Post by oldmeanie on May 23, 2023 9:05:25 GMT -5
I really like the family-oriented plots in the series, and that's one thing the later books do pretty well.
To be honest, I wasn't that engaged for the middle of the book. I don't find babies that interesting (sorry!) and was confused over everyone just losing their minds over Eli. I'm still sort of confused. I get the BSC, but do kids really loose their minds over babies? I hope I don't sound like a jerk, I really don't know. Either way, I thought the initial shock was really interesting. It's one of the wilder starts to a mystery for sure. But then after that, the middle kind of drags for me. The subplot didn't help.
I often find the "research" parts of mysteries to drag a bit, and this one kind of did, but at the same time, there wasn't much of it.
Then it just gets crazy and the pacing goes from, like, sluggish to hyper speed. I do love the last few chapters (well, I don't care much for the writing finale or whatever, but otherwise). It was pretty genius for Abby to go into her mom's study and press redial. Tbh I'm not sure I'd have thought to do that. Going to NYC by herself is one of the cooler/ crazier BSC moments. I like how she almost cries when she realizes she doesn't know how to get around NYC. It might sound OOC for Abby, but I think it's realistic for a 13 year old girl.
I really like the reveal, even though it's sad. This one seems to be setting up Abby in Wonderland, which I'm now excited to read (not too far off really). I'm not sure how I feel about Rachel not telling Abby and Anna about Miriam, but I think I get her reasoning. She was going to tell them eventually anyway. It could have been such a horrible family drama with resentment on both sides, but I'm glad it wasn't.
So I ended up liking this one. A 7 sounds about right.
To be honest, I wasn't that engaged for the middle of the book. I don't find babies that interesting (sorry!) and was confused over everyone just losing their minds over Eli. I'm still sort of confused. I get the BSC, but do kids really loose their minds over babies? I hope I don't sound like a jerk, I really don't know. Either way, I thought the initial shock was really interesting. It's one of the wilder starts to a mystery for sure. But then after that, the middle kind of drags for me. The subplot didn't help.
I often find the "research" parts of mysteries to drag a bit, and this one kind of did, but at the same time, there wasn't much of it.
Then it just gets crazy and the pacing goes from, like, sluggish to hyper speed. I do love the last few chapters (well, I don't care much for the writing finale or whatever, but otherwise). It was pretty genius for Abby to go into her mom's study and press redial. Tbh I'm not sure I'd have thought to do that. Going to NYC by herself is one of the cooler/ crazier BSC moments. I like how she almost cries when she realizes she doesn't know how to get around NYC. It might sound OOC for Abby, but I think it's realistic for a 13 year old girl.
I really like the reveal, even though it's sad. This one seems to be setting up Abby in Wonderland, which I'm now excited to read (not too far off really). I'm not sure how I feel about Rachel not telling Abby and Anna about Miriam, but I think I get her reasoning. She was going to tell them eventually anyway. It could have been such a horrible family drama with resentment on both sides, but I'm glad it wasn't.
So I ended up liking this one. A 7 sounds about right.