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不協和音～GRIEVANCE～
美しくて怖すぎる、戦慄のサイコスリラー!
若くして最愛の夫デズを亡くした二児の母リリー。悲しみに囚われながらも子供たちと前に進もうとする彼女のもとに、夫の過去の恋人を名乗る者から妙なお悔やみの手紙が届く。リリーは心を乱されるが、その後もエスカレートする手紙とともに不穏な出来事が続く。結婚記念日に届いた不吉な贈り物、開設者不明の夫の追悼サイト……。誰が敵か味方かわからずじわじわと追い詰められていく彼女を待ち受けていたのは――。
美しいテネシー州ナッシュビルの自然の中、主人公を襲う血も凍る所業の数々を描く国際スリラー作家協会賞受賞作。
脳科学者・中野信子さんによる解説も必読です。
若くして最愛の夫デズを亡くした二児の母リリー。悲しみに囚われながらも子供たちと前に進もうとする彼女のもとに、夫の過去の恋人を名乗る者から妙なお悔やみの手紙が届く。リリーは心を乱されるが、その後もエスカレートする手紙とともに不穏な出来事が続く。結婚記念日に届いた不吉な贈り物、開設者不明の夫の追悼サイト……。誰が敵か味方かわからずじわじわと追い詰められていく彼女を待ち受けていたのは――。
美しいテネシー州ナッシュビルの自然の中、主人公を襲う血も凍る所業の数々を描く国際スリラー作家協会賞受賞作。
脳科学者・中野信子さんによる解説も必読です。
428 pages
First published January 1, 2017
117 people are currently reading
565 people want to read
About the author
Christine Bell
3 books2 followersGrievance wins International Thriller Writers 2018 Thriller Award (best original paperback)!
Christine Bell's first novel, Saint, was optioned for a feature film and praised by The Philadelphia Inquirer as "a brilliant first novel, an extraordinary book." The Seven Year Atomic Makeover Guide, a short story.
Christine Bell's first novel, Saint, was optioned for a feature film and praised by The Philadelphia Inquirer as "a brilliant first novel, an extraordinary book." The Seven Year Atomic Makeover Guide, a short story.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews
May 6, 2019
It tried hard this book, it really did, but it didn't ring true and fell a bit flat.
July 21, 2017
3.5 stars
This story centers around a thirty-something year-old widow and her two young sons as they navigate life after the death of their loved one. As the title and blurb mentions, dealing with grief plays the starring role in this story. The chapters are short, each titled with interesting phrases and featuring likable characters. This book is divided into three parts and Lily is the protagonist.
Part one: melancholy in tone, Lily is celebrating the one-year anniversary of her husband's death and the reader learns that her younger son is being teased at school for being fatherless.
Part two: a series of strange events happen and some are explained, most are not, and the police are notified.
Part three: Lily is on high alert and convinced without a doubt that she has a stalker.
Loved?
The secondary characters and the grief therapy sessions conducted by Miriam! I cackled so hard at the responses by the other group members! Getting that cast of characters to remain focused on the subject at hand was like herding wild horses together!
Miriam's patience and tough approach kept the circle of grief-strickened members from spiraling out of control and that wasn't an easy feat with adults of varying ages, personal histories, and backgrounds. Those characters were so colorful and fun! Olivia provided the baked snacks, Carly's no-budget Googling investigations caused some contention within the group, Leon's reincarnation stories had me on edge, and Emma's auditory hallucinations and lactating breasts proved to be hilariously entertaining!
Most profound?
The group exercises used to express grief: writing poems, memory boxes, the empty-chair exercise, letters of gratitude to the deceased, etc. was an eye-opening experience. It depicted just how differently each person dealt with grief at various stages of life, maturity levels, and areas of faith.
► While this story caught me off guard in a good way, the revelation of the stalker's identity and agenda seemed to come out of left field and I felt let down by it. I think the ending was supposed to blow me away, but it didn't.
Yes, it was something I NEVER guessed, but it was such a stretch in believability for me!
► Despite the difficult subject matter, this was a good story and quite enjoyable!
