Whew! Just finished
The Wrong Mother by British author Sophie Hannah, and it was not quite what I was expecting.
Getting off to a slow start, I wasn't sure if I'd bit off more than I could chew, and this book has been a long time coming.
I've finally had the chance to read it, uninterrupted, and the last 1/2 of the book flew by much quicker than the 1st.
I am still figuring out the meaning behind the title, but I will tell you this--it was suspenseful and had a great flow.
One thing that bugged me was the alternating double storyline. It was fine, but I suppose my impatience to find out what was NEXT in each plotline was stonewalled at the end of each chapter.
It alternates between a first person account by the main character--protagonist--who seems to share certain things in common with the murdered woman, and the police investigation that accompanies it, as well as a side story regarding certain officers in their CID (British for "Criminal Investigation Department").
The back of the book (or inside of a Hardcover edition) offers a pretty basic plot that will drag you in, and you soon realize that this is just the start of the novel.
What ensues is beyond imagination. I don't really want to give too much away, but I would recommend this.
I am thinking of checking out her first novel--
Little Face--because some authors are one-hit wonders. Tana French, author of
In the Woods (of which I have yet to read, but I HAVE read her other novel,
The Likeness, of which I found enjoyable, but the open-ended ending a little disappointing).
I felt almost the same way upon completing The Historian--by Elizabeth Kostova--the ending was a little unsatisfying because the build up till then had made me expect something incredible.
Just as in an electronic song with an amazing build up section--if the drop falls short, the drop becomes unsatisfying (likewise, without a good build up, nobody cares about the drop). <- Electronica reference (dubstep, amongst others)
BUT I DIGRESS.
Just go check it out at your local library (I am still on the fence of whether I'd pay for this). I downloaded an electronic copy to be "checked out" for 21 days.
Cheers!!
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THE WRONG Mother
Rating:
- - - - -
For future reference--I've devised a rating system that may seem complicated at first. It's like a ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ as well as the A-F scale.
I'll rate the book on a GREEK A-F scale with 3 "A" 's (in this case, "alpha" = α) as GO READ THIS NOW!! Obviously anything lower than 1 "C" (in this case, "gamma" = γ) would really be a skipper. I'll only give an OMEGA (technically "Z", but it's the last!!) "ω" if the book is so horrible it requires one.
In this way, it almost allows for a % scale because there will be 5 ratings within each system.
For the "A- " or "B+" type ratings, I'll offer a combination (like the 1/2 ★, [which is equal to 50%] so that instead of 1 α or 3 β's the in-between would be something like αβ)
RATING/GRADING SCALE (I used lower-case to differentiate, otherwise it looks Roman):
ααα <- 100% A++
ααβ
αα
αβ
α <- like an A- -
βββ <- like a B++
ββγ
ββ
βγ
β
γγγ
γγδ
γγ
γδ
γ <- really, below this (like a C- -; average, slightly mediocre, equivalent: 60-69%, really) you don't really want to read. I don't think I'll really give a triple-delta (δδδ) to anything, but it's just there for continuity.
[δδδ
δδω
δδ
δω
δ]*
ω <- FAIL. It was that bad that I had to blog about it, although honestly it's probably something I wouldn't even have wanted to finish. But I have this thing about finishing what I start...
- - - - -
* Probably never going to be used.
Hopefully that helps! I know it seems complicated, but my bf gave me the idea of using my own rating system. This way, too, there's a lot of grey area, since nothing's ever black-or-white GREAT! or horrible
(o;
