Review: A Faint Cold Fear – Karin Slaughter

Grant County #3

SYNOPSIS: Sara Linton, medical examiner in the small town of Heartsdale, Georgia, is called out to an apparent suicide on the local college campus. The mutilated body provides little in the way of clues — and the college authorities are eager to avoid a scandal — but for Sara and police chief Jeffrey Tolliver, things don’t add up.

Two more suspicious suicides follow, and a young woman is brutally attacked. For Sara, the violence strikes far too close to home. And as Jeffrey pursues the sadistic killer, he discovers that ex-police detective Lena Adams, now a security guard on campus, may be in possession of crucial information. But, bruised and angered by her expulsion from the force, Lena seems to be barely capable of protecting herself, let alone saving the next victim… – via Goodreads

I promise, Karin Slaughter does an absolute bang up job of maintaining a fast paced, well written story, with a plot to boot. Following Lena’s story is both sad and frustrating, though you can understand how she ended up where she is. But I think it is bad that her situation is so messed up and she is not willing to change a thing about it, but completely prepared to worsen it. Let’s not even forget how she could get involved with white supremacist scum like Ethan. Ugh! Anyway, her self destructive behaviour is highlighted excellently here.

The grief was almost palpable at times in this one, and I think Tessa suffered a terrible injustice, and I found it very difficult to follow how mad the Lintons were with Sara and Jeffrey, though I understand fear makes you strike out and blame whoever is the nearest in the vicinity, whoever can bear the mantle to quell your emotions is the one that bears the brunt.

Sara and Jeffrey’s relationship is one of the more realistic ones I have read of in a novel, because it is not all lust and perfection, and being the perfect partner. Real emotions come in to play here, and the dynamic they share is more believable; they both have their selfish moments together, yet they both also have a selflessness that comes to the fore sometimes, because every now and then no matter what you feel about a situation or your needs, they have to take the backseat to your partners needs and requirements. I absolutely love reading about these two together, though I do feel Sara is a touch harsh to Jeffrey sometimes. A lot of times. She yanks him around too much and should just get her crap together. He deserves better.

Also, some fights between Sara and Jeffrey in this one were (again) about Lena, but the one time that Sara’s defending Lena and I am with Jeffrey on this. Lena has made her choices. There was a lot of fighting going on all over the show in this book, tensions running high and all of that. I am glad to see Nan and Lena getting along better though, seriously.

A Faint Cold Fear is well written and engaging, drawing you in and feeding you more of the story concerning some amazing characters. There is a lot of development going on, too, and I like that. Slaughter is amazing, and this series hooks me every time without fail. Worth the read.

Review: Dreaming of Antigone – Robin Bridges

I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

SYNOPSIS: “I can’t ever be the blazing star that Iris was. I’m still just a cold, dark satellite orbiting a star that went super nova.”

Andria’s twin sister, Iris, had adoring friends, a cool boyfriend, a wicked car, and a shelf full of soccer trophies. She had everything, in fact—including a drug problem. Six months after Iris’s death, Andria is trying to keep her grades, her friends, and her family from falling apart. But stargazing and books aren’t enough to ward off her guilt that she—the freak with the scary illness and all-black wardrobe—is still here when Iris isn’t. And then there’s Alex Hammond. The boy Andria blames for Iris’s death. The boy she’s unwittingly started swapping lines of poetry and secrets with, even as she tries to keep hating him. – via Goodreads

I picked this up because it was recommended to me if I like John Green. So I checked it out, expecting something more like his work, and got Dreaming of Antigone, which I would not say is the not quite the same. Definitely a young adult novel, that’s for sure, and had me thinking “teenagers” more often than not due to numerous different incidents. I think the primary one was the falling in love in like, two days, like. I am not saying that in a derogatory sense, just stating that this book distinctly highlights the thinking pattern of kids. That was just a bit crazy. Not because it has never been seen before in a movie/novel, but because of the history shared by Andria and Alex. It’s rough, supposedly, and if that were real life, it would have been super hectic. The book tries to touch on exceptionally heavy themes, like drug addiction, guilt, medical conditions, resentment, dealing with loss, suicide, etc. but just didn’t handle these themes with as much finesse as it hoped to, and it actually quite soft about the issues, if we are being honest. It felt like they had been glossed over, more than anything. The characters are flat and the story is very, very predictable, which is a bit of a disappointment. Andria is not a character that I liked at all, she just seemed too detached from everything that was going on around her, and the whole thing with Alex was just a bit weird because it all went down so fast. As I said, they have some heavy history that seems to just disappear in a heartbeat, or a few lines of poetry. This was the type of relationship that was a bit sketchy to start with, and the rush job did nothing to make it seem more okay. Despite these drawbacks, the novel is a quick read and flows well, but definitely is not the story it could have been. It didn’t pack an emotional punch, and does not stand out after the fact at all. It did not get me thinking about anything, either, which is what I would have expected from a book dealing with the issues that this one touched on. I don’t know, maybe I am just harder to please, what with not being sixteen anymore and all that.