ARC Book Review: Web of Secrets

The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins

Publication Date: October 10, 2024

Summary from NetGalley:

An isolated Scottish island, accessible to the mainland only twelve hours a day. A famous (some might say infamous) artist whose notoriously unfaithful husband disappeared after visiting her twenty years ago. A present-day discovery that intimately connects three people and unveils a web of secrets and lies.

Welcome to Eris: an island with only one house, one inhabitant, one way out. Unreachable from the Scottish mainland for twelve hours each day.

Once home to Vanessa: A famous artist whose notoriously unfaithful husband disappeared twenty years ago.

Now home to Grace: A solitary creature of the tides, content in her own isolation.

But when a shocking discovery is made in an art gallery far away in London, a visitor comes calling.

And the secrets of Eris threaten to emerge….

ARC provided by Mariner Books via NetGalley for an honest review.

Confession:

While I did find this to be a somewhat compelling read, mostly because of the beautiful writing, I found it very much lacking in suspense and mystery. The characters for the most part also did not feel fleshed out, nor were they very likable. I also hated the ending, but I will get to that in a minute.

The story is told through three characters. Grace and Becker tell the story in the present, with some flashbacks from Grace’s point of view. Vanessa’s story is told through small excerpts from her journals and letters. All three of these storylines wove together to create a many layered narrative that contained many secrets that were slowly revealed over the course of the book. Unfortunately there were no big surprises or twists in the narrative.

I did very much like Becker, his passion for Vanessa’s art was personal and believable. I would have liked more time with him and his wife and their complicated relationship with his boss, but that was a story that didn’t really add to the main plot, so I’m not sure why it was included at all. Becker really wanted to be kind and understanding with Grace, but she made it so hard for him to do that.

Grace and Vanessa have such a toxic friendship that I am surprised that they kept it up for as long as they did. Grace really wasn’t a very likable person, she had a lot of anger, some deserved, but much was just about who she was as a person. As a doctor she probably didn’t have much of a bedside manner, but we didn’t see much of that part of her life. She is also controlling and manipulative, especially with Vanessa, which really made it hard to sympathize with her character.

The writing was absolutely the best part of this story. It was so atmospheric, especially in its descriptions of Eris Island. The way the story was layered throughout the different narratives was also very well done. But the pacing was pretty slow throughout most of the book which made it a bit of a slog to get through. I am also not a fan of open endings to stories, but I can be ok if there is some closure. This story just ended with so many questions left unanswered that it really turned me off to the whole book. The build up to the ending was done well, even though it didn’t really end.

If you like very slow moving mysteries that are beautifully written and have a bit of a gothic feel, then this might be a book that will work for you. Also if you loved this author’s other works, then certainly give this one a try.