Name: Alyssa Jacunski's review of A Guide for Murdered Children by Sarah Sparrow
Item: A Guide for Murdered Children
Rating: 3
Author: Alyssa Jacunski

Sarah Sparrow

We've heard it said that there is no justice in this world. But what if there really was? What if the souls of murdered children were able to briefly return, inhabit adult bodies and wreak revenge on the monstrous killers who stole their lives? Such is the unthinkable mystery confronting ex-NYPD detective Willow Wylde, fresh out of rehab and finally able to find a job running a Cold Case squad in suburban Detroit. When the two rookie cops assigned to him take an obsessive interest in a decades-old disappearance of a brother and sister, Willow begins to suspect something out of the ordinary is afoot. And when he uncovers a series of church basement AA-type meetings made up of the slain innocents, a new way of looking at life, death, murder - and missed opportunities - is revealed to him.

A Guide for Murdered Children

Alyssa Jacunski

Kerri McDonald

Full disclosure: I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This book was hard to rate, y'all. Just going by the first half of this book, it probably would have gotten 2 stars, the last half bumped it to a 3.5, and then the end happened, knocking it down to a 3. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

This is the story of Detective Willow Wylde, a discharged ex-cop who is given a second chance, and a group of people possessed by the ghosts of murdered children who are tasked with the messy business of revenge. Sounds insanely intriguing, right? Well, for the first half of the book, it really wasn't. The author turned what sounded like a crazy intense plot into basically a snoozefest. I realize that we needed to establish what was going on with these possessed folks and what their purpose was, but it was just. so. boooooring. And I feel like that's a hard topic to make boring.

Thankfully, the second half of this book kicked into high-gear. All the intensity that I felt was lacking was slammed in and I was grooving with it. I started to jive with the characters more, especially our disgraced cop friend, Willow. I was digging how crazy everything was getting with the the Meetings, which are AA style get togethers for the people possessed by murdered children. And then the twist! I mean, I kind of saw it coming, but it still got me! I was loving it, I was charging through the book, I loved how that entire plot got wrapped up...

And then the end happened. And I was just... ugh... done. I saw the twist at the end coming, too, but I was really hoping that's not where the book was going to go. It just seemed unnecessary and, honestly, added nothing to the story. So, yeah, bumped that rating right down. Also, there are pretty descriptive scenes of child rape/murder, so if that's something you would rather not read, you might want to avoid this book. It made me uncomfortable and is another reason this book didn't get a higher rating.

All in all, it was an interesting concept, it had some good bits, and I liked it, but it's definitely not something I would force upon my friends and insist that they read.

Jolie

A Guide for Murdered Children by Sarah Sparrow is one of those books that make you think while reading it. It is a soul-searching book about redemption, revenge and the ability to forgive. I actually almost didn’t ask for this book when I saw it on NetGalley. But it kept showing up. I had an email about it and it kept being the first book I saw on my Titles in My Category section on my NetGalley homepage. It was after the 3rd or 4th time seeing it that I gave into my growing curiosity and read the blurb. It was then that I knew I wanted to read it. When I got the confirmation email for the publisher, I got very excited and couldn’t wait to read it. But I held off because I had other books to review there were ahead of it. So when I did read it, I was more than ready for the story.

There are 4 separate plot lines in A Guide for Murdered Children. Each plotline was addressed in the book. I did get a little confused when the author changed times or characters. But that didn’t take away from my enjoyment of reading the book. I also enjoyed was how the author introduced each storyline. Then she weaved those storylines into the other ones. When all 4 storylines were brought together, well the magic happened. I couldn’t get over how well the author wove them together. It was flawless.

A Guide for Murdered Children is a mystery/thriller in the truest sense. This book kept me on edge with the mystery plotline. When it was revealed who it was, I was shocked but not surprised. I had thought that person was the killer since the middle of the book. But, what did shock me, was who the other murderer was and who the accomplice was. I was not ready for that reveal at all. The thriller part of the book had me on edge the entire book. I did not sleep well the first night I was reading the book. I kept dreaming about porters, train cars, and awful serial killers.

