I have three names: I was born Leigh-Ann. I became Cherrie. When I was a child, they called me Little Bones…

My father was Mr Bones – the notorious serial killer of 25 years ago.
As a child I witnessed his crimes.
Everything is different now. I have a new identity. I’m a mother. I am finally free.
Until that podcast. I should never have listened.
They’re linking a recent disappearance to the crimes of the past.
They know who I am. They’re calling me Little Bones again.
They say I’m a villain but I’m not. I’m a victim.
You believe me, don’t you?

The story moves at a fast pace and is very much devoted to emotion fuelled characters. I did feel for the main character but I also found her lacking in terms of her past and how she was presently effected. The fast pace did keep the book moving and definitely fuelled my desire to keep reading. The characters individual thoughts and actions were realistic and expected of what I’d learned of them.

I did feel like there was a lot left out of the story, particular references to the past that were glossed over or vague in the irritating sense. When employing such a detailed backstory at the beginning of a book I feel that it is crucial to give enough information to back up that story. Here, too little was explained for me to really get a sense for the character or to understand the full implications on their personality and behaviour.

I did warm to the people that I was supposed to and shied away from those presented as untrustworthy. There were lots of elements that shined through as ‘good writing’ and the story was believable. It certainly shows the length of people’s grief and just how crushing a hive mind of people can be.

I had high hopes of reading this story, especially as I started to read it last night (Mon 8th) and found myself getting creeped out about the opening chapters enough that I stopped reading. But, in the cold light on Tuesday, having now read the book in its entirety, I do feel a little disappointed. Both the cover and the tag line alluded to the most dark and creepy story yet I found myself at point 38% of reading that I knew what had happened and who had done it. It was very obvious to me from that point on where the story was heading. I definitely didn’t get much of a ‘the most chilling serial killer you’ll read this year’ vibe while reading. It felt kind of like the book cover was advertising a different story from the one within the pages.

There were a lot of missed opportunities in this books, places where I thought the story would go only just to push it into a less aggressive and calmer avenue. It’s not a bad book, it’s perfectly fine to read and it’s not particularly long so can easily be read in a day or two.

I think I just fell into that despondent ‘readers hold’ from working out the ending before I’d reached the halfway point of the book and wasn’t able to motivate myself out of it.

I’m interested to see if anyone agrees with me.

It’s so irritating to feel so lacklustre after reading a book – especially since I haven’t read in quite some time – but I remind myself that it wasn’t the books fault. Essential it just wasn’t right for me and that’s perfectly alright. I can still recognise good writing when I see it. For those of you who are into deep, dark crime/thrillers, this would be a good book to read as something ‘lighter and shorter’ in-between all the heavy stuff.

I don’t mind lighter crime/thrillers, just not when I’m expecting a deep and dark one. It was slightly unsettling to have expected something and got something else entirely. Still, that is the way of reading books I suppose.

I deliberately haven’t dived too deep into the characters or the plot in itself because I’m hopeful that those of you who have decided to join me on this journey will share your own thoughts in the comment section below – I didn’t want to spoil anything for you guys!