*NetGalley ARC provided by Lake Union Publishing in exchange for an honest review.
This story centers around a thirty-something year-old widow and her two young sons as they navigate life after the death of their loved one. As the title and blurb mentions, dealing with grief plays the starring role in this story. The chapters are short, each titled with interesting phrases and featuring likable characters. This book is divided into three parts and Lily is the protagonist.
Part one: melancholy in tone, Lily is celebrating the one-year anniversary of her husband's death and the reader learns that her younger son is being teased at school for being fatherless.
Part two: a series of strange events happen and some are explained, most are not, and the police are notified.
Part three: Lily is on high alert and convinced without a doubt that she has a stalker.
Loved?
The secondary characters and the grief therapy sessions conducted by Miriam! I cackled so hard at the responses by the other group members! Getting that cast of characters to remain focused on the subject at hand was like herding wild horses together!
Miriam's patience and tough approach kept the circle of grief-strickened members from spiraling out of control and that wasn't an easy feat with adults of varying ages, personal histories, and backgrounds. Those characters were so colorful and fun! Olivia provided the baked snacks, Carly's no-budget Googling investigations caused some contention within the group, Leon's reincarnation stories had me on edge, and Emma's auditory hallucinations and lactating breasts proved to be hilariously entertaining!
Most profound?
The group exercises used to express grief: writing poems, memory boxes, the empty-chair exercise, letters of gratitude to the deceased, etc. was an eye-opening experience. It depicted just how differently each person dealt with grief at various stages of life, maturity levels, and areas of faith.
► While this story caught me off guard in a good way, the revelation of the stalker's identity and agenda seemed to come out of left field and I felt let down by it. I think the ending was supposed to blow me away, but it didn't.
Yes, it was something I NEVER guessed, but it was such a stretch in believability for me!
► Despite the difficult subject matter, this was a good story and quite enjoyable!
*NetGalley ARC provided by Lake Union Publishing in exchange for an honest review.
July 31, 2017
Grievance by Christine Bell was sort of an impulse pick I had while browsing through Netgalley one day. A novel marketed as a “haunting and suspenseful (novel) that draws readers into the world of a grieving widow stalked by a stranger bent on stealing away everything she has left- even her past.“ I figured it sounded completely original from anything else I have been reading; it isn’t often a grieving widow is at the core of a thriller novel.
Now that I have finished reading, I am not 100% sure how I felt about this one.
What I Liked:
I did enjoy the play on words with the title; discussing both the grief that the protagonist is going through and her complaints of the “do-gooder” around her. I thought that was a really clever aspect.
I also liked Bell’s voice throughout the text. I found that I was absolutely curious enough to keep reading, even though I was finding myself overly thrilled or connected to the text.
I also found that the aspect of grief and the psychology of grief that was core to the plot was quite interesting; it is a concept that is not discussed often in fiction so I found that was very original and had me intrigued.
What I Struggled With:
Grievance was not a thriller. I feel as if it was completely mis-marketed as such.
I also found that this one was quite a bit slower than I was expecting. It did pick up the pace near the end but, for the most part, it was pretty slow moving.
I also found that I couldn’t connect to any of the characters; I didn’t really feel anything throughout the whole text.
Overall, I feel like this one read like a contemporary drama or family fiction. If you like that style of novel, then maybe this one would be a better fit. However, if you want a thriller or something to keep you on the edge of your seat, this would be one I would skip.
Now that I have finished reading, I am not 100% sure how I felt about this one.
What I Liked:
I did enjoy the play on words with the title; discussing both the grief that the protagonist is going through and her complaints of the “do-gooder” around her. I thought that was a really clever aspect.
I also liked Bell’s voice throughout the text. I found that I was absolutely curious enough to keep reading, even though I was finding myself overly thrilled or connected to the text.
I also found that the aspect of grief and the psychology of grief that was core to the plot was quite interesting; it is a concept that is not discussed often in fiction so I found that was very original and had me intrigued.
What I Struggled With:
Grievance was not a thriller. I feel as if it was completely mis-marketed as such.
