Review: Strangers We Know

Sometimes I feel like smacking my head against the wall. Not because of you guys of course, you guys are just silent readers who don't even care enough about me to at least make a comment about the reviews. But some irl stuff has been happening which is beginning to take a toll on my mental health, I might take a break from all of this soon enough considering even the booksta hasn't been doing well lately.

Ivy Hon is adopted, and she has known that for a while. When a DNA test tells her that she might be related to a serial killer, Ivy is forced to look into a past and a family that she never knew existed until now. And she's forced to look into a series of events from the past and a whole different load of family secrets, all while trying to figure out who has been subtly hinting that Ivy should leave. But all Ivy wants to know is about her birth parents, and will that cost Ivy her life?

QUICK THOUGHTS AND REVIEW: 3.5/5, THE ENDING COULD HAVE BEEN DONE MUCH BETTER.

Possible Trigger Tags:

1. Mentions of cults and cult activities

2. Alcoholism

3. Teenage pregnancy

4. Mentions of erotophonophilia [deriving sexual pleasures from someone's death]

5. Mentions of necrophilia [deriving sexual pleasures by intercourse with a dead body]

6. Mentions of possible drug abuse

7. Mentions of sadistic tendencies

8. Violence

9. Mentions of lust murder [deriving sexual pleasures by killing]

CONCLUSION: INTENSE TRIGGERS, PLEASE READ TRIGGERS BEFORE APPROACHING THE BOOK.

WHAT DID I FEEL ABOUT THE  BOOK'S: 

1. Writing Quality: The writing quality is one of the most interesting things that I have come across in the book. I hate multiple POVs, I hate it when there is no time consistency in the book, but surprisingly, I do not hate it in this book. That surely doesn't mean I have warmed up to it and it definitely does not mean that I will like this style in the future. I just mean to say that the consistency in the narration kind of did help me to keep my facts in check, however unrelated that a few of them were. I was quite convinced in the fact that Samson was the Full Moon Killer because of how often his POV is mentioned in the book. It's kind of a bit misleading but it's kind of interesting.

2. Character Development: The characters aren't really interesting because other than Ivy, the characters aren't much delved into. What I do gather is that Ivy has some disease so she is trying to find out whether it is hereditary, which is perfectly fine by me. The fact that she has this "I'll do this alone or I'll die" attitude is kind of irritating, and it irks me a lot like sis, it literally won't kill you to ask for help. I kind of think Lottie was a potential character that could have been developed more because she kind of appears more often than others and it definitely would have been better to see Lottie and Ivy working together. Lottie had such potential to be a main character, even as a supporting role. Carson too, poor man, he too had the potential to develop more as a character. Even more so than Lottie, considering that he was her brother. The other characters too, they weren't that prominent, which is kind of sad. In small towns, it is these people who are prominent. It's kind of sad to see these people missed out.

3. Couldn't put it down- Ness: 8/10, it finishes pretty quick, and I kind of finished half of it within an hour or so before I had to clock out for the night.

4. Plot Twists: Okay, the plot twists in the last 50 pages of the book are INSANE. Like Samson having no part as the killer? That was like the biggest of them all, because I was so into the fact that Samson was the killer because his POV was the most prominent and he had this sadistic behaviour. Moreover, the Caine family being responsible for the murders was another thing. Also Ballo not being an actual FBI agent? Amazing. The last minute plot twists were cramped into a single chapter but I guess that's fine. 

5. Plot: Plot wise, I guess it's a very subtle play. The theme is family, which is by far one of the most dangerous and scary thing to exist. If you're in a joint family, then bingo, even scarier. Because you never know what is working inside the mind of another person. You can still keep strangers at bay, but considering you're always stuck with family, that might be harder to avoid [unless you're like a millionaire and can get a restraining order]. But point being is that this aspect is very cleverly displayed even through the cult. Though the book is quick paced, it does seem like there have been quite a few loose ends that would have done much better tied up.

OVERALL, A DECENT READ, would definitely recommend checking out the trigger tags before reading this book.