Review: Don't Say A Word by Jennifer Jaynes
Publication Date: May 3, 2016
Synopsis:
Allie has always been surrounded by death. Now, a mother, she worries that death will one day return to haunt her and the small family she's built for herself.
When twins, Zoe and Carrie, join the family as foster children after their parents were brutally murdered, Allie is put to the test. As she struggles to maintain her sanity, everything around her becomes worse.
Can she keep everything she's built for herself?
Thoughts:
This is the third book of Jennifer's that I've reviewed on this blog. In fact, she was one of the first authors whom I reviewed. If you want to check out my previous reviews of her book, Never Smile at Strangers and Ugly Young Thing, you can look back at my reviews from January and February of 2015, or just click on the titles to be directed to my reviews. Once again, this is a book in a companion series. You don't need to read the first two books to read this, but I highly recommend that you do. The reading experience will be much more enjoyable.
Just like I did with her other works, I flew through this book at such a rapid pace. I read the first 3 or 4 chapters on Tuesday, and then read the rest of it on Thursday. It took me two sittings on Thursday to complete the book, with a nap and dinner break in between which still didn't take my mind off the plot.
Jennifer has always done a great job with writings stories that grip me and keep me interested right from the beginning. Her plots are intriguing and always make me wonder about who the killer is. More often than not, I end up being surprised when the killer is revealed, kicking myself for not picking up on the clues earlier. Once again, she has managed to surprise me when it was time for the reveal in this book.
I believe that this is the shortest of her three books in the Strangers series, though the length did little to take away from how invested I was in the story and how compelling the plot was. Despite the shortness, I didn't think that the timeline was too jumbled or rushed. Everything played out very nicely, falling into place at a perfect pace. I found myself satisfied at the end of the book, both with the reveal of the killer and how everything wrapped up with the book.
The only complaint I have is one that I voiced in my review of her first book, which is that I sometimes have trouble telling the characters' voices apart due to how similar they can be. There are two voices that are very distinct, but other than that, I did have some trouble with the other voices. However, that didn't affect my reading experience. It was simply something that I noticed while I was reading, which is the only reason why I couldn't give this a full 5 star rating.
As always, I'm left looking forward to Jennifer's next work. This book isn't even out yet and I find myself wanting to read more of Jennifer's work. I can't wait to see what else she has in store for us as readers and if the Strangers series will continue beyond its current point. I will gladly read and support anything else that Jennifer puts out and I'm excited to see what she'll surprise me with next.
Character(s):
I like Allie. While there is very little that I can say without spoiling the book, I can say that I liked how strong she was throughout the book, despite how difficult things were for her at times. I know it couldn't have been easy for her, and I'm proud of the way she handled things.
Sammy is such a little sweetheart. His voice was probably the most distinct out of all the ones I read, but that's also because he's a child. I hope that great things are in store for this kid. And if Jennifer writes another book in this series, I'd love to see him make another appearance.
Carrie & Zoe, the twins, have been through so much. Again, I can't really say anything about them without spoiling the book. I just wanted to say that I was intrigued by them the entire time and found them to be so interesting.
Overall:
4.5 stars. I'd recommend this if you've read Jennifer's previous work. It's another great installment in her series. If you haven't read any of her work before, I still think it's a great read and something you should pick up if you're interested.
Acknowledgements:
Thank you to NetGalley for hosting this on your site. Thank you also to Jennifer Jaynes and Ashley Previte for approving my request to read this in exchange for an honest review.
