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A review by jenbsbooks
The Ghost Writer by Alessandra Torre, A.R. Torre
3.25
This popped up in one of my groups with enough of a recommendation that I checked it out - I was able to snag it immediately from the library(x) and the audio was on Hoopla. Actually, the audio almost made me give up on this one - I think it would be better read.
The "ghost" isn't paranormal, even though I'm including it my spooky season (still listed as dark/mysterious as well as emotional). Just your traditional "ghost writer" meaning.
There were multiple POVs, four of them. The main one, Helena, was first person/present tense. The "book" is Helena too, also first person/present tense. In print, it's in italics, which helps to set it apart (it's in the past, which I guess we know if Simon is there). The audio just wasn't able to separate these two as much as the print did. Then, there's Kate, Mark and a couple chapters with Charlotte. These ones are all 3rd person/present tense.
In audio, a single narrator. I struggled with her voicing of Helena, but it was so much worse when it was one of the other POVS. She assigned this Boston accent to Kate, and this cowboys drawl to Mark, but it was all really just the same, disconnected voice. There were really long pauses when I thought maybe my earbud had disconnected or my app had stopped playing ... but it was just the way it was. I got more used to the narration as it went on.
I got a little annoyed at the slow reveal ... so obviously setting us/the reader up that SOMETHING awful happened (beyond just the death of the MCs husband and little girl). It all felt a little disjointed. The changing in tense, between the real and the book, the other characters/3rd person.
I had this in two formats - audio and Kindle. Moving between them, and just for my own personal info, I would have liked to have the POV listed on the chapter, but I guess that could have been problematic because sometimes the POV switched in the middle of a chapter. The "book" sections also didn't have their own chapter, but were the start of several ... as mentioned, easier to distinguish in text, where the type was in italics.
This was a good example of gray characters ... our MC isn't a very likeable person, and in her "story" (could be considered flashbacks) she has some "mommy moments" that do put her parenting skills into question. These could make for some interesting book club discussions (was Helena right, was Simon right? Who was the "better" parent?)
When the reveal came, it was still interesting, but I had just been a bit put off at how drawn out it was. I liked the conclusion though, and the one little shift ... not a big "twist" but just leading you do think one thing when it's another.
I was glad I grabbed this, but it's not one I'd rave over.
Four f-bombs, one of the writer characters writes smut, so there's a couple titles and suggestive things thrown out, but nothing explicit that I recall.
The "ghost" isn't paranormal, even though I'm including it my spooky season (still listed as dark/mysterious as well as emotional). Just your traditional "ghost writer" meaning.
There were multiple POVs, four of them. The main one, Helena, was first person/present tense. The "book" is Helena too, also first person/present tense. In print, it's in italics, which helps to set it apart (it's in the past, which I guess we know if Simon is there). The audio just wasn't able to separate these two as much as the print did. Then, there's Kate, Mark and a couple chapters with Charlotte. These ones are all 3rd person/present tense.
In audio, a single narrator. I struggled with her voicing of Helena, but it was so much worse when it was one of the other POVS. She assigned this Boston accent to Kate, and this cowboys drawl to Mark, but it was all really just the same, disconnected voice. There were really long pauses when I thought maybe my earbud had disconnected or my app had stopped playing ... but it was just the way it was. I got more used to the narration as it went on.
I got a little annoyed at the slow reveal ... so obviously setting us/the reader up that SOMETHING awful happened (beyond just the death of the MCs husband and little girl). It all felt a little disjointed. The changing in tense, between the real and the book, the other characters/3rd person.
I had this in two formats - audio and Kindle. Moving between them, and just for my own personal info, I would have liked to have the POV listed on the chapter, but I guess that could have been problematic because sometimes the POV switched in the middle of a chapter. The "book" sections also didn't have their own chapter, but were the start of several ... as mentioned, easier to distinguish in text, where the type was in italics.
This was a good example of gray characters ... our MC isn't a very likeable person, and in her "story" (could be considered flashbacks) she has some "mommy moments" that do put her parenting skills into question. These could make for some interesting book club discussions (was Helena right, was Simon right? Who was the "better" parent?)
When the reveal came, it was still interesting, but I had just been a bit put off at how drawn out it was. I liked the conclusion though, and the one little shift ... not a big "twist" but just leading you do think one thing when it's another.
I was glad I grabbed this, but it's not one I'd rave over.
Four f-bombs, one of the writer characters writes smut, so there's a couple titles and suggestive things thrown out, but nothing explicit that I recall.