Daisy Darker
by Alice Feeney
(Edited) Blurb:
After years of avoiding each other, Daisy Darker’s entire family is assembling for Nana’s 80th birthday party in Nana’s crumbling gothic house on a tiny tidal island. Finally back together one last time, when the tide comes in, they will be cut off from the rest of the world for eight hours.
Trapped on an island where someone is killing them one by one, the Darkers must reckon with their present mystery as well as their past secrets, before the tide comes in and all is revealed.
My Reaction:
I listened to the audiobook version of this novel while quilting, and found it entertaining... Until I didn't.
—I loved the setting and the quirky details of the house. Islands cut off by the tide are always a favorite!
—I loved the fact that it was obviously inspired by And Then There Were None.
—I was intrigued by the mystery, and unlike some, I didn't mind alternating between the "then" and "now" timelines. (Though to be honest, I've seen so much of that lately! Maybe it's time for authors of thrillers to try something different, if only to set themselves apart from the rest.)
So yes, I was enjoying it, to begin with, but gradually a few things diminished that enjoyment.
First:
These characters! Almost everyone is awful. I know, I know! You need conflict, and awful characters provide that. The quality of a book isn't dependent on the likeability of the characters, etc., etc. Yes, but the fact remains that if too many of your characters are just horrid, reading the book becomes an unpleasant experience. And yes, I did say that I was happy that it was inspired by And Then There Were None, which is also full of awful characters... Look, I don't know what to say, except that while listening to this, I eventually had had enough of ALL of these people!
These characters! Almost everyone is awful. I know, I know! You need conflict, and awful characters provide that. The quality of a book isn't dependent on the likeability of the characters, etc., etc. Yes, but the fact remains that if too many of your characters are just horrid, reading the book becomes an unpleasant experience. And yes, I did say that I was happy that it was inspired by And Then There Were None, which is also full of awful characters... Look, I don't know what to say, except that while listening to this, I eventually had had enough of ALL of these people!
Second:
The writing style was quaint and entertaining, in the beginning, but at some point I started to feel slightly annoyed by the "clever sayings" and "deep thoughts" generously sprinkled throughout the novel, both in dialogue and interior monologue. Some of them are interesting or thought-provoking, but after a while they felt repetitive and irritating.
Third:
Predictable twists that kind of annoyed me. I saw some of the twists coming, and I didn't love them. The main twist in particular is just... Eh. Maybe it didn't help that there was a similar(ish) twist in the last audiobook I listened to. Maybe I didn't like it simply because it's so sad.
Fourth:
Some of the motivations didn't make much sense to me. To be fair, people's motivations in real life don't always make sense, either, so maybe it's not exactly unrealistic! Still, it dragged down the end of the story, for me. I spent too much time thinking, "Really? Well, okay then!"
However—over all, yes, I liked it. Despite my misgivings about certain aspects of this one, I think I'll round it up to four stars.
A few SPOILERY final thoughts:
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I do have a question, though, about what happened to all those bodies at the end of the book! What's going to happen when someone starts looking for one of these people? Some of them were employed and would have people expecting them back at work within a few days!
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