I also found that this one was quite a bit slower than I was expecting. It did pick up the pace near the end but, for the most part, it was pretty slow moving.
I also found that I couldn’t connect to any of the characters; I didn’t really feel anything throughout the whole text.
Overall, I feel like this one read like a contemporary drama or family fiction. If you like that style of novel, then maybe this one would be a better fit. However, if you want a thriller or something to keep you on the edge of your seat, this would be one I would skip.
July 15, 2017
Grievance is a psychological tale of a personal vendetta towards a grieving widow. Lily is grappling with her first year without her husband Desmond. With her two sons, Sam and Finn, she struggles to keep up with the pace of life. One day she receives a strange letter from one of Des's old flames. Suddenly Lily must not only navigate through her despair but the harassment of an emotional and potentially dangerous stalker.
I enjoyed reading this book, but I gave it the 3.5-star rating rounded to 3 for several reasons.
The psychological plot was well paced and entertaining. When the intrusive letter is received, Lily's reaction and rumination of its details was credible and generated tension for the backbone of the novel. The phone calls, a strange package on an anniversary, the intimate knowledge contained in a couple of letters sets the stage for a full-scale thrill ride. However, Bell does not fully commit the novel to the dark side. It only brushes with the suspense in small ways leaving the story more psychological rather than thrilling. And the perpetrator, a DSM-V type character, once again was not fully invested and appeared twistedly soft.
I would like to commend Bell on a brilliant job with character development, especially with the minor characters in the story. Lily's grief was touching. Her sorrow was thinly veiled as it has been less than a year since Desmond's passing from Cancer. Her innermost thoughts, obsessions, and hallucinations made her sadness and anger poignant. Her support group meetings contained characters that showed various shades of mourning. Bell gives grief a face with multidimensionality detailing the physical, psychological and social aspects of family's grief in everyday life. The subset of grieving compelled me to wonder about the totality of this universal emotion.
Overall, an easy, read with some exciting and creepy moments. Although I was left unsatisfied, I would recommend this book only for the thoughtful portrayal of grief.
Thank you, NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
I enjoyed reading this book, but I gave it the 3.5-star rating rounded to 3 for several reasons.
The psychological plot was well paced and entertaining. When the intrusive letter is received, Lily's reaction and rumination of its details was credible and generated tension for the backbone of the novel. The phone calls, a strange package on an anniversary, the intimate knowledge contained in a couple of letters sets the stage for a full-scale thrill ride. However, Bell does not fully commit the novel to the dark side. It only brushes with the suspense in small ways leaving the story more psychological rather than thrilling. And the perpetrator, a DSM-V type character, once again was not fully invested and appeared twistedly soft.
I would like to commend Bell on a brilliant job with character development, especially with the minor characters in the story. Lily's grief was touching. Her sorrow was thinly veiled as it has been less than a year since Desmond's passing from Cancer. Her innermost thoughts, obsessions, and hallucinations made her sadness and anger poignant. Her support group meetings contained characters that showed various shades of mourning. Bell gives grief a face with multidimensionality detailing the physical, psychological and social aspects of family's grief in everyday life. The subset of grieving compelled me to wonder about the totality of this universal emotion.
Overall, an easy, read with some exciting and creepy moments. Although I was left unsatisfied, I would recommend this book only for the thoughtful portrayal of grief.
Thank you, NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
January 6, 2025
I'm so sad that this book has so little reviews!!
Although the book deals with grief (duh), it's never bogged down by it. It shows grief as dimensional: non-linear, messy, all consuming, raw, but with surprisingly tender moments. Lily Declan is a woman who resists drowning in her sorrows to keep life going for her two sons, and I found that admirable.
I thought the villain (who I will not be spoiling) was absolutely batshit insane and their whole plan was absolutely fucked up. There's nothing like a good old-fashion lunatic to really spice up a book!
Although the book deals with grief (duh), it's never bogged down by it. It shows grief as dimensional: non-linear, messy, all consuming, raw, but with surprisingly tender moments. Lily Declan is a woman who resists drowning in her sorrows to keep life going for her two sons, and I found that admirable.
