I've previously tried reading this novel once and skipped it, because for 4 days, I couldn't get into the novel and just slept every time I tried reading. But recently I got ARC of "FIVE FOUND DEAD" of the same author and after reading that, I've wanted to try this novel, because the plot always interested me.
Plot goes something like – Maddie is an crime fiction writer who creates character Edward who is a literary writer in turn creates the character Maddie. It's about 2 writers writing one another. You don't know who's writing whom.
In the past 2 books that I've read of this author, I was never impressed by the mystery. The writing was good and sometimes the characters were a bit funny. But I was never invested in the mystery.
But in this book, the writer truly excels in both form and mystery. On one hand, you have this commentary going on about the relationship between writer and their protagonist. And parallel to that you have 2 mysteries running one on each end.
<<Mild Spoilers Below>>
There are really interesting turn of phrases when both the "writers" communicate:
Willow reminded Madeline of what she'd previously written.
Here Willow was the character Maddie has created. But the line makes it seem like Maddie isn't the one writing the events, it's as if the characters themselves speak back to Maddie to let her know what to write.
"Are you all right?" her writer asked.
That line might be my favorite line of the entire book. Here Edward consoles Maddie, but see how the line is written. "Her writer asked" – It refers to both – "Her writer" because he is actually a writer that she has created. "Her writer" because he's the one actually writing her story from his POV. That is a really well written phrase.
<< Heavy Spoilers Below >>
Also the whole writer meddling with lives of the character as meta commentary is very good. Maddie wants Edward for herself. When she makes Edward's love interest as the killer, she questions whether this decision is actually to move Edward closer to Maddie or did she actually want to make Will the killer ??
All the time I was thinking of how the author would end this novel and the ending was too perfect – Both in their own "prisons" unable to continue the story of others ❤️
by paperscrawls