cover image via Goodreads.com |
What Always Watching is about:
In the lockdown ward of a psychiatric hospital, Dr. Nadine Lavoie is in her element. She has the tools to help people, and she has the desire—healing broken families is what she lives for. But Nadine doesn’t want to look too closely at her own past because there are whole chunks of her life that are black holes. It takes all her willpower to tamp down her recurrent claustrophobia, and her daughter, Lisa, is a runaway who has been on the streets for seven years. When a distraught woman, Heather Simeon, is brought into the Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit after a suicide attempt, Nadine gently coaxes her story out of her—and learns of some troubling parallels with her own life. Digging deeper, Nadine is forced to confront her traumatic childhood, and the damage that began when she and her brother were brought by their mother to a remote commune on Vancouver Island. What happened to Nadine? Why was their family destroyed? And why does the name Aaron Quinn, the group’s leader, bring complex feelings of terror to Nadine even today?
Chevy Stevens quickly became a favorite author of mine with her gripping debut, and equally impressive follow up book. So with that in mind, I was eagerly anticipating her newest release. Well folks, I'm sad to say that this one was just okay for me. There wasn't really a lot of suspense, and honestly, I hated the first person narrative. On top of that, there was wayyyy too much tragedy for one person and coincidences gushing from every sentence. I just didn't buy it, which made me very sad.
Recommend? Well, if you've read her other two works, then of course, you will want to read this one. IMHO, I just felt that it didn't come close to her other stories. Maybe my expectations were too high? If you haven't read Chevy, I can highly recommend Still Missing and Never Knowing. Those two books made me want to read in the bright sun of the day because of the scare factor!
Source: St. Martin's Press via NetGalley
ebook, 352 pages
Published June 18th 2013 by St. Martin's Press
I always like when you don't like a book because then I know I can safely skip it!
ReplyDeleteI sometimes want to be scared but not often, at least not Stephen King scared. Sometimes it's hard for a writer to keep the impetus going, into a third book.
ReplyDeleteI am going to have to check this author out!!!
ReplyDeleteI do want to read this author, but will start with one of the other two books you mentioned - thanks.
ReplyDeleteToo bad this one didn't work for you. I think we do have expectations when we've read an author's previous works, which makes sense.
ReplyDeleteSorry this didn't live up to your expectations.
ReplyDeleteI have this one on Sparky, and I'm planning to read it next week. Sorry you didn't enjoy it as much as the other two...but who knows? Maybe I will.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing.
I can always check the library but I think not
ReplyDeleteIs this the 3rd in a series? I just got the audio of this one from the library, but I haven't read the first 2 yet:(
ReplyDeleteBummer. I've only read her first and liked it. Looks like I can skip this one.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear it was just meh. Too much sadness is not good. :-(
ReplyDeleteI am sad to hear this isn't as good as her other two books. I really enjoyed the other two. I think I will just skip this one.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear this book is not as good as the author's other two books. I really enjoyed the first two books and was looking forward to the new book. I think I will just skip it now.
ReplyDeleteBummer, and I was looking forward to this one but since it didn't live up to Still Missing it can wait :(
ReplyDeleteI haven't read past Still Missing, which I thought was only okay.
ReplyDeleteOh no! I was so looking forward to this one. At least I have her second book still unread to look forward to. I think I just may wait on this one until it becomes available at the library. Thanks for the honest review :)
ReplyDeleteYou aren't the first person I've seen that hasn't thought this one as good as her others. That's too bad because it sure sounds good.
ReplyDeleteOh bummer! I really enjoyed the first two as well, but will still give this one a chance.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the honest review, Staci. I loved her first book, but was very disappointed with Never Knowing. From my blog:
ReplyDeleteI read Stevens’ debut thriller Still Missing in December 2010. I thought it was quite compelling, so I was pretty excited when I got the ARC of Never Knowing. As usual, it languished on my TBR stack for quite some time, but when the audio version became available through my local library, I decided it was time to give the book a try. Honestly, I wish I hadn’t. It was awful. Flat characters, ridiculous dialogue, a predictable plot and a dreadful reader had me shaking my head with annoyance. Why in the world I stuck with this audio presentation for 12 hours (!!) is beyond me.
I think I'll skip the new one.
Still need to pick up Still Missing - but will bear in mind the reading in daylight warning!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the other two novels, which has me curious about this one. I think I'll snag it from the library
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