I thought the villain (who I will not be spoiling) was absolutely batshit insane and their whole plan was absolutely fucked up. There's nothing like a good old-fashion lunatic to really spice up a book!
December 5, 2017
Grievance was as random pick from the library. I have very mixed feeling about the story. In the end it was just an OK read for me. In the story, Lily has lost her husband from cancer. It's been almost a year when she notices strange things happening. The one strong thing I can say about the book was the realistic way that Lily's grief is portrayed. I could empathize with Lily and understand how and why she would try to find little messages from her husband in every day things, like songs on the radio. Her daily mantra about what she had to do were signs that she was just making if through each day. Keep her kids safe, keep her house, keep her job were what she needed to hold onto to make it through the day.
On the downside, the story started out really slow. It felt like it took forever to get going. Once it did, it went along fairly fast. The mystery was a bit weak and not one I would call thrilling. My biggest issue was with the reveal and resolution in the end. The person's motives were really disturbing and, quite honestly, off putting. I didn't care for that part of the story line. At any rate, it's a quick read and one I thing people will have to judge for themselves.
On the downside, the story started out really slow. It felt like it took forever to get going. Once it did, it went along fairly fast. The mystery was a bit weak and not one I would call thrilling. My biggest issue was with the reveal and resolution in the end. The person's motives were really disturbing and, quite honestly, off putting. I didn't care for that part of the story line. At any rate, it's a quick read and one I thing people will have to judge for themselves.
June 4, 2017
Every month Amazon offers UK-based kindle owners with Prime accounts a free 'pre-publication' edition of one of six books. This month I chose 'Grievance' by Christine Bell from a poorer-than-normal shortlist and I was pretty disappointed. Often I take a book from a genre I wouldn't normally read but this time I went with a mystery-suspense option and I feel rather more entitled to an opinion in a genre that I know so well.
Stacked up against a lot of great books this one comes out as less than mediocre.
The germ of the idea is interesting; a grieving young widow receives a letter from a woman she's never heard of who claims to have been her late husband's lover before they married. One by one a series of strange and eerie things happens that makes Lily, the widow, suspect that the writer of the letters is taking over aspects of her life. A mysterious Facebook 'tribute' page appears, she receives an inappropriate gift on her wedding anniversary and somebody has been in her house and her garden. Threats build and the events seem to hint (rather than scream) and peril ahead.
The problem is that it's either so soft as to fail to be scary (if this were a film there would be tinkly piano music, not strident violins doing the 'Psycho' shower scene) or too darned silly to be taken seriously. When the denouement comes, it's ridiculously badly handled and the plot jumps about as if somebody had misplaced a few pages along the way.
All in all, it's an easy, light read but it could and should have been a lot better. This is more 'made for TV (afternoon, minor channel - the type with stair lift adverts and cut price cruises) than blockbuster multiplex fare.
Stacked up against a lot of great books this one comes out as less than mediocre.
The germ of the idea is interesting; a grieving young widow receives a letter from a woman she's never heard of who claims to have been her late husband's lover before they married. One by one a series of strange and eerie things happens that makes Lily, the widow, suspect that the writer of the letters is taking over aspects of her life. A mysterious Facebook 'tribute' page appears, she receives an inappropriate gift on her wedding anniversary and somebody has been in her house and her garden. Threats build and the events seem to hint (rather than scream) and peril ahead.
The problem is that it's either so soft as to fail to be scary (if this were a film there would be tinkly piano music, not strident violins doing the 'Psycho' shower scene) or too darned silly to be taken seriously. When the denouement comes, it's ridiculously badly handled and the plot jumps about as if somebody had misplaced a few pages along the way.
All in all, it's an easy, light read but it could and should have been a lot better. This is more 'made for TV (afternoon, minor channel - the type with stair lift adverts and cut price cruises) than blockbuster multiplex fare.
August 5, 2017
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. What can I say but it sounded pretty good when I read the description of the story but now I wished I had checked out some of the reviews first. This book is long, tedious, and the endjng becomes just pure fantasy. Was not for me.
