Harvest of Thorns was one of those novels that took me by surprise (in a good way). I’m having trouble classifying it at the moment – it’s certainly mysterious, and there are thrilling elements to it, but it’s not a choppy, adrenaline-rush, insert-tough-male-detective-here novel series. It has this flow, and Addison’s writing has a journalistic quality to it. Given the topic, the story certainly could have been a lot darker, and while the base of the novel consists of the shocking and disgusting conditions in the global retail supply chain (and America’s role in cultivating those conditions), Addison does not sensationalize it. The emphasis is on the characters and the plot and had me feeling like I was reading a NYT or Post news article, again, in a good way. I felt for the victims, but I was so interested in what the characters were going to do about it that I didn’t dwell on it. I can see that others may interpret this aspect of the story as unemotional or robotic, but it felt energetic and proactive to me. With the exception of Cameron’s overall “plan” throughout the story (seemed a little too far-fetched), it all felt very realistic, and while I was reading, I found myself wondering if Addison based his plot on a real company and their supply chain (in his notes, Addison confirms the base plot is based on real events).
Tag: mystery
“My Girl” by Jack Jordan
My Girl is a solid, intense read. The plot felt overly condensed, but still clear and engaging. I actually liked the short, quick chapters – it kept up the suspense and made it easy to digest in a single sitting. Even though I was slightly reminded of Rachel in The Girl on the Train, I came to admire Paige, and I felt that Jordan did a good job creating the detached and damaged female character. Unfortunately, the character development did not go much beyond Paige; there simply wasn’t enough time to feel anything about anyone else.
“Saving Sophie” by Sam Carrington
I know I am completely overgeneralizing here, but hear me out. Someone once told me that Americans have this need for hope in their television shows, some sign that things are going to get better. In contrast, British television has no problem showing the darker, more realistic side of life. This is why the American version of the popular television sitcom The Office needed to be tweaked to illustrate more positive relationships and outcomes to appeal to American audiences. I’m sure I could do some research and find a more eloquent way to explain this, but I don’t want to steer too far from my point. And this isn’t a research paper, so no, I will not cite any sources, Mrs. Flannery.
“The Good Girl”
Wow, the reader ratings on this one are all over the place, and I can totally see why. If I had to pick three words to summarize this novel, I would say intriguing, predictable, and inconsistent. I chose these words carefully; first, intriguing, but not for the intended reason. As most readers imagined, the marketing and synopsis of The Good Girl made you think you’re getting a dark, suspenseful thriller. Moreover, the structure of the novel tells you from the very beginning that Mia had been recovered, which led me to believe, OK since we know she’s been found, something crazy is going to happen in between. Sadly, not entirely true. In place of a mysterious twist, we received a prolonged, shifting narrative of the developing relationship between Mia and her captor, Colin (or as she knows him, Owen). While I was surprised at the focus of the novel, I was actually intrigued by the potential to spin a plot in which you sympathize with the captor. While many have criticized the juvenile relationship (due, in part, to poor character development), I still feel there was fertile ground for a dramatic take on such a relationship.
“Luckiest Girl Alive”
I don’t have one tried-and-true method, and shamefully, I make more choices than I care to admit based on the book cover or the first 10 words in the description on Goodreads (don’t hate). Maybe I’m just lazy, but I like to consider it optimism. If I grab this book off the shelf in the library, there’s a chance it could be amazing! A hidden gem! That one book that keeps you reeling long after you set it down, missing the characters and fondly remembering scenes like they were your own memories.
I’m a bit of a lemming. If everyone is saying, This book is amazing! You can’t miss it!, I will Amazon Single-Click Buy it faster than you can say J.K. Rowling. I am a New York Times bestsellers groupie. It’s not that I don’t think I would like other lesser-known books; it’s that I have the utmost faith in humanity that they will tell me what I should be reading. Is this naive? Probably. But this is my way of narrowing down the endless options and to diminish the feeling that I am missing out on a truly amazing book. My brain needs to process a finite number of options, or else I’ll never decide.
Old Fox Reviews 