The Lioness

Loved the premise but felt like the story only really just started when it finished. The big reveals we're right at the end and felt like it should be the end of a first act rather than the end of the novel.

The constant flashbacks ended up ripping me out of the momentum of the story. They also didn't provide as much character backstory as it feels like they should have, and giving flashbacks to provide context for characters' choices rather than learning through their actions felt cheap. And there were too many characters with not enough distinction between them that I was constantly having to remind myself who was who.

Finally once you remove those flashbacks you've really got a plot that was only 150 pages or so. I loved everything I read, but felt unsatisfied but the brevity of it all.

4.5 stars - this kept my attention and was well written as everything Bohjalian writes is - I found myself wanting to know more about some characters and not caring so much about others but mainly wanted to know more about the reason behind the kidnapping and killing. Some very harrowing visceral scenes and certainly kept me guessing about who would survive and how this event would affect them.