Sanatorium

I have mixed feelings about this book, it has it’s good moments but there is a lot of weak writing and I can’t decide whether I liked it or not. The setting in the Swiss Alps was a fantastic idea, you can tell the author knows this landscape well, the descriptions are stunning and you could almost be there yourself. The plot itself is interesting enough to have kept me reading to the end, the idea behind the Sanatorium’s history was quite chilling.

The characters though are rubbish, nobody is developed enough to get you interested in them, Elin has a lot of baggage from an event in her past and it is dragged out for two thirds of the book, maybe if it was dealt with quicker she would have become the strong character that this book needed. The rest of the characters left you thinking they could be the killer and also not the killer at the same time, they were tough to get a read on, rather wishy-washy. A lot of the issues could be down to the very short chapters, the tension will start to build and then the chapter ends and you are left to start again, so many of the chapter breaks seemed unnecessary to me.

So it all came down to the ending would it be strong enough to make me want to recommend it to others…it wasn’t half bad, the reasoning behind the murders was very good, the final scene was very intense….and I have to admit I can’t remember if it was spread across loads of chapters or not, the flow was kept up well and I got caught up in the moment.

I think the book was ok in the end, it is a debut after all. There is a sequel, I’m hoping that Elin’s past has now been dealt with and that the readers can now get to see her in her element and start to solve some interesting cases. I think if you are a big reader of crime novels then you’ll like this one, I’m just a fussy old git.

Blog review: felcherman.wordpress.com/2022/01/04/the-sanatorium-by-sarah-pearse/

Everything about this story could have been better. The characters are basic and annoying, and the story is... Yawn. I don't write bad reviews lightly, but this one deserves it. I gave it 2* simply because the actual writing was good.

Really enjoyable listen/read. 4.5 rounded up to 5 stars. Suspenseful, twisty, turny, and unpredictable. I really enjoyed the dark realities of the story and the way the author presented the characters with so many deep revelations, ones that were life altering. However, it was a bit of a challenge to suspend my disbelief enough to buy into the idea that a person could go through so many revelations in such a short time without therapeutic intervention…although we don’t really know the “ending” of the character’s journeys as this is the first in a series, so maybe some if that will pan out over time. Even with that minor “challenge” I was able to buy in enough to really enjoy the detailed character development and how well the author set the scene. Really looking forward to the next one!! I will have to thank my friend Jessa for posting about this in FB and inspiring a new read!!

Update to my review: if one is reading the book and not just listening, it sounds like the switching of the character POV can be confusing, so maybe it is a better listen than read…also, in reading another person’s review, I was reminded of just HOW much and OFTEN readers will need to suspend their disbelief to really get into this one. ESPECIALLY if you know anything about PTSD, trauma and/or law enforcement or true crime. I did find myself saying “ha! That would NEVER happen IRL” and chuckling, but I agreed to let it go and keep letting the characters and setting draw me in.