"Murder at the book club" by Betsy Reavley || Book Review

Hello, hello people!

I recently read my first Kindle book and I was very excited to share my thoughts on it immediately! Reading a Kindle book was admittedly a very fun and interesting experience. I bought this book at a very good deal and I was really happy that I could read a decent book in such a low price. The good prices of the books also give you the opportunity to buy and therefore read more books, which is always a plus for us bookworms.

Now, when it comes to the book itself, I feel torn as t how I should rate it. There were parts of it that I liked and parts of it that I disliked so I couldn't decide. I decided I should just write down my thoughts about it and try to figure it out in the end.

---NONSPOILER SECTION---

The story initially seemed promising and I feel that it had the potential to be way more intriguing and develop even better than it eventually did. I found the "book club" idea interesting and the idea that the killer was one of these seemingly innocent women was engaging as well. By the time the murder happened, I started trying to guess who might have done it. So, it was fine up until that point. I found the beginning of the book compelling, but the middle - and biggest - part of it seemed to me slow and repetitious. Too many conversations that were similar with previous ones and which added nothing new. Too many meetings and conversations about how they could not believe what had happened and about how the book club stopped being fun and started having problems... Too many unnecessary descriptions of clothes, shoes, bags, and nails, which in most cases - even though they painted a clear picture - didn't make sense or fit the situation, or help the story... The pace picks back up at the last 15-10% of the book and it caught my curiosity again. The ending was predictable and a little disappointing for me, not only because the killer was expected, but also it left some questions unanswered and unexplained. About the characters now... Some of them were better developed, while others were seriously underdeveloped and even felt irrelevant to the plot. Most of the characters were unlikable and I couldn't bond with them, or care for most of them. Also, as I was reading it, I was able to spot some mistakes - both typing or misspelling errors and problems with the story/continuity of it - that must have escaped the editing and which confused me. 

---SPOILER SECTION---

Toni's death was the first shock and the suspicion that there might have been a different secret meaning behind her murder (petals found on her) was very intriguing, so when it was eventually disproved I was disappointed. Janet's death shocked me even more and I was not expecting it at all. I felt sorry for her and her murder gave the situation a whole other feeling. I started trying to guess who might have done it all over again. Johnny's car crash was the most unexpected for me. I didn't expect it and felt very sad and scared that he may not make it. I thought it was a nice plot twist overall and I was satisfied with its happy outcome. Johnny and Amy were the only two characters out of all that I kind of liked and felt I bonded with the most. I also liked Marion a little, even though at times I hoped that she would prove to be the murderer. Maggie was a character that initially seemed minor but ended up being more important for the story. I wish we'd seen more of her, to get a better idea for her character. Toni was the most unlikable character for me even from the first pages of the book. The rest of the characters were either too unlikable, or indifferent and at times even felt like they didn't belong in the story. Some characters only showed up for a moment, so that we'd get to know their life story and then they were never mentioned again. Their stories never went anywhere and felt irrelevant to the plot. I started suspecting that Shirley might be the killer from early on in the story, but really hoped that I'd be proven wrong, or that there would be a big plot twist and something else would happen. I didn't really like the ending, how she was caught and how she confessed. I didn't like at all that the truth behind Amy's threatening note was never revealed. The other thing that also made me feel very angry was that we never learned if Grant really raped Toni. We were never given answers about two major questions and I do not think that this was done to add mystery, but rather because it was convenient. I particularly disliked the last chapter, but I do appreciate that it all had some kind of happy ending and that it left me a happy feeling.

So, after having laid my thoughts down, I think I've decided to give this book 2 out of 5 stars. I thought it was good enough for me to enjoy it, but I didn't love it so I cannot give it a higher rating. I feel though, that with some editing it could possibly score higher than that.