Nowhere Girl - Susan Strecker

Review by Coll
3 Stars

**I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**

I was really excited to read this book, knowing what I did from the description. Cady had half of herself ripped away when she was a teenager, when her twin sister, Savannah, was murdered. With the killer never being caught, the only way Cady could cope with the loss was to write suspense novels about murders. However, she could not escape her sister coming to visit her in her dreams, leaving her to wake with clues about the murder. Now Cady has an opportunity to put the pieces together and she tries to solve the murder once and for all, using her dreams of Savannah and first-hand accounts from a serial murderer that she is interviewing for her next book. 

I will be honest, I was a little let down by this book. I was expecting an intense and emotional crime thriller and what I got was a combination of romance, relationship and personal drama, with a side of mystery and detective work. For the majority of the book I felt that Savannah’s murder took a backseat to everything else in Cady’s personal life, and the book ended up being more of a mystery and a self-discovery journey. This is not necessarily a bad thing and I am sure others would like this story structure, but it was not what I was expecting when I began reading the book. 

One thing I did love about this book is the bond that is shown between twins, even when one is no longer around. The idea of having such a deep connection with another human being, where you can hear their thoughts and feel their emotions, it was just a beautiful phenomenon. In Nowhere Girl this was portrayed very well and it brought the idea of losing a family member to another level, because it is not just a relative but a part you. The author did a great job or writing this component of the story and it added an extra dose of emotion to everything. Knowing this powerful bond existed between two sisters made the loss of Savannah even more heartbreaking.

Okay, so for a while I felt like a jerk while reading Nowhere Girl because I felt like Cady was being overemotional and exceedingly self-deprecating, and I really did not feel much sympathy for her. Sure I felt awful that she lost her twin sister, but I just could not figure out why I was not feeling as much for her as I should. Then halfway through the book it clicked for me; it was lack of character development. Cady’s was not fully developed into a person I felt I knew. I like when I read something and have a connection with the character, and I feel their pain and joy. Unfortunately I did not get that with this book. While I knew a few things about Cady I did not know enough to build an emotional bond, so it was difficult for me to feel much compassion towards her. It is a shame too because she went through so much and had so many scars, but without a connection it was hard for me to be invested in her life.

I also felt like the main character flip-flopped a little with her emotions. Like something that would make her irate when one person said it, she would then completely accept from someone else. This inconsistency made the story a little unrealistic at times. It also seemed a little predictable. I was able to figure out several things, like who was the culprit for example, very early on. Also certain incidents in the book were red flags for me immediately, while the characters seemed oblivious to them for a long time. That level of predictability took a lot out of the book for me. 

Overall, this was not a bad book and it did hold my interest enough where I wanted to keep reading it. Unfortunately it was not what I was expecting and many parts, including the ending, fell flat to me, which is why I ended up going with three stars. If you are looking for a mystery that explores family, relationships, and secrets you might enjoy this. Just do not go into it like I did, expecting an unpredictable and fast-paced crime novel. 

“Trauma climbed along the corridors of my mind and wrapped itself around the present so I couldn’t really tell the two apart.”

Interested in Nowhere Girl? Check it out on Goodreads

Dawn Over Dayfield

*I received this novel as a freely accessible e-ARC from Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion.*

Dawn Over Dayfield by Karenna Colcroft features Andy Forrest who visits the town of Dayfield to find out more about his birth father. While researching the historical records, he meets the local History Society archivist Weston Thibeault. Together they attempt to unearth secrets the town wants to keep buried. The novel is part mystery, part romance, and the latter part I really did enjoy, despite the fact it developed kind of fast. However, considering the events it is actually sort of believable. Very refreshing.

The writing style was fairly decent and for the majority of the book I was engrossed in the plotline.  Unfortunately, there was a lot of repetition about the townsfolk absolutely hating Andy’s family, which is the main premise of the novel. A contributing factor to this hatred was that the factory, which had always been extremely important to the town, had been owned and bankrupted by Andy's birth father's family. Although it is understandable that this would have a huge impact on the town, it just didn't make sense why the residents' hatred of the owners would extend to a son who was adopted and had never even visited the area before. Especially since there was a living member of the family (the protagonist’s biological grandmother), but she was left completely alone and then swiftly forgotten about in the narrative. If a person is really interested in the family history, then visiting the actual grandmother would make the most sense, no? Then again, maybe I missed an explanation about why that wasn’t done.

I also felt that the last third of the book was just too rushed and things didn’t make sense anymore. The mystery aspect was really the biggest weakness, perhaps. Everything seemed to be very predictable and obvious – and I’m not even that seasoned of a mystery reader! The big “showdown” towards the end just felt extremely random and I got the sense that all the build-up didn’t lead anywhere. Some loose ends were then suddenly mentioned and tied up in the last chapter so I was left dazed and confused as to the aim of the aforementioned climactic scene. Having read plenty of Nora Roberts, I know that suspense in romance books can be done extremely well, which is where this novel fell slightly short in my opinion.

All in all, even though I was interested in the events of the novel until the very end, I just felt that this particular mystery left a lot to be desired. I do no regret reading it, but the novel itself was average, hence the three stars. However, I would definitely be interested in trying out the author’s other gay romances.