Tagged: nora

The Point by G. Nykanen

The Point by G. Nykanen(Cover picture courtesy of e-bookbuilders.)

Befuddled by her current relationship woes, Nora Reynolds leaves college at semester’s end to drive north of nowhere to her hometown of Iron Bay. Vulnerable and on the rebound, she is the perfect prey for fledgling felon Dane Buchman. Dane takes advantage of the unaware young woman, feeding his appetite for mischief until a rather violent shift in their relationship reveals to him what he’s really been craving. Driven by his new found hunger, Dane feels unstoppable, until former high school rival and town deputy, Doug Sanders, navigates the trail of Dane’s destruction.

The Point is a dark thriller that will allow you to witness a truly dangerous sociopath wander through madness guided by a treasured family heirloom, and a pensive young woman find her way after discovering, that which doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger. With echoes of the Coen brothers’ Fargo, the folksy town of Iron Bay and the nearby north-woods community of Deer Lake are the destinations for Mr. Buchman’s many misdeeds.

[Full disclosure: I received a free ebook in conjunction with the blog tour in exchange for an honest review.]

When the blurb says that The Point is a dark thriller, it’s not kidding.  It is quite dark and it is quite a thriller, particularly from a psychological standpoint so I’ll talk about that first.

The plot is really the main focus of the novel whereas the characters are sort of secondary.  They’re well developed, but secondary to the plot.  The plot itself is far from unique, however; it follows pretty much your typical psychopath on the loose scenario and brings it to its logical conclusion as Dane’s mind deteriorates further.  You’ll be able to guess how it ends like I did but at the same time, Nykanen’s writing will absolutely grip you and you won’t be able to put The Point down.  So what this book lacks in originality it sure makes up for in thrills.

The characters were nothing special, but they were all quite well-developed.  Dane is your typical psychopath: has mother issues, no empathy for anyone, a sexual deviant.  Pretty much your textbook case, especially as the thrills of raping women wear thing and he desires other, darker things.  Nora is an interesting but sad character, I must admit.  She’s left in doubt at her relationship status when summer begins and it’s her lack of self-confidence that leads her into the charming Dane’s grasp.

Nora changes more than any other character over the course of the story but I can’t really tell you what changed her because that would be giving away some major spoilers.  In essence, things happen to her both good and bad (mostly bad) and she reacts in a realistic, believable and sympathetic way.  Nykanen is good at this sort of character development so being in Nora’s head for most of the story is pretty good.  The funny thing is that of all the characters, I hated Jake the most because his uncertainty and unwillingness to tell Nora what he was about to do is partly responsible for everything that happened to her.  Of course Dane bears full responsibility for his actions, but Jake drove Nora away into the arms of that psychopath.

As you can guess, there are some pretty heavy themes of guilt and betrayal.  They give The Point that truly emotional quality that makes you really connect with both the characters and the circumstances they fall into.  Other than the pretty cliche plot I rather enjoyed The Point and if you’re into thrillers I’d definitely recommend it.

I give this book 4/5 stars.

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Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick(Cover picture courtesy of Violet Crush.)

A SACRED OATH
A FALLEN ANGEL
A FORBIDDEN LOVE

Romance was not part of Nora Grey’s plan. She’s never been particularly attracted to the boys at her school, no matter how hard her best friend, Vee, pushes them at her. Not until Patch comes along. With his easy smile and eyes that seem to see inside her, Patch draws Nora to him against her better judgment.

But after a series of terrifying encounters, Nora’s not sure whom to trust. Patch seems to be everywhere she is and seems to know more about her than her closest friends. She can’t decide whether she should fall into his arms or run and hide. And when she tries to seek some answers, she finds herself near a truth that is way more unsettling than anything Patch makes her feel.

For she is right in the middle of an ancient battle between the immortal and those that have fallen – and, when it comes to choosing sides, the wrong choice will cost Nora her life.

Like The Demon King I’ve had my eye on this book for years.  I just never really considered picking it up until I saw it was on for $4.99 as a promotion for the final book in the series.  Why not give it a try for that price?  It could be good.

I won’t say that I’m disappointed, but I wasn’t especially impressed either.  There were decent enough characters, some humour, good world-building and so-so villains but that was about it.  Hush, Hush never really made that transition from ‘decent enough’ to ‘good’ or ‘great.’  It’s one of those books that’s just mediocre, forgettable and generally undistinguished.

Nora is a decent enough heroine but she’s nothing special.  She gets assigned to have the mysterious Patch as a lab partner and they insult each other back and forth for a bit and then denies her attraction to him for most of the book.  Patch alternatively insults her and encourages her feelings before Nora finally asks him what he is and they begin to admit their feelings for each other.  No huge surprises there but it’s not a bad storyline.  It’s just predictable, much like the characters who are generally forgettable and occasionally act too stupid to live.  Nora just loves going into danger.

The plot isn’t really fast-paced.  It’s predictable with the whole Slap-Slap-Kiss sort of sexual tension that’s pretty much always present in YA these days.  The problem with the plot is that there are huge bursts of energy and then it grinds to a halt for what seems like days.  There are so many stop and starts that I really couldn’t buy into much suspense by the end.  Sure, there was suspense, but there wasn’t all that much.  Not enough for me to keep reading late into the night but it didn’t lack suspense so much that I wanted to give up on the book.

I liked the fallen angel part of this book.  It has the potential for Becca Fitzpatrick to do a lot more with it in the next few books.  I liked the glimpses we saw of Patch’s world and his downfall but it’s really not enough to judge whether or not the world-building is truly amazing or just good.  Really, this whole book felt like sort of a set up for the rest of the series.  First books should sort of be like that, but there should be a little more action going on and more information being given to the reader.

So overall? Meh.  If I see the next book in the used section of a bookstore I might pick it up but I’m not going out of my way to finish the series.

I give this book 3/5 stars.

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