by Bella Mackie, written 2022
NO SPOILERS! You can read on without fear….
I think I may have mentioned before that I really need to identify with the protagonist or at least find them passably endearing to fully enjoy a book. Born to a single mother, Grace Bernard, goes on a vengeance driven rampage to delete the family tree, is completely hateful.
There were a very few things the character said that I could agree with, but in a book filled with so many hundreds of the character’s dislikes, one would be hard pushed to disagree with every one of them. She despised everything and everyone in a hypocritical show of snobbery and chip-on-shoulder superiority. I wrote a few notes on her dislikes at first, knowing I’d be writing this review and these are a few of the things that she professed to hate: fiction review writers (offence taken!); people who wear bobble hats, rich people, white people; cords; bichon-frise dogs; fluffy dogs; small dogs; nosy people; lip fillers; expensive clothes; people who employ other people; people who are employed and stick to the rules; trendy people; people who don’t follow trends; people with eating disorders; wildlife and nature, especially frogs; people who like frogs; Pret; influencers; overweight people....I had to stop after a while as I’d have rewritten the book. ARWI Book club members decided she was damaged and very much indoctrinated by her mother from a young age to despise the father. However, unlike me, one of the members actually warmed to her along the way.
In chapter 14, the character reached her apotheosis of scathing comments, whilst simultaneously striking a blow for the mental health movement (“it helps to talk”) when she casually says that prisoners who talk about their appeal process are as incredibly dull as those people who discuss their “tiresome mental health problems”. Wow! Nice one, Bella Mackie.
It was 10 hours and 49 minutes of a muddled timeline, overly long bellyaching whinge about society from a, hopefully imaginary, narcissist who has a streak of sadism a mile wide. I despised the main character and she despised everything and everyone around her – even those who took her in as a child and protected and cared for her as an adult.
So let’s get to the structure of the book. I did find myself lost at times and wondering if we were pre-prison, post-prison or in prison, and in turn, how many bodies we'd accumulated as the count went up and down accordingly, but if you’re reading this book and wait a while, it all becomes clear eventually. I’m not sure that’s high praise, but Bella Mackie seems to be selling books, so it can’t hurt her either. This review seems to be very scathing, but remember, I’ve really only criticised the imaginary protagonist, not really, yet, the author, as, surprisingly, despite the long-winded chapters, the over-long whinging and the improbable plot, I got through it and didn’t dread switching it on. Book club members found it variously long and drawn out, repetitive, improbable, faintly amusing in places and boring. As I’ve said in previous reviews, I listen to books rather than read them so I can continue with the rest of my life, and the narrator was very good, which always helps a book move forward.
The plot was ridiculous, the characters fairly rounded, although from a very biased and critical viewpoint, and at least one of the murders could never have happened as it did. A sauna door always opens outwards and is never lockable. That’s all I’ll say in case I ruin it for someone.
The book started in prison and was built around the journal which foreshadowed the plot twist and enabled the narration. This journal was wholly unnecessary and so obvious, it shouted lack of imagination from the author and lack of forethought of the protagonist. The deus ex machina plot device used to give us the final dud finale was not a shock ending. It was a clear-up to allow the 368-page book to come to an end neatly with no loose ends. There were no clues to miss, no signposts to follow to a red herring. Nothing that made my jaw drop, just a quick sigh with relief that I’d made it to the end. It was, it seems, a final tie-up chapter when Bella Mackie needed to meet her deadline.
I gave it 6/10, because it does have the elements I enjoy: a murder or two, a recognisable plotline with a start, finish and middle, and more than 10 hours listening (although, quite frankly this is a 7 hour story, tops), to get good value from my Audible credit. That said, I’m not sure anyone I know needs this eye-rolling frustration and angst in their lives, so I wouldn’t recommend it. They may never speak to me again. Sadly, the ladies of Between the Covers book club have voted never to read another Bella Mackie. Sorry Bella.
Thanks to Carol for hosting, and thank you to all the members for praising down the comments and taking the votes for me in my absence, and to Edna for calling me with the results (Thanks, Mum!). I'm sorry I missed it, it sounds like you had a laugh. x
In total, the book club score was 6/10.
Our next book is The Midnight House by Amanda Geard
It has good reviews and scores 4.2 out of 5 on Amazon
Sarah x
“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies.”- George R.R. Martin (A Dance With Dragons)
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