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Under The Harrow by Flynn Berry

I was promised a thriller. This novel did not deliver.

When Nora decides to visit her sister in the countryside, she is looking forward to a nice relaxing weekend. Instead, she walks into a murder scene – with her sister as the victim. Stunned by this shocking discovery, Nora cannot move on. She takes it upon herself to find her sister’s killer, especially since her faith in the police has been shaken because of past events. Haunted by the murder and the secrets surrounding it, Nora begins to show sings of obsession…. until she becomes just as unrecognizable as her sister.

When I first started reading this novel, I was intrigued by the writing style. It seemed a bit dark and poetic, with many intricate details added in here and there. I found it charming at first. But it soon got old. After a certain point, I realized that the writing style did nothing to enhance the plot and the little details were a bit pointless. As for Nora, our protagonist, I strongly disliked her. She had no real personality and was severely underdeveloped and lacked a voice. I couldn’t care less about her and her memories of the past or her obsession. She had no real reason for going about things the way that she did, and while at first I wanted to figure it out, by the time I got to the middle of the story, all I really wanted was for the story to end. The plot moves so slowly that it put me to sleep; literally nothing happens. And the ending, while not what I expected, was not at all a good twist. Just because you explain why someone is the killer doesn’t mean it works! Overall, this is one of the most disappointing books I have ever read and I would not recommend this to anyone interested in thrillers or mysteries. At least it was short!

Happy reading ~