This summer, I reached out to my local Tarpon Springs community on Facebook, desperately searching for an adult book club I could join. Having facilitated one among my middle school students the last few years, I was eager to branch out and try my skills at a book club aimed at adult novels for adult readers. Unfortunately, a book club didn’t seem to exist in my town (or at least, exist anymore, the most recent one being dismantled in 2018) but everyone seemed to have a great interest in joining and being apart of one! So the teacher in me decided that, while I hadn’t exactly planned to start the club myself, it seemed I would have to do just that. So while I gathered attention from my neighbors and painstakingly obsessed over every little detail, including (and most importantly) the title of our club (Books & Banter, catchy, right?), I hoped I wasn’t making a big mistake by putting myself in charge of a group of adults when that’s basically my worst nightmare. A classroom full of kids? Any day. A group of adults who probably know more than I do and are silently judging me the entire time I’m speaking? Nope. But I’ve been trying this new thing where I push myself outside of my comfort zone, and I’d already created the Facebook group, sooooo there was really no going back.
After everyone submitted their suggested title for the first book (I snuck in The Good Daughter by Karin Slaughter, since it had been sitting unread on my bookshelf for far too long), I waited for the votes to come in. After giving everyone ample time to cast their votes, it would seem that, while 95% of the list consisted of the dreaded historical fiction, my book, my little ol’ mystery/thriller that seemed to be the least requested genre, came in at the top. And so it seemed we would be reading The Good Daughter!
This was my first Karin Slaughter novel. This book got right into the action from the first page and kept me on the edge of my seat until the very end! I enjoyed putting together the pieces, and there were even a few twists thrown in that I didn’t see coming, which is always appreciated (of course, only when the twists are relevant to the story, and not just haphazardly tossed in like some authors do). The way the author blends the characters’ past trauma with the mystery of the present crime was seamless, making connections where I wouldn’t have guessed there would be any. The main characters are well-developed, and each have their own quirks and traits that made them unique. I especially liked Rusty’s character, and could get a great visual of him (I pictured a lanky, Dallas Buyers Club version of Matthew McConaughey). It was also clear the author had some prior knowledge or conducted research to accurately portray the courtroom scenes and jargon, which I appreciated, as it added to the realistic nature of the plot.
There are some graphic scenes and topics in this novel (murder, assault, etc.), which could potentially upset anyone with similar experiences as the characters. And for anyone who doesn’t like reading long chapters with few to no scene breaks, be prepared for just that. I found it difficult to sit and read the long chapters, especially when there was no good stopping point, so I did struggle to make enough time to sit and read at least one chapter all the way through at a time. If I could change one thing about the novel, it would be shorter chapters! Other than that, the book was well-written overall, with an interesting plot, interesting characters, and enough twists and turns to keep you guessing until the end. I’d rate it 4 out of 5 stars!
While I spend a majority of my time reading young adult/teen fiction (both for classroom use and to keep up-to-date on authors within the genre I write, and also I just really like them), I tend to gravitate towards the mystery/thriller/horror genre when it comes to books for adults, so it was no surprise that this one fit right in with other favorites of mine such as The Woman in the Window, The Wife Between Us, and Home Before Dark. But everyone in my book club seemed to also enjoy it just as much as I did, and from what I gathered from that first meeting (in addition to the initial questionnaire), everyone has vast tastes in books, mostly ranging from historical fiction to nonfiction with a bit of thriller and romance thrown in for good measure. So while this is a great novel for those who love a good mystery/thriller, it seems it’s also perfect for anyone who’s willing to give the genre a chance. For those who’ve already read The Good Daughter, what did you think?
For our next book, we’ll be reading Where the Crawdads Sing and, while the main genre that comes up when I searched the book on GoodReads was that dreaded historical fiction, the second genre that came up was mystery. So maybe this will be the perfect blend of what I like and what I’m used to, and what I probably need to just get over and give a chance (although I will say I’ve already branched out with hist. fict. in my student book club, and was surprisingly pleased to enjoy some of those middle grade reads, including all-time fave Refugee). Anyone who has read Crawdads, please give me hope that I will make it through, even though it’s supposedly historical fiction, hah! And while you write me up a reassuring comment, I’m going to go get started on next month’s reading.
mind over madness 