First, there is John Hart's latest, The Hush. Those of you who have followed my blog for a while (I understand your reluctance to identify yourselves!) know that, as Julia Roberts said in Pretty Woman, I am a "big, huge" fan of his books. I think his last 3 were 4.0, 4.0, 3.75 (and I liked his 1st 2 too). So I was obviously very excited about reading The Hush. How was it? Beats the heck out of me. I just didn't get it. I don't know what John was thinking. The story didn't make a lot of sense to me. There was tons of description that put me off immediately and that showed up throughout the book. And then there was some metaphysical stuff that I just couldn't wrap my arms around. For me it didn't connect with the rest of the book. Or maybe I just didn't care. Regardless, I'm giving it a 2.25/4. And only because I like John personally (he always responds to FB messages) and because I recognize what a good writer he is. Otherwise, uh, uh.
P.S. John's ratings for his last 4 books on Goodreads out of a max 5:
The Last Child - 4.11The Iron House - 4.09
Redemption Road - 4.08
The Hush - 3.64
It's obviously not just me.
My other short review is of A.J. Finn's The Woman in the Window. I liked this one much better - 3.25/4. It came very highly rated from friends that I trust. It was a little Girl on the Train for me in that it was very well-written, but I didn't emotionally connect with the characters. In fact, it was very similar to Gone Girl because I didn't really get engaged until about half-way through. However, that was all compensated for (at least to some degree) by the fact that it was suspenseful and had a real shocker toward the end. We all know I'm not that adept (a classic understatement) at figuring out what's going to happen in a book. But I think this one shocked everybody. So it was good.
I need to get to The Woman in the Window. Glad to see you liked it.
ReplyDeleteI don't know anybody who hasn't liked it.
DeleteI haven't heard too much about The Hush. I am sorry it didn't work for you. I really liked The Woman in the Window as well.
ReplyDeleteIt's okay because I have liked his other books so much.
DeleteThe Woman in the Window seems like a worthwhile read for the shocker. I don't read suspense often, but I keep thinking I should pick up one of these really popular ones sometime.
ReplyDeleteNicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction
Definitely worth reading for the suspense value.
DeleteHart's work is popular around here but I haven't tried it yet. It sounds like I should start with The Last Child. I felt pretty much the same way about The Woman in the Window.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you will like The Last Child, and The Iron House too. They are both terrific books.
DeleteGlad you enjoyed WitW. I didn't even know AJ Finn was a man at first. He wrote a woman's thoughts so well.
ReplyDeleteI finished Little Fires Everywhere and will be giving it 5 stars soon. Thanks again for the reco and for sending the book my way. :)
Agreed on LFE. 3.5/4 for me. Not quite a 5/5, but still very good.
DeleteI don't like the feeling of not getting a book so I can see why The Hush was disappointing. You know I'm not a huge suspense reader but I've noticed all the glowing reviews for WitW. Glad you liked it.
ReplyDeleteI keep putting off reading Gone Girl, and now I have a recommendation for another book that you found similar because it took a while to become vested in the story. I'm going to have to find a quiet nook and just read, I guess.
ReplyDelete