The Telling
My Review
(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).
(This review may contain spoilers).
I’d ideally give this book 3.5 stars out of 5. Although I found it entertaining and easy to read, I found the majority of the flashbacks to be quite jarring and disjointing to read, due to abrupt changes in tense.
I did find it fairly easy to relate to Lana. While I wasn’t sure what to think of her for a lot of the book, it was interesting to see how she related to the other characters around her. While I wasn’t keen on Becca as a character even from the start, I found Carolynn much more likable… even if she did come across as the stereotypical mean girl at first.
I did find the individual members of the ‘core’ a bit hard to differentiate between, at least at first, with the guys. Josh, Duncan and Rusty seemed to merge together at times in my head and although, by the end of the book, they had more depth to them, I felt that Rusty especially seemed to be a mix of Duncan and Josh.
It was good to be able to learn about the history between Ben and Lana as the book went on. While I didn’t get to properly meet Ben, he left such a presence behind him that it felt like I knew him as well as Lana… at least in theory.
I did feel that some of the characters came across as a bit one-dimensional, in particular when it came to the police officers. I found it quite hard to believe that they were able to get away with outright accusing the group of murder… or that not one of the parents considered contacting a lawyer.
It was hard to get a clear picture of the island and the apparent divide there was. I felt there was a lack of foreshadowing and although the stories Ben told Lana added an interesting dimension, they weren’t really utilised in the same way the blurb had seemed to indicate.
I felt like this book could have benefited from being a bit longer and perhaps with a smaller cast of characters. Although there were some small elements of tension, those kept being lost in the amount of flashbacks that kept cropping up.
I don’t think I’d read this book again, but I wouldn’t mind reading more books by this author in the future.
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Ink of Blood 