August 25, 2018
Must Read!!!
This book won International Thriller Award 2018 for best paperback, and rightly so.
This is one of the best books I've read in a while. The author's portrayal of how anyone could become a victim of stalking by someone crazy and obsessed person and have their private moments stolen is chilling. Anyone who has lost someone close to them can relate to Lily in more than one way and she will be that person from fictional universe who we tend not to forget. She is a mom who tries her best to function for her boys, a grieving widow who didn't yet healed and came back to reality from her sorrow. Most of all, she is a fighter with iron will.
But I definitely don't think any buyer would feel it is a waste of time or money. Christine Bell has been writing romance before Grievance. Any author would tell you that changing their genre is almost impossible. But she didn't just complete the transition successfully, but she did it so well that an international community that awards this genre thought it is THE book that deserves the award.
So happy reading!!!
This book won International Thriller Award 2018 for best paperback, and rightly so.
This is one of the best books I've read in a while. The author's portrayal of how anyone could become a victim of stalking by someone crazy and obsessed person and have their private moments stolen is chilling. Anyone who has lost someone close to them can relate to Lily in more than one way and she will be that person from fictional universe who we tend not to forget. She is a mom who tries her best to function for her boys, a grieving widow who didn't yet healed and came back to reality from her sorrow. Most of all, she is a fighter with iron will.
But I definitely don't think any buyer would feel it is a waste of time or money. Christine Bell has been writing romance before Grievance. Any author would tell you that changing their genre is almost impossible. But she didn't just complete the transition successfully, but she did it so well that an international community that awards this genre thought it is THE book that deserves the award.
So happy reading!!!
October 15, 2017
Lily was doing her best holding down a job, raising and providing for her two young sons after the death of her husband (Desmond). It was nearing the year anniversary of his death. She was still grieving and attending a Grief Counseling Group to help her cope. However, life hit another roadblock when she began receiving letters from a mysterious woman who claimed she and Desmond were serious lovers in college. No one in Desmond's family knew of the mysterious Jasmine that was writing. More letters came with intimate details of Jasmine's and Des's relationship as well as intimate details of Lily and her sons. Lily ignored the letters and did not write back as "Jasmine" requested. However, the content of the letters were very disturbing to Lily.
Once, when Lily and her boys went out of town to visit her parents at Easter, she returned home to find the lawn manicured and the outside of the house decorated with Easter baskets and other Easter decor. This was just the start of many mysterious invasions of Lily's personal property.
The story escalates until Lily has had enough and leaves town with her boys to indefinitely live with her parents. It is at her parent's house that Lily learns the truth of the mysterious Jasmine.
This novel is a good thriller... I left out many details so as not to spoil Jasmine's motive and story outcome. A pretty quick read.
Once, when Lily and her boys went out of town to visit her parents at Easter, she returned home to find the lawn manicured and the outside of the house decorated with Easter baskets and other Easter decor. This was just the start of many mysterious invasions of Lily's personal property.
The story escalates until Lily has had enough and leaves town with her boys to indefinitely live with her parents. It is at her parent's house that Lily learns the truth of the mysterious Jasmine.
This novel is a good thriller... I left out many details so as not to spoil Jasmine's motive and story outcome. A pretty quick read.
November 30, 2018
Lily Declan is grieving. It’s approaching the one-year anniversary of her husband’s death. The anxiety and torment resulting from accompanying him through chemotherapy and his long wasting away have been replaced by the disorientation, pain, anger, depression, and hypersensitivity of grief. It’s a time when many others think you should have gotten over it by now. It’s also a time when a rude stranger hitting your car in a parking lot can send you into an angry rage. These are common experiences for the bereaved, but Lily has an additional concern, she’s been receiving unwanted and unexpected gifts from someone, that are both benign and bizarre: a valentine from someone claiming to be one of her husband’s former girlfriends, an anonymous gift of a sexy nightgown, a free landscaping job and house cleaning including a rearrangement of her furniture.
