Search This Blog

2024 Bookish Books Reading Challenge (Hosted by Yours Truly)

My Progress:


30 / 30 books. 100% done!

2024 Literary Escapes Challenge

- Alabama (1)
- Alaska (1)
- Arizona (1)
- Arkansas (1)
- California (11)
- Colorado (1)
- Connecticut (2)
- Delaware (1)
- Florida (3)
- Georgia (4)
- Hawaii (1)
- Idaho (3)
- Illinois (4)
- Indiana (4)
- Iowa (1)
- Kansas (1)
- Kentucky (2)
- Louisiana (1)
- Maine (1)
- Maryland (1)
- Massachusetts (4)
- Michigan (1)
- Minnesota (2)
- Mississippi (1)
- Missouri (1)
- Montana (1)
- Nebraska (1)
- Nevada (2)
- New Hampshire (1)
- New Jersey (1)
- New Mexico (1)
- New York (10)
- North Carolina (4)
- North Dakota (1)
- Ohio (3)
- Oklahoma (2)
- Oregon (2)
- Pennsylvania (2)
- Rhode Island (1)
- South Carolina (1)
- South Dakota (1)
- Tennessee (1)
- Texas (4)
- Utah (5)
- Vermont (2)
- Virginia (2)
- Washington (3)
- West Virginia (1)
- Wisconsin (1)
- Wyoming (2)
- Washington, D.C.* (2)

International:
- Argentina (1)
- Australia (6)
- Austria (1)
- Bolivia (1)
- Canada (4)
- China (2)
- England (27)
- France (2)
- Ghana (1)
- India (1)
- Indonesia (1)
- Ireland (4)
- Italy (1)
- Poland (2)
- Russia (2)
- Scotland (4)
- The Netherlands (1)

My Progress:


51 / 51 states. 100% done!

2024 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

My Progress:


52 / 50 books. 104% done!

2024 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge


36 / 50 books. 72% done!

Booklist Queen's 2024 Reading Challenge

My Progress:


52 / 52 books. 100% done!

2024 52 Club Reading Challenge

My Progress:


51 / 52 books. 98% done!

2024 Build Your Library Reading Challenge

My Progress:


37 / 40 books. 93% done!

2024 Pioneer Book Reading Challenge


18 / 40 books. 45% done!

2024 Craving for Cozies Reading Challenge

My Progress:


25 / 25 cozies. 100% done!

2024 Medical Examiner's Mystery Reading Challenge

2024 Mystery Marathon Reading Challenge

My Progress


5 / 26.2 miles (4th lap). 19% done!

Mount TBR Reading Challenge

My Progress


51 / 100 books. 51% done!

2024 Pick Your Poison Reading Challenge

My Progress:


99 / 109 books. 91% done!

Around the Year in 52 Books Reading Challenge

My Progress


52 / 52 books. 100% done!

Disney Animated Movies Reading Challenge

My Progress


139 / 165 books. 84% done!

The 100 Most Common Last Names in the U.S. Reading Challenge

My Progress:


88 / 100 names. 88% done!

The Life Skills Reading Challenge

My Progress:


45 / 80 skills. 56% done!
Friday, July 06, 2018

Compelling Memory-Loss Thriller Still Only a Ho-Hum Read

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

It's been two years since the car crash that killed David Hall and erased Jane Norton's memory.  A traumatic brain injury, leading to amnesia, has stolen the last three years from the 17-year-old.  Although Jane can recall events from childhood, she can't remember high school, her father's death, or the "accident" that killed David, her best friend's boyfriend.  The police have what appears to be a suicide note, written in Jane's handwriting, but she can't fathom why she would have been in a car with David, let alone with the intention of ending their lives together.  It makes no sense.  Nothing does for Jane, who desperately wants to remember the one event no one will let her forget. 

When anonymous threats start appearing on social media and at David's grave site, Jane thinks it must be a sick joke.  Someone calling themselves "Liv Danger" claims to know what happened that night.  They also warn that "All will pay."  When idle threats turn into sinister action, Jane knows only she can stop Liv Danger from going any further.  Wracking her shattered brain for clues, the teenager becomes more and more confused.  What really happened the night of the accident?  Jane knows the answers that could stop the violence and maybe even clear her name are hiding somewhere in her head.  Can Jane force them out before it's too late?  Or will Liv Danger get the revenge they're so desperately seeking?

I enjoy a psychological suspense novel that leaves me feeling off-kilter and keeps me guessing what is real and what is not.  Blame by Jeff Abbott does that, which is why I kept reading the novel despite its flat, unlikable characters and its increasing nosedive toward the far-fetched and melodramatic.  Whatever else it might not be, Blame is certainly compelling.  I definitely wanted to know what was going to happen.  Still, the novel's disappointing, eye roll-worthy finale bugged and overall, the story just did not feel very satisfying.  Although Blame has gotten lots of positive buzz, for me, it ended up being only a ho-hum read.  

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of other psychological thrillers featuring main characters with memory loss, like Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson; The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins; In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware; Elizabeth Is Missing by Emma Healey; The First Wife by Erica Spindler; and Remember Mia by Alexandra Burt

Grade:


If this were a movie, it would be rated:


for language (no F-bombs), violence, sexual innuendo, depictions of underage drinking/partying, and disturbing subject matter

To the FTC, with love:  Another library fine find.
Blog Widget by LinkWithin


Reading

<i>Reading</i>
Dumb Witness by Agatha Christie

Listening

<i>Listening</i>
The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth



Followin' with Bloglovin'

Follow

Followin' with Feedly

follow us in feedly



Grab my Button!


Blog Design by:


Blog Archive



2024 Reading Challenge

2024 Reading Challenge
Susan has read 0 books toward her goal of 200 books.
hide

2024 - Elementary/Middle Grade Nonfiction

2024 - Elementary/Middle Grade Nonfiction

2023 - Middle Grade Fiction

2023 - Middle Grade Fiction

2022 - Middle Grade Fiction

2022 - Middle Grade Fiction

2021 - Middle Grade Fiction

2021 - Middle Grade Fiction

2020 - Middle Grade Fiction

2020 - Middle Grade Fiction