Cheri reviewed No Good Reason by Cari Hunter
Review of 'No Good Reason' on 'Storygraph'
5 stars
This book has been on my TBR list since before it was published. Full disclosure - I'm a friend of the author. I've known her for several years and love her sharp wit and dry, dark humor. I also love her writing voice and style and I knew that I'd enjoy this book. So why did I wait so long to read it? Easy: I have very little time to read anything with my eyeballs and I didn't want to use a text-to-speech reader for this book. Sanne and Meg sound like Cari and when I'm reading with my eyes, I hear their voices. Normally, I'm fine with text-to-speech for British English books, I even have a special voice downloaded for them but it just didn't cut it with this one. I needed to let my imagination give them voices. So it took me a very, very long time to …
This book has been on my TBR list since before it was published. Full disclosure - I'm a friend of the author. I've known her for several years and love her sharp wit and dry, dark humor. I also love her writing voice and style and I knew that I'd enjoy this book. So why did I wait so long to read it? Easy: I have very little time to read anything with my eyeballs and I didn't want to use a text-to-speech reader for this book. Sanne and Meg sound like Cari and when I'm reading with my eyes, I hear their voices. Normally, I'm fine with text-to-speech for British English books, I even have a special voice downloaded for them but it just didn't cut it with this one. I needed to let my imagination give them voices. So it took me a very, very long time to finish the book.
It was well worth the wait and I've already gotten the second in the series opened up and ready to go.
But before I go to it, I just want to share a few words about why I find Hunter's writing - and No Good Reason in particular - so engaging and good. I've seen other folks mention how real her characters are, and I agree completely. It's so important to be able to connect with the characters in a book you're reading. You have to care about them and believe that they're real to truly become engrossed in the story. But that's not it for me. I absolutely love the way Cari writes a scene. She brings it completely to life: the smells, the sounds, the colors, everything. But not in a way that the reader feels bogged down in it. Just enough to drop us there, next to Sanne or Meg and force us to experience what they're living. Not many authors whom I've read over the past many years can do this as well as Cari Hunter.
Yeah, she's my friend but a friend who wouldn't want me to say anything flattering just to help her sell a book or to make her feel better. She's got an insane amount of integrity - particularly when it comes to her writing. So if I didn't believe what I'm writing here, I wouldn't bother taking my time to do it.
But don't take my word for it. If you like gritty, dark crime stories with very human characters, download a sample. You'll know right away if it's going to be for you.