Bell’s portrait of grief and the setting of her novel in middle Tennessee are vividly accurate, and the book’s nail-biting, page-turning conclusion kept this reader wide-awake until midnight. Five stars for both accuracy and thrills!
Bell’s portrait of grief and the setting of her novel in middle Tennessee are vividly accurate, and the book’s nail-biting, page-turning conclusion kept this reader wide-awake until midnight. Five stars for both accuracy and thrills!
August 28, 2017
A good read.
I chose this book from the editors selection on this months kindle first. I am always excited to have the chance to read and review a novel prior to its kindle release and part of that excitement is not knowing what to expect. Therefore my review will not include plot spoilers, there is enough info in the blurb about the story line.
This was a complex psychological thriller, with some chilling moments, the kind that make the hair on your arms stand up. I would not have wanted to be in the protagonist's shoes as she was subjected to seemingly benign but utterly creepy mind games.
A good read and happy to recommend you pick it up x
I chose this book from the editors selection on this months kindle first. I am always excited to have the chance to read and review a novel prior to its kindle release and part of that excitement is not knowing what to expect. Therefore my review will not include plot spoilers, there is enough info in the blurb about the story line.
This was a complex psychological thriller, with some chilling moments, the kind that make the hair on your arms stand up. I would not have wanted to be in the protagonist's shoes as she was subjected to seemingly benign but utterly creepy mind games.
A good read and happy to recommend you pick it up x
March 6, 2019
The phrase that kept running through my mind was "this is weird as shit." So, there you go. To elaborate, the first... half? reads as a rather good story about grieving and you wouldn't suspect anything more if it wasn't for the blurb/description mentioning a stalker. (You will, however, be infuriated at the way some people treat her and her grief.) That made me suspect literally every person or thing that happened. Then it get's weirder. Then the last hour (audio) gets to the "weird as shit" description and I really don't know what to say about it. I considered quitting multiple times from about the 2 hrs left to 1 hr left point but I persevered to find out what the heck was going on.
January 2, 2018
this was a Goodreads giveaway. I haven't read anything by the author before.
first the good: I liked the flow of the book and the author is a skilled storyteller.
the ok: things were a bit predictable. I don't want to give anything away but I was sure the roll of each character shortly after they were introduced. that being said, there are still some surprises to be had.
the bad: I hated the characters all of which were whiney. I couldn't bring myself to like any of these characters.
first the good: I liked the flow of the book and the author is a skilled storyteller.
the ok: things were a bit predictable. I don't want to give anything away but I was sure the roll of each character shortly after they were introduced. that being said, there are still some surprises to be had.
the bad: I hated the characters all of which were whiney. I couldn't bring myself to like any of these characters.
September 21, 2019
I thought the Circle of Compassion was a little out there. It wasn't a therapy group for the grieving. To me it was of little consolation for Lilly. Also if you are getting letters from someone in your husband's past that no one in the family or friends knows, your lawn is being mowed and your yard is being decorated for Easter, I would be alerting the police and hiring a detective. Too many events that the author really didn't address in the story.
June 4, 2017
This is the story of one woman's grief for her dead husband one year on. Its a slow paced story which unfolds gradually but it still kept my interest. When Lily starts receiving letters from an "ex" of her husband strange things start to happen. This built up to such an intense amazing climax that to say any more would spoil it.
July 19, 2017
Lily's grief and confusion are the basis for this novel- the plot of which I felt like I'd read before. Parts of it were better than others but I wanted to tell her to go see a counselor and take her kids with her. Or to move to another city. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. This one didn't grab me but it is a fast read and fairly well written.
August 2, 2017
This book is a hot pile of garbage but I never saw the ending coming, I'll tell you that. No one in this book had a normal reaction or response to any situation. The basis of the book is the main character grieving her husband and I basically wanted to tell her to get over it, lady. That's how unlikable she was. The ending is so insane and weird.
May 15, 2018
I wasn't sure what this book was going to be about after winning it. The title is something I deal with at the office daily but let me just say the two are entirely different issues. Christine did a great job bringing her characters to life. The fact that you didn't really know what was going on until the very end kept the suspense and sorrow alive. I enjoyed the book.
