Monday, January 27, 2020

Book Review: Cross Her Heart

I normally read thrillers in the fall but I've had a couple of good ones come across so I've squeezed them in. Plus, Sarah Pinborough has a new one coming (that I already have) so I thought perhaps I should read this one first so I know what to expect as far as writing style. It definitely kept me on my toes!
Cross Her Heart - Sarah Pinborough

Lisa lives for her daughter Ava, her job and her best friend Marilyn.

But when a handsome client shows an interest in her, Lisa starts daydreaming about sharing her life with him, too. Maybe she’s ready now. Maybe she can trust again. Maybe it's time to let her terrifying secret past go.

But when her daughter rescues a boy from drowning and their pictures are all over the news for everyone to see, Lisa's world explodes.

As she finds everything she has built threatened, and not knowing who she can trust, it's up to Lisa to face her past in order to save what she holds dear.

But someone has been pulling all their strings. And that someone is determined that both Lisa and Ava must suffer.

Because long ago Lisa broke a promise. And some promises aren't meant to be broken.

If you aren't able to dedicate some solid time to this book, you might get lost. The first half of it is terribly slow and Lisa is a pretty unlikable character. I really didn't like her and once everything started to unravel, I liked her even less. I mean, she had some awful stuff happen and I get it but man.... for as paranoid as she was she really wasn't great at hiding herself. I also felt terribly sorry for her daughter because not only does she have an incredibly protective mom but she has a mom who is relatively clueless as to what her daughter is actually doing.

My other issue is that once you get over the half way mark it all starts rolling downhill relatively quickly, and that's when you're going to want to read it in one sitting because it's so whack-a-doodle you'll be confused if you put it down a few times. It's a bizarre story and I didn't think it really warranted the lengths the main character went through. It reminded me of the cheesy thrillers on the Lifetime channel, where you expect Tori Spelling to be murdered or something.

My biggest issue with this was the incredibly slow pace because it made a book that should only have taken me, at most, two days to read stretch into a week and a half. I just had a hard time sticking with it and by the time I got to the end I'm not sure it was worth it? Overall I can only give this one 2 stars because while it wasn't awful, it's not one I would pick up again.

You can find this book, and tons others, on the HarperCollins website, and if you hang out on the page long enough a 20% coupon pops up, so that's always pretty great.
⭐⭐

   

A big thank you to William Morrow Books and TLC Book Tours for having me on this tour and sending me a copy! All thoughts are my own and this post contains affiliate links.

4 comments:

coach-daddy said...

I love your review style - so honest, and that it includes what it's like to actually sit down and read it. Some books are effortless; others take some concentration. It depends on what you want the experience to be.

Especially love the term "whack-a-doodle." What can we do to get that trending?

Kim {Hope Whispers} said...

OK so reading the description I was like OOOh I could read this. But then when you said it was slow and easy to get lost I was like . MMMM better not LOL . I get lost enough on a good day. But Im going to put it on my TBR list anyways because its something different :) . Thanks for sharing!!

Beth (Coffee Until Cocktails) said...

Oh man, slow reads are the worst. If I can't find myself pulled in after a few chapters, I tend to give up on the whole thing. Kudos to you for finishing it!

mypixieblog said...

That's a bummer you didn't like this one, but at least you've read some way better books since that have more than made up for it :) I'll skip for now!