Kathleen's Reviews > The Caretakers

I have held off writing this review for days because I just wasn't sure how to rate this. I've settled on 3 stars but I'm still not feeling vetted to it being either higher or lower. Let me explain. Several years ago I read The Grave Tender which, I believe, might be the author's first book. (?) Regardless, that book just blew me away. It was unlike anything I had read in a very, very long time. That book was so beautifully written that I found myself instantly moved to tears by some sentences and sometimes just stopped dead in my tracks by the complete juxtaposition of the darkness of the story and the bright beauty of the writing. I found myself stopping to reread sentences over and over again just to try and capture that original clutch of emotion the author had given me.

So moving on to this book. This book cannot compare to my previous read. Gone are the beautiful prose and the gutting emotions. Does that makes this a bad book? Nope. Not at all. This a great mystery filled with great characters. It has two storylines, past and present, that are woven together in a very interesting way, with enough twists that it really kept me engaged. Is it written well? Yep. It absolutely is. But, did it give me that completely immersive experience I found reading the author's first book through her gorgeous prose? No it did not. Honestly, when I started reading this I had to go back and check who the author was because I thought I was reading someone else.

Hence my trouble with my rating. Once an author gives you one thing, are they then bound to always provide it? I think I believed they were when I started this book. Now I'm not so sure. It's made me think about other authors I read and do they always deliver me the same thing? I want to say yes - when it comes to their writing. Maybe I'm wrong. So how much of my angst with this book was really just my own expectations? Maybe all of it. Maybe none of it. Is it fair of me to judge this book based on a previous book? I just don't know.

But don't let my experience and expectation deter you from reading this. It's a great book and if you just want to dig into a really solid mystery that will keep you turning pages and guessing right up to the end, then definitely pick this one up. You won't be disappointed.

I would like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book. This opinion is my own.