I’ve been struggling with reading lately, finding it hard to get immersed in a story. For a few reasons:
- I’ve been picking books based on hype and I’m not that into them
- Right book, wrong time. I love the story at the end but it’s taking me way longer than usual to get sucked in because of work/scheduling/stress etc.
- I went through 20 books back to back in 4 or 5 series since early October, that were trope-y romance novels where each book was a very slight variation on theme, so by the time I got to the end they all blurred together. Hence no reviews on these books.
This was the first book in the last two weeks that clicked immediately and it was thrilling. I didn’t read the blurb, it was recommended to me some time ago and took a while to be available on Libby. The tension is great, the characters are slowly revealed and the end of the book left me feeling unsettled but not unhappy. This was the first book that I’ve read by Jennifer Hillier and I’ll definitely be picking up more.
Something to note, my copy of the e-book didn’t note any trigger warnings. Jar of Hearts has graphic descriptions of violence, sexual assault, domestic violence, PTSD and I might be missing yet another terrible thing. Hillier handles these subjects starkly, without sugar coating or minimizing how terrible they are. I was impressed with the nuance of the characters, the accuracy in describing living through trauma and what being a survivor entails.
I really liked Georgina and Kaiser, they were exceedingly well written. The story jumps around the timeline a lot, slowly filling in the gaps. It was excellent, smooth transitions between periods and characters.
For a book that dives right into some seriously twisted subject matter, I was satisfied and pleased at the end of the book. I read it before bed and none of the darkness lingered to disrupt my sleep. I think it takes real talent to tell a story this gruesome without any of it feeling gratuitous or exaggerated, while letting the reader trust there is a light at the end. I typically struggle with thrillers because I like to have everything wrapped up at the end, but I find it frustrating when it’s overly contrived or unrealistic. Jar of Hearts was a fantastic read.