August 19, 2017
I read this book in 2 days, in every free moment I was not working or sleeping. Hard to put down. The story of loss was impactful but the suspense was the star of the story. The emotional torture was not your typical formula and psychologically scary. I can't say a lot as it will give the story away.
Read this book; you won't be sorry.
Read this book; you won't be sorry.
October 31, 2017
This book was pretty good. It took a while for much to happen in the book, but when the mystery got started I kept reading to find out what would happen. The end of the book was ok except that there was a minor character in the book that I took a special dislike to who makes a repeat appearance later.
January 18, 2018
Sometimes the narrator's thoughts were expressed with such originality and beauty, they gave me chills. Christine Bell is an extraordinary writer. The story line of Grievance was so compelling that I finished the book in two days, hungry for more of her work. Bell has made the short list of my favorite fiction writers
September 15, 2018
Not fundamentally bad, just detatched.
I highly recommend about The last 33% of this book. The rest, unfortunately, felt detatched and plotless. It was just interesting enough to keep me going, but it felt like people and descriptions were lacking while the plot tended to go in a slow circle.
I highly recommend about The last 33% of this book. The rest, unfortunately, felt detatched and plotless. It was just interesting enough to keep me going, but it felt like people and descriptions were lacking while the plot tended to go in a slow circle.
October 7, 2018
Wow, what an awful book! Family members being terrible to their in law, friends and employers being unsupportive and mean, a dog who should be put down for aggressive behavior, and a crazy person with no logical connection in the story. Just bizarre. I don't understand the good reviews of this book, and I'm not a particularly picky reader.
June 27, 2017
I found this novel rather aggravating. At the same time I felt guilty - why could I not sympathise with this distraught widow? And, possibly this is the nub of the problem with the story, characterisation and ending. Throughout it is difficult to sympathise with the mother of two, left fully responsible for the children, financial matters and maintaining a relationship with her in-laws.
The novel opens with Lily believing that her dead husband, Des, sends her messages through the music on the car radio. There is (but not much) sense in this as Des programmed the stations. However, while listening for messages from the ether, Lily ignores those from the school which are essential to her younger child's happiness.
Lily's reaction to an intrusive letter writer who claims an emotional link with her through Des and his death is valid, and lends some intrigue to the plot. He relationship with most of Des's suggests that they also should be avoided. Fortunately for Lily and her children the resolution of the story achieves this.
The novel opens with Lily believing that her dead husband, Des, sends her messages through the music on the car radio. There is (but not much) sense in this as Des programmed the stations. However, while listening for messages from the ether, Lily ignores those from the school which are essential to her younger child's happiness.
Lily's reaction to an intrusive letter writer who claims an emotional link with her through Des and his death is valid, and lends some intrigue to the plot. He relationship with most of Des's suggests that they also should be avoided. Fortunately for Lily and her children the resolution of the story achieves this.
July 19, 2017
Chillingly good
Unexpected twists and turns that worked. I recommend it, though it was dark, and twisted. The main character was great, strong but vulnerable, which made the plot feasible.
Unexpected twists and turns that worked. I recommend it, though it was dark, and twisted. The main character was great, strong but vulnerable, which made the plot feasible.
July 20, 2017
Grievance started out a little slow for me; with that said after a few chapters I got a sense of where the book was going then I could not put it down...
For me there were parts that "creeped" me out in a very good way...
I hope to read more from this author
For me there were parts that "creeped" me out in a very good way...
I hope to read more from this author
September 1, 2017
A disturbing book following a widowed lady struggling to keep family life going for her sons, in light of some strange events. Who to trust? I enjoyed the book and was pleased when the mystery of the stalker was revealed. The story wrapped up nicely and engaged me from early on.
June 20, 2017
A bit of a let down
Was expecting this book to be more gripping but found it to be quite slow paced and in no way a page-turner
Was expecting this book to be more gripping but found it to be quite slow paced and in no way a page-turner
June 21, 2017
completely unexpected ending! Had me guessing throughout.
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