Today on my blog I have another fabulous guest review from my ‘lil star, Claire Knight!
Let’s find out what Claire thinks of When I Wake Up by Jessica Jarvli ….
SYNOPSIS
‘Why won’t Mummy wake up?’
When Anna, a much-loved teacher and mother of two, is left savagely beaten and in a coma, a police investigation is launched. News of the attack sends shock waves through her family and their small Swedish community. Anna seems to have had no enemies, so who wanted her dead?
As loved-ones wait anxiously by her bedside, her husband Erik is determined to get to the bottom of the attack, and soon begins uncovering his wife’s secret life, and a small town riven with desire, betrayal and jealousy.
As the list of suspects grows longer, it soon becomes clear that only one person can reveal the truth, and she’s lying silent in a hospital bed…
CLAIRE’S RATING: 3/5
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CLAIRE’S REVIEW:
When I saw the blurb for When I Wake Up, I was intrigued. I’ve been dipping my toes more into the Scandicrime genre but this is different to the police procedural style novels from Staalsen and Dahl I’ve read.
The time jumps in the story works really well. it provides the intrigue, building as we learn what has happened in the weeks running up to Anna’s attack. The way the story drops in more and more information, the more I felt I didn’t know who it was. With each chapter set in the past, each individual around Anna gets motive and I could not decide who was the culprit!
In places the story didn’t feel like it was a crime thriller. It is saucy in places – Iris and Rolf are very sexual people and this sensuality transfers itself to their bedroom partners. I wasn’t overly convinced at the ease people fell for Iris; it didn’t feel real to me.
I didn’t love this book but there was nothing in particular wrong with the story; I just didn’t click with it. I felt it was a book of 3 parts, the start and the end were good and but the middle was only OK. I get that the middle was needed for the ending but it didn’t feel that tense or suspenseful in comparison to other crime thrillers.
Many thanks to Aria Fiction and Netgalley for giving me a copy of When I Wake Up.
Thanks for another great review, Claire! This book is out June 1st so if you want to grab a copy now, click the book below for a swift trip to amazon!
I’m part of the blog tour for this so my review will be up soon. I enjoyed it once I got past the fact that the plot wasn’t exactly what I thought it would be!
You possibly made the right choice but it might be that you really enjoy it!
I was thinking about requesting this one but then I read some mixed reviews and decided against it. I made the right choice I think as it was an okay read but not very spectacular either.