The Good Daughter by Karin Slaughter
Meet Author Karin Slaughter:
"Karin Slaughter is one of the world’s most popular and acclaimed storytellers. Published in 120 countries with more than 35 million copies sold across the globe, her 21 novels include the Grant County and Will Trent books, as well as the Edgar-nominated COP TOWN and the instant NYT bestselling stand-alone novels PRETTY GIRLS, THE GOOD DAUGHTER, and PIECES OF HER. Slaughter is the founder of the Save the Libraries project—a nonprofit organization established to support libraries and library programming. A native of Georgia, she lives in Atlanta. Her stand-alone novel PIECES OF HER is in development with Netflix, starring Toni Collette, and the Grant County and Will Trent series are in development for television." ~Amazon
“The Good Daughter is like Law and Order meets The Good Wife.” —theSkimm
Instant New York Times Bestseller
theSkimm Book Club Pick!
The stunning new novel from the international #1 bestselling author — a searing, spellbinding blend of cold-case thriller and psychological suspense.
"Two girls are forced into the woods at gunpoint. One runs for her life. One is left behind…
Twenty-eight years ago, Charlotte and Samantha Quinn's happy small-town family life was torn apart by a terrifying attack on their family home. It left their mother dead. It left their father — Pikeville's notorious defense attorney — devastated. And it left the family fractured beyond repair, consumed by secrets from that terrible night.
Twenty-eight years later, and Charlie has followed in her father's footsteps to become a lawyer herself — the ideal good daughter. But when violence comes to Pikeville again — and a shocking tragedy leaves the whole town traumatized — Charlie is plunged into a nightmare. Not only is she the first witness on the scene, but it's a case that unleashes the terrible memories she's spent so long trying to suppress. Because the shocking truth about the crime that destroyed her family nearly thirty years ago won't stay buried forever…
Packed with twists and turns, brimming with emotion and heart, The Good Daughter is fiction at its most thrilling." ~Amazon
Numeric Breakdown:
1: didn't like it/skip it
2: it was okay/it wasn't for me
3. liked it/worth a read
4. really liked it/loved it
5. it was amazing/must read!
A Second Chance
*Spoilers could be present.*
So, if you've read any of my blog reviews or know me personally, you'll know I like to give things a second chance. Books, people, new flavored coffees, etc. With my review of Girl, Forgotten completed, I decided that Author Karin Slaughter was someone I wanted to give another chance. I've heard of her Will Trent and Grant County series, I love mysteries, her book Pieces of Me has been launched on Netflix, and a colleague says she's a fabulous writer. Unfortunately, we didn't have any of her series, so I picked up another standalone/book one of one novel and decided to give it a go.
I'm not certain that it was a good choice.
Please let me explain.
For those of you who love Karin Slaughter, I commend your iron stomachs and true grit. You are able to read these psychological thrillers with the authentic passion that they deserve. The author certainly gives readers a vivid exploration of her characters and their crimes. She's blunt, raw, visceral, and startling in her details, and she's a great tale-weaver.
Really, Slaughter is a bold and provocative writer who knows how to add twists and bring on the trauma. I appreciate her dual points of view, the past and present being explored, and the character development. I do have to say that I felt a little more in touch with these sisters, Charlie and Sam, than I did with those in her previous book.
Charlie is a contradiction. Independent but reliant on her father. Angry but understanding. Fearful but courageous. She's trying to mend her broken marriage and still be the person who's right. She has secrets and is unwilling to share them. Those secrets build walls, strengthen anger, turn to bitterness and hostility, and come out in a rather blunt fashion.
Sam is a contradiction as well. She hides her own secrets. She has a whole other life and relationship of which her sister and father are unaware, and it breeds resentment. For her own part, Sam has moved out of the town where she and Charlie grew up, has had her own adventures, and didn't want to stay in a place that reminded her of the tragedies and murder of her mother.
Both are great characters. They make you happy, angry, and sad. You see some eventual development from them both, and their introductions are unconventional in a sense, and I give kudos to the author for how she introduces them. By the end, you hope the best for them both, and you grieve for the loss of their story. All in all, those are positives for me.
Rewinding a bit, I have to state that overall, I enjoy a good psychological thriller. Characters are always my favorite place to start and end. If I have a connection with them, if there's growth to their storyline, if they're interesting or quirky, I can be caught up in their world. And this did happen in The Good Daughter. I really appreciated the characters, especially knowing what they both had gone through.
However, that was up until the point where I really found out what happened to both sisters.
I'm sorry, but I think I mentioned in my last review that certain topics are very hard for me to read about, and when I don't see them coming, they're a lot worse. So, while I'm cheering the author on for her use of subterfuge and contrivance to get the character's stories told, I'm not thrilled either. As with the last review, I indicated making sure that if rape, human trafficking, abuse, etc., are not your thing, then you might want to be careful with this story. While I won't point out which was on display - beyond graphic murder and language, I will mention that it was very explicit and caused me to skip over several sentences and paragraphs and pages trying to get the gist but not actually read it.
While the scenes I mentioned are pertinent to the characters and their personal stories, they're a bit much for me - one scene in particular. The whole resolution of these past traumas and current tragedies felt a bit insufficient for me. A bit empty in a sense, leaving me with a very sad and bereft feeling.
A good book certainly makes you have a heightened sense of emotion and to relate and care, but as much as feel Author Karin Slaughter to be a powerful and purposeful writer, I'm not certain that she'll be one I stick with for the long-haul. Again, I can see her writing skill and reader attraction, but for me, I'll stick to a milder dose of psychological thriller and leave her fans to it. They are much braver than me. Therefore, I'm giving this book a 2/5 rating because it was okay, certainly well-written, but definitely not for me.
Thanks for joining me, and as always, Happy Reading!
~Rebecca Reddell, Author
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