.
The town is filled with potentially interesting characters that could provide the basis for a series. I have to say that Jo seemed to lack common sense at times and was not as likable as some heroines I have met in the past. I wanted to sit her down and help her make wiser choices. I had trouble figuring out why she made the decisions she made related to men, the dangerous way she pursued her investigation and the things she shared with others. Cariboo appealed to me but he did not get much time on the page and Byrne was not my cup of tea though he seemed to be just what Jo was drawn to.
The writing was well done, characters developed in a way that I felt I knew them and yet I felt as if there were threads left loose and not tied up neatly and that is why I wondered if this was a stand-alone book or the beginning of a series. If this is a stand-alone book then it should have had those threads neatly tied up. I wondered why the murders really happened. I wondered if perhaps more people were involved than were caught. I wondered about the Surrey Strangler and the tie-in to this story. And I wondered what decision Jo will make about her future and what she will do when winter ends. I guess leaving me wondering could be a good thing BUT not if this was a stand-alone book and not a series in the making.
August 3, 2016
Haunting cover, intriguing blurb, and set in Alaska/ Caught my attention and didn't stop until I reached the last page. What a great first book.
Our heroine, Jo Silver, is a bit flawed, but very sympathetic. There didn't seem to be a hero, but maybe that will change in the next book. (Yes-I am hoping for a series.) I like the character of Johnny Cariboo-steady, loyal and devoted to his job. There are many secondary characters to this story, but not overwhelming and not too many to confuse a reader.
I am definitely adding Ms. Wild to my list of favorite authors.
(I received a copy of this book for a review.)
Our heroine, Jo Silver, is a bit flawed, but very sympathetic. There didn't seem to be a hero, but maybe that will change in the next book. (Yes-I am hoping for a series.) I like the character of Johnny Cariboo-steady, loyal and devoted to his job. There are many secondary characters to this story, but not overwhelming and not too many to confuse a reader.
I am definitely adding Ms. Wild to my list of favorite authors.
(I received a copy of this book for a review.)
June 25, 2016
Winter has arrived in Dawson City, Yukon and Jo Silver, sacked from her previous post, is the new editor of the Dawson Daily. As the newcomer Jo is the talk of the town and within a few days a body is found, a possible suicide, and Jo becomes suspicious of everybody, but she becomes the prime suspect.
The more I read the more I become involved in the story and characters, as it drew me in, though Jo did make some bad decisions.
A NetGalley Book
The more I read the more I become involved in the story and characters, as it drew me in, though Jo did make some bad decisions.
A NetGalley Book
October 15, 2016
A darkly humorous page-turner! The author provides a likeable anti-heroine with a charred past who meets up with some strange characters in the Yukon (a place I love!). Mystery is wound until the very end with satisfying results. Highly recommended!
November 8, 2016
This was a fun read for me because I visited Dawson City a few months ago in the summer. The story takes place in the winter which added some interesting happenings but I would rather read about winter in Dawson than experience it.
January 31, 2017
Beautifully written. This story is a page turner, a great whodunit that left me guessing right until the end. Elle Wild painted the cold wilderness of the Yukon with a masterful brush. I know this one will live with me a long time.
July 6, 2017
A fun fantastic read.
March 9, 2021
Pas extraordinaire comme roman, même si l'intrigue est pas mal et les personnages intéressants. Toutefois, j'ai commandé ce livre afin de me mettre dans l'ambiance du Yukon avant de m'y rendre moi-même en vacances. Mission accomplie, j'ai déjà hâte d'y être et de me commander un Gold digger martini! Sans orteil svp. 🍸
March 2, 2017
review to come
August 16, 2016
As winter closes in and the roads snow over in Dawson City, Yukon, newly arrived journalist, Jo Silver, investigates the suspicious suicide of a local politician and quickly discovers that not everything is what it seems in the sleepy tourist town. Before long, law enforcement being treating the death as a possible murder and Jo becomes the prime suspect.
This book takes place in a very small town, where the population dwindles to about 1,000 during the frigid winter months. The conditions described in the book are not very interesting, although I can understand why one would write a murder mystery in a remote, isolated snow bound community. I wasn't that big of a fan of the main character Jo, as I thought she made some slightly odd and almost stupid decisions quite regularly throughout the book. And even though she would find herself in trouble, she then seemed to make a similar error again. Overall, the book is entertaining on the surface if you don't dig too far into it. The descriptions of Dawson City are pretty in depth, it's just not the ideal setting. The plot does make sense and there are one or two plot twists that keep you guessing as to who the killer is until the end of the book. The characters and the plot just didn't really hold my interest. I do think some readers will really enjoy this book, but not avid readers who are used to analyzing books and looking intensely at plot lines and characters.