Willow, oh Willow. I didn’t want to like him. In the beginning of the book, he came across as a self-absorbed idiot who had gone through his 3rd attempt at rehab. I kinda wanted to punch him in the nether regions when it was revealed how awful he was. He made no excuses for being a d-bag and I liked that. What surprised me about him was that he was a medium. He heard voices, saw mysterious blue lights and felt pulled to do things that he wouldn’t do. So when he got involved with Cold Case, I was a tad surprised. I was even more surprised when the first case that he was drawn to was the case of two siblings, Troy and Maya.

Annie was the most serene character that I have read to date. She took everything in stride and was always gracious. Actually, she was known as “The World’s Greatest Volunteer” at the local hospital. I found myself wishing that I could meet her because she was lovely. She cared for the children on the train. When they found their landlords, she was there to guide them towards their moment of balance. So when it was revealed that she had troubles when she was younger, I was surprised. But seeing that it was connected to her ability to connect to the other side, I shouldn’t have been surprised. She was a willing mentor to Willow and dealt with his….problems…..with graciousness. So saying that I liked her was a bit of an understatement.

The saddest part of the book for me was the children and their landlords. I couldn’t understand why the children chose the people they did. But, after reading a few “takeovers“, for lack of a better word, I began to understand. I started to understand Annie‘s role in guiding the children and their landlords. I also saw the need for the guide, the meetings, and the parties when a child reaches his/her moment of balance. The guide explained what the child was going through, gave rules on how to share the body with the landlord and so on. The scenes where the children exacted their revenge were heartbreaking and disturbing.

The book focuses on 3 children and their landlords. The children are Maya, Troy, and Winston. The landlords are Lydia, Daniel, and Honeychile. While Maya and Troy’s landlords were adults, Winston’s was not. Honeychile was a 14-year-old who suffers from a genetic condition called cleidocranial dysplasia. According to Annie, having a teenage landlord is unheard. Meanwhile, Maya and Troy’s landlords are police officers on the same force. They are also in a relationship. I did think it was very interesting how everyone was connected. You need to read the book to find that out!!

While there is sex and romance in the book, it isn’t the main focus. Daniel and Lydia’s romance cooled off once the children took up house and realized who they were. Willow did have a relationship going with a neighbor of his, Dixie. Like I said above, sex wasn’t the main focus of the book. I was fine with that. I do like that the author chose to keep Willow and Dixie in a relationship until almost the end of the book. There is a small twist there that shocked me.

My complaint about A Guide for Murdered Children are not ones that will take stars off of my review. I did have some issues following the different characters around the book. Even when the author labeled the chapters and sub-chapters. That is on my end and like I said, nothing that will affect my review rating.

The end of the book was not what I expected. I was expecting an ending with everything tied up with a bow. For the most part, I got that. The serial killers were found out and the cold case of Maya and Troy were solved. As was Winston’s case. But, the author did something that I wasn’t expecting. She explored the aftermath of what happened during the book. Not everyone got a happy ending and that is what made the book for me. I am hoping that the author chooses to write another Willow Wylde book because I would love to see what happens with Willow and his Eskimo!!!

4 stars

My Summary of A Guide for Murdered Children:

A Guide of Murdered Children was a thrilling read. A very fast paced book, I was engrossed with it and the concept that the author wrote about. The plotlines were great and the characters were 3D. This is a book that I would recommend to any mystery fans.

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age range: Adult

Why: Language, sex, violence. There are a few very gruesome scenes of children and men being murdered.

I would like to thank Sarah Sparrow, Penguin Group, Blue Rider Press, Plume and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review A Guide for Murdered Children

All opinions stated in this review of A Guide for Murdered Children are mine and I received no compensation for this review

**I received a free copy of this book and volunteered to review it**

Alyssa Jacunski &
A Guide for Murdered Children by Sarah Sparrow

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