Veronica’s Reviews > Love by Drowning > Status Update

Finally finished on 06/30/18
2 out of 5 stars.

I would fall asleep reading this book. So happy to be finished it; feel like I ran a marathon.

Christine talking about her trigger in running away and becoming Lee Ann has me a little in disbelief. I cannot believe that an English paper and seeing a car below frozen ice is the trigger for her. Is it because she bottled up her fathers murder for so long? Now visiting the house where the murder takes place, plausible.

At times, especially the ending, the novel is written very well and keeps the reader hooked... but then it keeps going. It’s drones on soooo much in places.

I think if this novel was shorter (cut in places) and organized differently, it would have been a much better read.

Definitely need to read slowly in parts; caught myself turning back to re-read making sure I didn’t miss something or misunderstand something

When Val is dumping Brent’s body and the evidence overboard, why did he open and dump the garage bags of towels and then the towels? I thought he was going to tie it all together with the body to sink with the cinder blocks. But maybe that’s why - he didn’t want them linked/tied together as proof. Water washes away evidence too, right?

I want to say i understand Val’s point of view and mind track of Lee Anne telling everything about Davis... but i really don’t think I do. I guess I was looking for something more than a cocaine or pot run and stolen boats. It fits perfectly with her plan for Brent, but I feel confused.

I also do not like Lee Anne telling stories about her past. We get the frustration from the character trying to figure her out too, but this novel is already frustrating enough trying to figure out its plot line.

Personally i would have opened the novel as currently as it’s a deep and frighten hook. But rather than transition to Val 10 years or whatever in the future, explain his current life, experience his fathers death... I would go back in time and start the storyline of Davis and Val as kids growing up all the way through Davis’ death and beyond. The “flashback” in a sense. Then jump to present life.

The book picked up a lot more - I gained better focus - after the fathers death. Now we’re into more of the storytelling, the back story of Davis, Val, Lee Ann and family.

This has been a difficult read. Not sure if it’s the words/text or the punctuation/copy editing style. It just doesn’t flow very well and I only pick up certain sections well enough to understand. But overall I think I’m gathering “the gist” of it all.