Oooooookay. So, disclaimer: Suspense/mystery/horror/thriller? Not my preferred genre.
That being said, I try to be an open minded person when it comes to critiquing these kinds of things.
This book was okay. For the majority of it, I was bored and starting to skim. Perhaps it is because I’m very unfamiliar with suspense or thrillers, but I was more or less hoping to be uncomfortable for a majority of the novel.
I want to say 75 to 90% of this book was set up and some of it felt like we spent way more time than needed on certain scenes. I started skimming the tennis scenes. I’m actually not entirely sure how they were necessary. At first I thought maybe they were meant to show that the dad is a gambler, but actually they were just a setting for him to hang out with the gambling scene. I personally got very bored there, and wish that point had been delivered in a less distracted way.
Granted, I’m not in love with mystery or suspense, so this is probably fine. I can see how this might excite someone that loves mysteries or little details or is happy to get a little lost in some slice of life moments. Were I critiquing, I would tell my betas to get a second opinion.
As for the characters, I started to notice something that humored me as I read on. At least until the actual suspense ending, Ruby and Julian are sentient AI living in a world of nonsentient AI. Or put differently, they are the only neurodivergents living among neurotypicals. Their POVs were the only ones that felt alive or awake. Everyone else felt a bit bland. Jeanette came alive for me near the end and then the cops, but the rest felt…disconnected from the power source? It was like you could tell who the main characters were, as if Ruby and Julian had red hair in a sea of anime brown.
That being said, I had some issues with Ruby’s character in some spots, specifically near the end. She is mature and smart, sure, but there were some things that felt like divine intervention for her. Slightly unbelievable or out of the blue thoughts that helped her “solve the mysteries.”
Moving on to genre, I wasn’t entirely sure I had labeled it right for my library, which I am aware can be a reason not to genrefy a library. As I said, I felt like 90% of it wasn’t suspenseful. However, the ending did manage to come through. Perhaps that’s how suspense novels are supposed to work.
I would not recommend this to my boss at Hallmark. However;
To Weed or not to Weed:
This one gets to stay in the library. I read somewhere that Peter Abrahams is known for writing younger grade novels with children MCs who are obsessed with Sherlock Holmes. This is YA and would probably appeal to anyone that wants a more mature version of that. It’s also well-written, even if I personally didn’t care for the pacing.
Highlights, for memory sake:
Uh. Besides what I wrote above, it’s slow to get there, but I considered it as the ending unfolded, and I agree with other reviews that labeled Julian as a psychopath. Unfortunately. I kinda want to see a story with a psychopath who isn’t evil. Come on, authors who aren’t me because I already have too many characters. I believe in you.
On Writing:
This was written in multi POV, limited, past tense. The Tutor can be a useful novel for studying how the ending of a book can shine a flashlight through earlier sections of the same book. I also liked the use of switching POVs to hide the actions of another character—creating unsuspecting holes for the light to shine through as you near the end.
Lastly, joking: He’s not gay, but Ruby watched her “rainbow” get “stuck in the closet” and she said Julian was a gay name, so he could be~ lololol
Alright! I think that ends my review for this one! Fingers crossed the next book carries a character I want to date—and no, I don’t mean a romance novel. Ew.
(Have a good and take care of yourself! If you’re trying to fix your sleep schedule, try doing it in 10 minute increments! And say something kind to yourself. <3)
N. K. Valek: Author 