Author: Fives @ Down The Rabbit Hole

An avid reader whose current interest lies in mysteries and thrillers. Line 'em up! Also personally love fantasies and any stories to do with magic, and a sucker for the occasional (good) romance.
3.5 star

Review: Just the Nicest Couple by Mary Kubica

Fives @ Down The Rabbit Hole

Two couples, two close friends, one missing husband…

Jake Hayes is missing. This much is certain. At first, his wife, Nina, thinks he is blowing off steam at a friend’s house after their heated fight the night before. But then a day goes by. Two days. Five. And Jake is still nowhere to be found.

Lily Scott, Nina’s friend and coworker, thinks she may have been the last to see Jake before he went missing. After Lily confesses everything to her husband, Christian, the two decide that nobody can find out what happened leading up to Jake’s disappearance, especially not Nina. But Nina is out there looking for her husband, and she won’t stop until the truth is discovered.

I think I saw a friend “recommend” this on social media, so I decided to give it a shot myself. I think overall I did enjoy it, but it was far from what I would rate as an amazing thriller. That being said, in terms of actual thrill (which may be the most important part in a thriller anyway), it certainly delivered! So adjust the rating as you see fit for how much it matters to you.

Just the Nicest Couple actually revolves around two main couples, and we follow half of each pair in Christian (married to Lily) and Nina (married to Jake). Jake goes missing from the start, and Lily seems to be the last person who saw him, for which Christian attempts to protect her at every end. Nina, after having fought with Jake, thinks it was their recent fight that triggered his leaving, but he hasn’t come home in way too long. Just where is Jake, and is he still alive? Nina gets increasingly desperate as the clues slowly come trickling through, though it is not until the very end where everything comes to light.

The characters were decent in this one. I didn’t hate them, but they were certainly very human and I really couldn’t agree with a lot of their actions. This kind of annoyed me (in the way that any character’s books with opposing morals would), and it felt to me like the story would (obviously) have played out differently if the characters had chosen to go on a different path in dealing with the issue rather than what they actually chose to do. But, keeping in mind that it is a work of fiction, the characters were well-built and fleshed out, and were generally quite consistent in their character, which I really appreciated. Though I was sometimes put off by what they would choose to do, I could really see each character in my head clearly as I was reading, and this really helped with clarity even as we flip back and forth between the two POVs.

The suspense was excellent and I would probably give it a 4.5 star rating if that were the only thing I were judging on. The paranoia that was built through the perspectives was very well-executed, and this really helped to drive the pace forward. I finished this book in one sitting (and it’s not too long) as I just could not put it down. I certainly had to stop here and there though because I was afraid of what was coming, which I think is the sign of a very very exciting book. The way we get the third person view that is also missing gaps in the information really helped to deepen the suspense and make it unclear just what was really going on.

The slight drawback here, for which I didn’t give the full 5 stars for suspense was because it was slightly predictable. Although the suspense really was very good, I felt that perhaps some of the foreshadowing was too strong in some places, which instantly took my mind to some of the possibilities. As a result, some of the twists weren’t as shocking as I would have hoped. That being said, overall because of the way it was written, I still felt that it was really high tempo and suspenseful. There were no huge giveaways or anything egregious that I’d point out, but as a seasoned reader I think I wasn’t blown away by the creativity in terms of the way the plot was crafted. If this is not your concern though, you won’t mind this at all.

The ending, which of course really is only a small part of any thriller novel, but a great bonus if the author does it right, was disappointing for me. I did not see it coming at all, but that meant really not seeing it coming at all—as in, that chapter felt out of place. It all came crashing down and became really clear right at that chapter, but it didn’t feel like a sense of clarity, it just felt like an “oh, okay,” moment, which I experience every so often in a thriller book. But, it really was a very small part of the book, and the rest of it was already really suspenseful and excellent. So as an overall journey it was really good as a thriller and taking me on an emotional rollercoaster, it just wasn’t my favourite in terms of the specific elements, or blowing me away on the plot.

Overall Recommendations

Just the Nicest Couple revolves around two couples, when one husband goes missing. Taking place in the POV of one half of each of the couples, the story revolves around one side searching for the truth, and the other couple deliberately trying to hide the truth. Clues slowly come up, but not before threats seem to appear around every corner for the wife searching for her missing husband. Just what will the other couple do to try and protect themselves? Full of suspenseful fast-paced writing, if you’re a fan of just pure emotional rollercoasters and uncertainty, this may be the book for you!

discussion

Let’s Talk bookish – Reading Routines

Fives @ Down The Rabbit Hole

Aria @ Book Nook Bits is the new host for Let’s Talk Bookish! If you aren’t following her yet, good check out her blog and give her a follow!

