Title: The Ghost Writer
Author: Alessandra Torre
Series: No
Genre: Romance, Mystery/Thriller
Page Count: 310
Publisher:
Type of Book: Paperback, library loan
Rated: 4/5 stars
Review Word Count: 1,000
Notes: Why are all mystery/thriller books I read depressing?
The Ghost Writer took me out of my comfort zone and into a place of depression, words, and cows giving birth. It was a story initally of cancer, but there was a lot of other things thrown into the mix too. I’m honestly not sure how to write this review without giving away a lot of spoilers, but I will go ahead with the warnings first before you decide based on the cover that the book might be what your interested in.
WARNINGS: main character has caner, main character is OCD (at least, it read that way to me), trigger for little girls being raped by a trusted man/family member, triggers for on point representation of cancer, light swearing, detailed scene of a cow giving birth (if that’s a troubling thing for you to read), it will rip your heart out and shatter it to pieces kind of book
This book took my heart and stomped on it. It’s a good book, the characters are very lifelike, and I *adore* novels being written inside of a novel! I loved the main character, Helena, though I hated the ending of the book so much that I wanted to fling it across the room because it wasn’t fair how things ended. This book is an emotional roller coaster ride! There was so much going on, and I was shocked when I finished this book in three hours!
The reason I give it 4/5 stars is because of the trigger warnings above. This book hits close to home in a few scenes towards the end that made me near tears. It’s a dark topic, not just of the cancer, but of the story that Helena has to tell about her family living the perfect lie.
She seems quite oblivious to everything about her family, but then she’s got her own issues to deal with, and she doesn’t know to look for things like that either until it’s far too late.
Helena, the main character, is a fire-cracker. She is strong willed, passionate about her books and not much else, and loves solitude best of all. But in the last few months as the cancer progresses, she admits that she needs help in finishing her book before she dies. I had a lot of issues with this book, but the ending was the absolute most depressing ending I’ve read in a while.
My favorite scene out of the whole book is probably the scene of the cow giving birth, if you couldn’t tell. Living out in the country and seeing cows all the time, and once having a cow as a pet, that kind of thing makes for awesome reading in a book. Not sure how other people would feel about it, which is why it’s included in the triggers.
Closing this review up, because it’s at two pages now, and I still have more reviews and things to do, so I’m leaving this at 4.5/5 stars! Wonderful novel though very emotional.
Until next time,
Pass Me That Book.
Pass Me That Book 