Helpful Score: 3
Karin Slaughter is one of the few authors that I regularly pre-order. Although the Grant County books are my favorites, her standalones have been consistently excellent. That is why it breaks my heart to not love Pieces of Her.
Andy is a struggling millennial living above her mother Laura's garage. In fairness to Andy, she had been living in New York City working a bunch of low paying jobs while trying to land a supportive (though not starring) role in show business. When her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, she selflessly decided to return home to care for her mother, despite her Mom's protests.
Andy and Laura are having a hearty breakfast and discussing Andy's life choices when a young man starts shooting up the diner. Laura goes beyond protecting her daughter by killing the armed man. From the fact that she killed the assailant with a well-thought out stab to the throat and the focused look on her face when she did it, Andy suspects that her mother has not spent her entire life as a speech therapist.
The police and media attention to Laura's actions unleashes attention of a life-threatening sort, forcing Andy to go on the run. She is determined to unravel the mystery of her mother's past, in hopes of saving them both.
The 'woman with a secret past' and 'domestic thriller' genres are really popular right now, and Karin Slaughter's entry into the fray tells a bigger, more complicated, and more violent story. Unfortunately, the pacing dragged in places. The beginning kept me flipping the pages, but the flashback chapters about Laura's past were very slow. Ultimately I had a difficult time empathizing with Laura. This is a shame, because one of the things I most love about Slaughter's writing is her ability to make the reader care about people who do horrible things. (I'm talking about you, Lena and Angie!) This book seemed unnecessarily long, and not as engaging as her other books.
In fairness, I would have rated this book a 4 if it were by an author I had never read before. Karin Slaughter has set the bar so high with her previous works that I and other reviewers will likely judge Pieces of Her unfairly.
Thank you to the publisher and Amazon Vine for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Andy is a struggling millennial living above her mother Laura's garage. In fairness to Andy, she had been living in New York City working a bunch of low paying jobs while trying to land a supportive (though not starring) role in show business. When her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, she selflessly decided to return home to care for her mother, despite her Mom's protests.
Andy and Laura are having a hearty breakfast and discussing Andy's life choices when a young man starts shooting up the diner. Laura goes beyond protecting her daughter by killing the armed man. From the fact that she killed the assailant with a well-thought out stab to the throat and the focused look on her face when she did it, Andy suspects that her mother has not spent her entire life as a speech therapist.
The police and media attention to Laura's actions unleashes attention of a life-threatening sort, forcing Andy to go on the run. She is determined to unravel the mystery of her mother's past, in hopes of saving them both.
The 'woman with a secret past' and 'domestic thriller' genres are really popular right now, and Karin Slaughter's entry into the fray tells a bigger, more complicated, and more violent story. Unfortunately, the pacing dragged in places. The beginning kept me flipping the pages, but the flashback chapters about Laura's past were very slow. Ultimately I had a difficult time empathizing with Laura. This is a shame, because one of the things I most love about Slaughter's writing is her ability to make the reader care about people who do horrible things. (I'm talking about you, Lena and Angie!) This book seemed unnecessarily long, and not as engaging as her other books.
In fairness, I would have rated this book a 4 if it were by an author I had never read before. Karin Slaughter has set the bar so high with her previous works that I and other reviewers will likely judge Pieces of Her unfairly.
Thank you to the publisher and Amazon Vine for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Helpful Score: 3
The rating on this book are all over the place and I can understand that, for me? it is way way too long and I mean WAY TO LONG!
This version is 606 pages? OMG! you could take out 300 pages easy just because Slaughter describes everything under the sun and repeats everything 10+ times
For such a long book I wanted to give a good try (100 pages is my limit) and I got past page 100 but it was tedious for all the repeat and descriptions I just couldn't take it anymore and at that point I didn't care anymore
I don't read her books for all the above reasons but yet she still writes the same way all the time,
1. way too long
2. too much description not needed
3. repeat repeat repeat until you're numb
Not an author for me--never was and never will be
This version is 606 pages? OMG! you could take out 300 pages easy just because Slaughter describes everything under the sun and repeats everything 10+ times
For such a long book I wanted to give a good try (100 pages is my limit) and I got past page 100 but it was tedious for all the repeat and descriptions I just couldn't take it anymore and at that point I didn't care anymore
I don't read her books for all the above reasons but yet she still writes the same way all the time,
1. way too long
2. too much description not needed
3. repeat repeat repeat until you're numb
Not an author for me--never was and never will be
Helpful Score: 1
I love Karin Slaughter's books but this time was a disappointment. I didn't care for the mother, daughter characters, I was bored and skimmed pages, actually hated the 31 year old daughter Andrea. She was indecisive, whiny and made bad decisions. Some parts of the story were confusing and the back and forth in time didn't flow well.
This one wasn't worth my time.
This one wasn't worth my time.
Helpful Score: 1
Briefly, an unusual book. Goes back and forth in history from present to past and the intricacies of a past life showing the basis for the current problems. Mother, Laura with a mysterious turn of events has sent daughter on a quest to find an old friend. While on the way, daughter Andy finds a huge amount of money her mother has obviously stashed away in the past.
Without revealing too much of the plot, numerous people are killed and some events are mysterious also.
While I have not reached the denouement of the tome, so far I am engaged and intrigued by the subjects--and we never do know all the secrets people may have in their past!
Without revealing too much of the plot, numerous people are killed and some events are mysterious also.
While I have not reached the denouement of the tome, so far I am engaged and intrigued by the subjects--and we never do know all the secrets people may have in their past!
Helpful Score: 1
Months ago, Andrea (Andy) Oliver left her small apartment and her roommates in New York City when she learned that her mother, Laura, was being treated for breast cancer. Now Laura is on the road to recovery, but Andy isn't ready to go back. When Andy and Laura meet for lunch at a local diner, violence breaks out. A gunman shoots two people the women had just spoke to. As he turns his gun toward Andy, Laura jumps between them and faces down a murderer. The results of the confrontation shatter both Andy and Laura's quiet lives; and Andy learns that her mother has been keeping secrets for over thirty years.
This story started out with a bang. I was glued to the edge of my seat as I read about the gunman and the aftermath of the incident at the diner. But the pacing of the story changed drastically when we moved back to 1986 and a conference in Oslo, Norway. This is where we got background on some characters. The information was needed for the story, but I wish it could have been given to us in a different way.
Andy was a bit of a mystery too. At the beginning of the story, she seemed very backward when she was around strangers. She seemed way too timid for a woman who has reached the age of 30 years. As she uncovers her mother's past, Andy begins to come out of her shell and grow a backbone. It was nice to see the growth in this character. My rating: 3.5 Stars.
This story started out with a bang. I was glued to the edge of my seat as I read about the gunman and the aftermath of the incident at the diner. But the pacing of the story changed drastically when we moved back to 1986 and a conference in Oslo, Norway. This is where we got background on some characters. The information was needed for the story, but I wish it could have been given to us in a different way.
Andy was a bit of a mystery too. At the beginning of the story, she seemed very backward when she was around strangers. She seemed way too timid for a woman who has reached the age of 30 years. As she uncovers her mother's past, Andy begins to come out of her shell and grow a backbone. It was nice to see the growth in this character. My rating: 3.5 Stars.
