Never Knowing in Busy as a Bee Books

Feb 09, 2013 Amy rated it it was ok

Shelves: fiction, busy-as-a-bee-books-group, _own-ebook, read-in-2013

Well, I'm not sure quite what to say about this one. Although it was a fairly compelling read and kept me interested throughout, this was not a book that I ultimately liked. I think that is primarily because I HATED the main character AND the ending. This was VERY reminiscent of her first book for me. Many of the flaws in that first one carried over into this second novel. Up until the last 50ish pages, I would have given it a 3. Once the 'final reveal' was revealed, it went to a 2. Ugh. That wa Well, I'm not sure quite what to say about this one. Although it was a fairly compelling read and kept me interested throughout, this was not a book that I ultimately liked. I think that is primarily because I HATED the main character AND the ending. This was VERY reminiscent of her first book for me. Many of the flaws in that first one carried over into this second novel. Up until the last 50ish pages, I would have given it a 3. Once the 'final reveal' was revealed, it went to a 2. Ugh. That was NOT a successful book for me!

The author seems to be following a pretty clear formula with her stories and characters. There are a lot of moments during the read that I was asking myself why this felt familiar and then I'd realize it felt familiar because of my having already read her first novel. Although distinct stories, there are a number of areas of similarity which made them blend together in some way for me.

I rarely dislike a character, even truly unlikeable characters. Yet, this woman, Sara, that is so key to this novel was just one of the most annoying characters that I've read in some time. She's just annoying, infuriating and simply FRUSTRATING. I can sum this novel up easily - an infuriating character spends the second third of the novel talking/struggling over and over and over with the same thing until it finally ends in one of the most irritating, ridiculous and annoying ending that I have read in ages. Ugh.

The story had such potential but the pacing was off for me in the middle (back and forth, back and forth, no resolution, same dialogue over and over and over again) and it was taken into outrageous territory which made the ending ridiculous and frankly stupid (to me). I just couldn't get behind such an idiotic ending. Once the story culminated in what one would have assumed was the ending/resolution, I realized there were still a considerable amount of pages remaining which was the first red flag telling me that I was going to be annoyed. The author's need to add a SECOND ending/resolution is what really pushed me over the edge. It didn't make sense nor did I even CARE about the second resolution. It was overkill. I'd have preferred to have the earlier resolution be the big reveal & removed the last 50ish pages completely.

Anyway, as you can tell, this was not a novel that I loved. It's got MANY flaws. If you really loved her first novel, it might be worth a read but I wouldn't recommend it to most readers. ...more

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Apr 08, 2011 Tricia rated it really liked it

Captivating!

This was packed with suspense & action. I was surprised how quickly it took off and kept me interested throughout the book. There weren't any "slow" parts in the novel so I finished it in 2 sittings.

Also, I liked how the novel was narrated (the main character Sara speaking to her therapist).

The only negatives to speak of are the fact that it was pretty unrealistic in parts, and that I figured out a big part of the ending about mid-way through. However, that didn't keep me from tho ...more

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May 16, 2011 Liz rated it liked it

Shelves: crime, slice-n-dice, bees-neez

Thrillers are really not my genre of choice. However, I heard good things about this book, and author, and decided to give it a go. I was engrossed in the plot right away. The idea of finding out that your parent is a serial killer is surreal. That notion left me wanting to read more.
I recently saw an episode of Oprah (I am not a regular viewer) where a woman, with a serial killer dad, was featured. I supposed this helped me be absorbed in this novel, as if it were a true account. Simplistic wr ...more

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