August 18: Do you have a daily reading routine? (The Bageler @ It’s the Bageler)

Prompts: Do you have a daily reading routine? Do you read certain books at certain times, or just read whatever, whenever? Do you carve out time to read every day, or just read when you feel like it? Do you like reading in specific places, or do you just read wherever you can?

Welcome to another week of LTB here at DTRH, everyone! Today’s topic is about a daily reading routine, or routines in general. I’m curious whether y’all have a routine or whether it’s just a on-the-fly kind of deal. Definitely let me know in the comments below.

I personally do not have a daily reading routine. I will try and read every day if there’s a deadline coming, or if there’s a particular book that I am trying to get through during a busy time. But in general I don’t keep to a daily reading routine, or any routine really, when it comes to reading.

I only want to read when I want to read. Part of why reading is so fun and relaxing is because it is always on my own time, and something I willingly choose to do. For me, having a routine, or a “push” to do something can often lessen the intrinsic fun of the activity itself. That being said, sometimes it’s necessary to structure your life and schedule in order to make things happen during busy times!

I definitely like to read in specific places, though I’m not sure I can really point out where. I think in bed or anywhere comfy is always a great option. But I also really enjoy reading on long commutes or in waiting rooms where you can drown out your surroundings by reading in your head. Do any of you do that? I feel like sometimes it’s more effective than wearing earbuds with something playing.

What are all y’alls routines? In favour of routine or no routine? Let me know in the comments below!

2.5 star, YA

Review: Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

Fives @ Down The Rabbit Hole

In this exhilarating novel, two friends–often in love, but never lovers–come together as creative partners in the world of video game design, where success brings them fame, joy, tragedy, duplicity, and, ultimately, a kind of immortality.

On a bitter-cold day, in the December of his junior year at Harvard, Sam Masur exits a subway car and sees, amid the hordes of people waiting on the platform, Sadie Green. He calls her name. For a moment, she pretends she hasn’t heard him, but then, she turns, and a game begins: a legendary collaboration that will launch them to stardom. These friends, intimates since childhood, borrow money, beg favors, and, before even graduating college, they have created their first blockbuster, Ichigo. Overnight, the world is theirs. Not even twenty-five years old, Sam and Sadie are brilliant, successful, and rich, but these qualities won’t protect them from their own creative ambitions or the betrayals of their hearts.

Spanning thirty years, from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Venice Beach, California, and lands in between and far beyond, Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is a dazzling and intricately imagined novel that examines the multifarious nature of identity, disability, failure, the redemptive possibilities in play, and above all, our need to connect: to be loved and to love. Yes, it is a love story, but it is not one you have read before.

This was another one I read for my bookclub, and was on someone else’s suggestion. Needless to say, it was not my favourite, though I believe it was for a couple of reasons. The premise is certainly interesting though, and ultimately I still had no trouble finishing the book.

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow revolves around two main protagonists, Sam and Sadie, who have a long history together even from when they were kids. They were both obsessed with video games and end up going to school together and making excellent games. They have their share of qualms and squabbles too, and the story is about their individual journeys through life as they navigate success, failures, disabilities, and hard relationships.

Ultimately I just couldn’t like any character in this book, particularly the two main leads. The way they act is just completely toxic, and even if that is a part of the book, it just left a particularly bad taste in my mouth the entire time. And there’s a lot of it. A lot. The maturity was almost non-existent (though possibly explainable), but this did not really help. It is not necessary to like or love every character in a book, but it’s just easier to follow a book when you have someone you’re rooting for or at least appreciate. I just didn’t really get that from this book, so honestly it wasn’t the most fun from that perspectives.

The plot was interesting at times, and there are times where there are unique executions of the plot, which I appreciated. However, overall the story did not feel coherent enough, and the characters didn’t seem to grow even as they started making their second, third, or fourth games together. The same problems always came back up, and never dealt with it better. The “relationships” also had me frustrated, as I felt like it could really have been explored differently, yet eventually it just felt like it fell back into the same old tropes. This may again just be a personal preference, but I was really expecting more from this in terms of the relationship as well.

I would say I enjoyed the last…20–25% of the book, when I feel like there was finally some character development and some tense moments that weren’t just dealt with badly. So there was a redeeming feature for me for sure. However, if you perhaps relate to some of the characters more, that may also help the rest of the plot. There were also some awkward time skips throughout, flashbacks and flashforwards that came out of nowhere that I felt were more disorienting than helpful. The premise of making video games and actually going through the whole process of selling and designing what the public wants is super interesting though, so if you’re interested in that, I would still recommend this book. I just wouldn’t hold my breath about the other aspects.

Overall Recommendations

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow is about two lifelong friends who grow up and eventually make successful video games together. Games are fickle creatures though, and the public can love one and hate another. Relationships strain as they try to navigate their career and successes and the diverging paths in life. The video game-making element is super interesting, and there is a decent amount of exploration into this topic if you are interested in it! However, I’d warn against reading it for anything much beyond that.