Reviews
Solid small town mystery, from the perspective of one of the people involved instead of the detective. Slow burn, and filled with good characters who drive the story along, instead of the other way around.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 This has to be my favorite Jane Harper novel. It's set in a coastal town in Tasmania, where a woman is killed, and past events and secrets begin to unravel. Harper has a unique storytelling style. She shines in writing atmospheric, literary thrillers, and this was no different. I felt deeply for the people involved in this tragedy. A great read.
The Survivors is a must read-masterful writing, perfectly described setting, living/breathing characters, and a mystery that I had to solve. I could not stop reading until I was done. I think this is the second Jane Harper book I have read, and shame on me for not reading all of her work.
3 stars. I was really disappointed by this one. One of my favorite things about Harper's writing is that she always makes her setting feel like one of the characters and she just didn't do that this time. I mean, I feel like there was an attempt with both the water and the caves, but it just didn't land nearly as well as her previous books. I typically love the dual timeline in her works as well and both stories this time fell really flat. Neither was particularly interesting or even thought of as an actual crime for a large portion of the book so it just didn't have that gripping feeling that you normally get. And the mystery aspect? I mean, literally everyone is a suspect at one point or another (as far as what the writing hints to) but no one is ever looked at more than once for any reason. It's as if everyone in town has at least one sneaky reason to have been the killer but when you find out who it is and why it's just a big let down. This one was just okay. The plot line made sense and it went from point A to point B I suppose but it was just . . . okay. 3's all around.
4.5 stars, rounded up because I love Jane Harper's writing. Similar to The Lost Man, this mystery has a vivid setting, realistic and nuanced characters, and a satisfying resolution. Speaking of the resolution: (view spoiler)[Oh man, poor Gabby Birch. Even though we spend so little time with her character on-page, if any part of this book sticks with me, it will be the hauntingly unfair circumstances of her death. (hide spoiler)]
My first Jane Harper book. Her descriptions and writing makes it feel like you're right there with the characters. I had some theories at first but I was wrong. I appreciated the suspense and the gray-ness of the characters. I didn't love the characters, I didn't hate them either. Read this with the audiobook and it really completed the atmosphere.
This book was not my cup of tea. The story plot was initially interesting, but the suspense very quickly waned. I did not feel an emotional connection to the characters and the mystery was just not gripping for me. The plot was very drawn out and I found the ending to be very insubstantial and disappointing. Full disclaimer, I do not frequently read mysteries and thrillers so that may have contributed to my disappointment with this book; however, I still would not recommend it.
4.5 stars, rounded up because I love Jane Harper's writing. Similar to The Lost Man, this mystery has a vivid setting, realistic and nuanced characters, and a satisfying resolution. Speaking of the resolution: (view spoiler)[Oh man, poor Gabby Birch. Even though we spend so little time with her character on-page, if any part of this book sticks with me, it will be the hauntingly unfair circumstances of her death. (hide spoiler)]
this book was just not it. i tried reading it, i tried listening to the audiobook and neither were it for me. i even tried reading rave reviews to keep my interest but nope, nothing worked for me to like this book. too many introductions to characters that had nothing to do with the storyline and then the ending was just that...flat. the synopsis made this sound like a promising read. however, it wasn't the book for me.
