Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Release Date: February 16th, 2017
295 Pages
Synopsis: What if the person you love most in the world was in terrible danger…because of you?
Three years ago, Toni’s five-year-old daughter Evie disappeared after leaving school. The police have never been able to find her. There were no witnesses, no CCTV, no trace.
But Toni believes her daughter is still alive. And as she begins to silently piece together her memories, the full story of the past begins to reveal itself, and a devastating truth.
Toni’s mind is trapped in a world of silence, her only chance to save herself is to manage the impossible. She must find a way to make herself heard. She must find her daughter.
Blink is another much talked about book and while I personally didn’t feel like it quite lived up to the hype, I still thought it was a pretty solid thriller. Part of the problem was that I couldn’t really connect with any of the characters and worse, I was really annoyed with Toni until the latter half of the story, when she somewhat redeemed herself in my eyes. She’s coping with the death of her soldier husband, by abusing a medication of his that she still has refills on. I can emphasize with her need to try to manage her depression and anxiety. What I didn’t like was that because she chose to self-medicate, her daughter’s safety was put in jeopardy multiple times and that was well before her disappearance. And as far as the other characters, none of them come across particularly well, and the majority of them were one-dimensional. The upside of this, is that there’s no end of possible suspects. The suspense is constant and is cleverly built up in part by the chapters alternating between “Three Years Earlier” and “Present Day”. You see with mounting dread, the events leading up to Evie’s kidnapping. Misdirection is the central theme of this book, and not just in regards to who the actual kidnapper is. This is one of those books that by the time you’ve reached the end you feel as though you have whiplash. I have to be honest and say that I did guess who the main villain was going to turn out to be, before I was halfway through the book, but that didn’t lessen my enjoyment any. Although I had my issues with characters, with its clever storyline and liberal use of smoke and mirrors, Blink will keep you glued to its pages right up until the very end.
Megan @ bookslayerReads said:
Ooh, nice review! I don’t know how I feel about not being able to connect with the characters… but if it’ll still keep me glued to the pages, I think I can handle it! 😉
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
Thanks Megan! I may have just been in the wrong mood for reading about dodgy characters, but even so, I couldn’t tear myself away!💁🏻
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vinnieh said:
I was riveted reading your review.
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
Wow! Thanks Vinnie!🤗
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vinnieh said:
I really loved reading what you said.
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
I’m so glad. I was wrote this while in the midst of a migraine, so I’m especially glad that it read well.😊
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vinnieh said:
Well double points there for braving the migraine and still writing in style.
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
Thanks Vinnie.💁🏻❤️
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vinnieh said:
Always happy to comment on your content Kim.
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
And it’s always gracefully appreciated.🤗
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vinnieh said:
You’re so kind.
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thesarahdoughty said:
Oh, interesting.
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Ana said:
Great review, I totally agree with you, especially about Toni. I didn’t buy her excuse for not taking proper drugs. She knew she was putting her child in danger.
I did not guess who the villain was, not by a long shot. In fact, I still don’t know where the heck that came from.
If you are curious you can find my review here: https://anaslair.wordpress.com/2017/02/03/blink/
Take care!
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
I do remember reading your review, but I didn’t have time to comment at the time Ana. Sorry about that. Anyway, I think I was successful at guessing the villain because they weren’t as obvious as some of the other suspects. With all the red herrings thrown in I had it in the back of my head that this person would be the ultimate one.💁🏻
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Ana said:
That makes sense. I do find that often times it’s who you least expect!
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Jen said:
This sounds addicting and page turning! I’ll pass this rec along to my mystery loving friends, thanks Kim!
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
My pleasure Jen!💁🏻
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Felicia Denise said:
Great review! 😉
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
Thanks Felicia!💁🏻
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Jay said:
Sounds like one for a night of insomnia!
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
Most definitely!
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Lashaan and Trang (Bookidote) said:
“use of smoke and mirrors” OHHHW How come I never thought about using that beautiful sequence of words before?! Don’t be surprised if I ever end up using in my review soon enough! 😀 😀 Great review though. Sucks you couldn’t connect with the characters, but glad you were able to enjoy it nonetheless!
– Lashaan
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
To be honest Lashaan, I recently read a book that had that phrase so I was about to type “twists and turns”, and “smoke and mirrors” just sounded so much better. Feel free to use it!💁🏻
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Lashaan and Trang (Bookidote) said:
One thing’s for sure, you made an excellent decision! 😀
– Lashaan
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
Why thank you very much!💁🏻
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Renee said:
This is a very good review! I thought you gave some great insights into the characters and plot and I have to say I think I’d have a problem with what the mother was doing as well
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
Thank you so much Renee! Yep. It drives me a little crazy when you have a mother in a story who’s recklessly endangering her child, even if she is grieving.😕
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beetleypete said:
That cover reminds me of the film ‘Don’t look now’. If you have never seen it, I really recommend it. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069995/
Best wishes, Pete.
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
Ooh! I don’t think I’ve seen that, but I love the cast and anything by Dapne du Maurier, so I’m going to have to check that out.
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beetleypete said:
I think you will love it. Art, Venice, great cast, and some real scares too!
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Carrie said:
Thought about grabbing this one but for some reason my shelf never seems to go down since every time I turn one in I seem to get another invite so I keep trying not to request. 😦
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
Same problem here Carrie.😕
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Diana said:
Great review and I agree with you about Toni’s character.I wasn’t able to guess the villain.I didn’t even know who was in the comma until the reveal.I was discussing the book with a friend over the weekend and that’s when I realized that the blurb was misleading hence my assumption about the coma narrator .
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
The identity of the person in the coma was the big shocker for me Diana! Didn’t see that one coming at all.
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lostartofreadingblog said:
I used to primarily read thrillers, and now I can’t remember the last time I picked one up, the more reviews I am seeing I am starting to miss them and think it’s time I start going back to my comfort zone.
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
Thrillers are definitely one of my favorite genres. Along with: horror, mystery, fantasy, urban fantasy, historical fiction, anything YA…Sheesh! I’m just gonna stop now!😁
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lostartofreadingblog said:
I find it faster to list what genres I don’t like haha. But I’ll pretty much try anything once from a good recommendation.
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
Same here!😊
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