THE NIGHT OLIVIA FELL

THE NIGHT OLIVIA FELL

By Christina McDonald

Did she fall or was she pushed? The police believe she fell, but Abi, Olivia’s mother, is convinced there’s more to it than that. Told in alternating voices of Abi and the unfortunate Olivia, the author leads us back and forth between the present and the events leading up to the night that Olivia’s life changed dramatically.

The novel was suspenseful, and had a strong storyline for a first novel. I guessed the ending, but it was truly only a guess, as the author threw in enough teasers that I did consistently wonder if my intuition was right. Was it the boyfriend or the other boyfriend? The mysterious political figure, or the best friend? Or the surprise look-alike that Olivia meets? And really, where did Anthony come from? So many choices of potential baddies! And was she even really pushed at all?

So…a decent storyline and suspense, but how about overall thoughts? The book was adequate, but not great. The excessive use of painfully awkward similes and metaphors was a turn-off. It was if the author was constantly reaching for descriptive phrases to paint a picture for the reader. I’m all about good, strong metaphors and personification. In this case, some of the descriptions were spot on, and at other times they were cringe-worthy. Sometimes less is more. A lot less would have been much more, in this case. However, this is a debut novel, so I don’t want to judge harshly. I enjoyed the story well enough and even though it wasn’t perfectly written, it kept me interested. I would read the next thing the author writes, if only to see if she tones down the descriptive phrases. She already has a handle on the basics of good story-telling.

Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Reviewed February 2019