Thank you to the publisher, Dundurn Group, for sending me an advanced reading copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
This book takes place in a very small town, where the population dwindles to about 1,000 during the frigid winter months. The conditions described in the book are not very interesting, although I can understand why one would write a murder mystery in a remote, isolated snow bound community. I wasn't that big of a fan of the main character Jo, as I thought she made some slightly odd and almost stupid decisions quite regularly throughout the book. And even though she would find herself in trouble, she then seemed to make a similar error again. Overall, the book is entertaining on the surface if you don't dig too far into it. The descriptions of Dawson City are pretty in depth, it's just not the ideal setting. The plot does make sense and there are one or two plot twists that keep you guessing as to who the killer is until the end of the book. The characters and the plot just didn't really hold my interest. I do think some readers will really enjoy this book, but not avid readers who are used to analyzing books and looking intensely at plot lines and characters.
Thank you to the publisher, Dundurn Group, for sending me an advanced reading copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
March 11, 2021
For the most part, I really liked this novel. I got into it, and read it over about a week. I could see the setting, feel the atmosphere of Dawson. I wasn't too attached to any character in particular though, and thought Jo was a bit... too naïve, perhaps, too trusting (even though she keeps on saying she has a hard time trusting anyone, she does give the benefit of the doubt a little too easily in many instances, imho) or not careful enough.
I thought the story was well-paced, the suspense well crafted, increasing at a steady pace. A few things got on my nerves though: the number of times that she stopped herself in the middle of something, feeling "watched", then brushed it off, only to realize later that she had indeed been watched (come on, nobody has that kind of intuition all the time), and the number of times that she said "I shouldn't trust so and so" but then ended up alone with such so and so.
I was a bit disappointed by the ending, the sudden "relevation" in the last few paragraphs, or rather, the reaction (or lack thereof) of Jo to the last revelation. And also a bit disappointed to not find out in the end . So here and there, a few inconsistencies.
But then again, like I said, in general I thought the book was good entertainment. We can certainly find a lot worse in terms of Whodunit novels.
I thought the story was well-paced, the suspense well crafted, increasing at a steady pace. A few things got on my nerves though: the number of times that she stopped herself in the middle of something, feeling "watched", then brushed it off, only to realize later that she had indeed been watched (come on, nobody has that kind of intuition all the time), and the number of times that she said "I shouldn't trust so and so" but then ended up alone with such so and so.
I was a bit disappointed by the ending, the sudden "relevation" in the last few paragraphs, or rather, the reaction (or lack thereof) of Jo to the last revelation. And also a bit disappointed to not find out in the end . So here and there, a few inconsistencies.
But then again, like I said, in general I thought the book was good entertainment. We can certainly find a lot worse in terms of Whodunit novels.
September 6, 2016
I received a copy of this book as A GoodReads giveaway winner. The giveaway has not influenced my review.
I give this book a middle-of-the-road rating, neither bad nor especially good. The story is a "noir thriller" involving a suicide that is revealed to be a murder, with the main character, newly arrived Jo Silver, quickly becoming the major suspect. Jo has arrived in the far north -- Dawson City, Yukon -- as the new Editor of the tiny Dawson Daily newspaper, also hoping to escape mistakes made in her past. The setting, a small town about to be totally snowed in and inaccessible for the winter, was beautifully portrayed, and taught me a lot about life in such an area. However, I found the characters and much of the story line to be stereotypical and hackneyed. Without the unusual setting, the story would just be one of many I have read before. The writing itself is good, but I was looking for a more unusual story to match the unusual setting.
I give this book a middle-of-the-road rating, neither bad nor especially good. The story is a "noir thriller" involving a suicide that is revealed to be a murder, with the main character, newly arrived Jo Silver, quickly becoming the major suspect. Jo has arrived in the far north -- Dawson City, Yukon -- as the new Editor of the tiny Dawson Daily newspaper, also hoping to escape mistakes made in her past. The setting, a small town about to be totally snowed in and inaccessible for the winter, was beautifully portrayed, and taught me a lot about life in such an area. However, I found the characters and much of the story line to be stereotypical and hackneyed. Without the unusual setting, the story would just be one of many I have read before. The writing itself is good, but I was looking for a more unusual story to match the unusual setting.
Read
June 21, 2016Thanks to Netgalley and Dundurn for giving me the opportunity to read this.
DNF at 54%.
I just couldn't get into this. I found the first 20% really slow and uninteresting, then it started going somewhere a bit more exciting and I thought "oo yay it's going somewhere". Somehow within the next 20% or so I got completely lost and felt like half a story had gone missing.
It's a shame because Jo was a character I was actually quite fond of, but the rest of the characters were boring to read about and Sally was just plain irritating. The book also introduced us to characters like we already knew who they were and so it was difficult to understand and remember who people were and what they were in relation to Jo.
Love the cover art but didn't love the plot. Sorry Wild!
DNF at 54%.
I just couldn't get into this. I found the first 20% really slow and uninteresting, then it started going somewhere a bit more exciting and I thought "oo yay it's going somewhere". Somehow within the next 20% or so I got completely lost and felt like half a story had gone missing.
It's a shame because Jo was a character I was actually quite fond of, but the rest of the characters were boring to read about and Sally was just plain irritating. The book also introduced us to characters like we already knew who they were and so it was difficult to understand and remember who people were and what they were in relation to Jo.
Love the cover art but didn't love the plot. Sorry Wild!
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