These Shallow Graves
The New York Times bestseller from the acclaimed author of A Northern Light, Revolution, Stepsister, and Poisoned. This thrilling mystery is perfect for fans of The Cellar and Suicide Notes from Beautiful Girls. It's a story of dark secrets, dirty truths, and the lengths to which people will go for love and revenge. Jo Montfort is beautiful and rich, and soon--like all the girls in her class--she'll graduate from finishing school and be married off to a wealthy bachelor. Which is the last thing she wants. Jo dreams of becoming a writer--a newspaper reporter. Wild aspirations aside, Jo's life seems perfect until tragedy strikes: her father is found dead. The story is that Charles Montfort shot himself while cleaning his revolver, but the more Jo hears about her father's death, the more something feels wrong. And then she meets Eddie--a young, smart, infuriatingly handsome reporter at her father's newspaper--and it becomes all too clear how much she stands to lose if she keeps searching for the truth. But now it might be too late to stop. The past never stays buried forever. Life is dirtier than Jo Montfort could ever have imagined, and this time the truth is the dirtiest part of all. Praise for These Shallow Graves
★ "Action-packed chapters propel this compelling mystery...[and] the injustices Donelly highlights remain all too relevant."--Publishers Weekly, Starred Review "Lovely prose, historical intrigue, unique characters and setting. I devoured this book!" --Ruta Sepetys, New York Times bestselling author of Between Shades of Gray and Salt to the Sea "A splendidly hair-raising tour of the brightest and darkest corners of Victorian New York." --Elizabeth Wein, New York Times bestselling author of Code Name Verity and Black Dove, White Raven "A fast-paced Gilded Age crime thriller." --Julie Berry, award-winning author of All the Truth That's in Me
★ "Action-packed chapters propel this compelling mystery...[and] the injustices Donelly highlights remain all too relevant."--Publishers Weekly, Starred Review "Lovely prose, historical intrigue, unique characters and setting. I devoured this book!" --Ruta Sepetys, New York Times bestselling author of Between Shades of Gray and Salt to the Sea "A splendidly hair-raising tour of the brightest and darkest corners of Victorian New York." --Elizabeth Wein, New York Times bestselling author of Code Name Verity and Black Dove, White Raven "A fast-paced Gilded Age crime thriller." --Julie Berry, award-winning author of All the Truth That's in Me
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Community Reviews
There were a lot of things in this book that got on my nerves. Jo, for one, can be pretty irritating sometimes, but in retrospect, those were her flaws, and I'm okay with that. Still, there were some conclusions that both she and Eddie had made during the course of this mystery that made no sense to me. Even I as a newbie to mystery could see the problem. Why couldn't they? But other than those aspects, this book was not bad. I love Eddie for his passion and courage. I'm really glad that he managed to reach his goal, and that the bad life he once lived was behind him forevermore. To know that he had left Jo behind makes me understand that he's a person who respects himself a lot. That's a good man. It would have been extremely stupid if he was one who let love control his choices. As for Jo, the author has written her really well as someone who was stuck between both worlds. Her innocence and immaturity shone through, but she made it up for all of that by knowing what was the right thing to do, and went through with it. Character development for her was great.
Overall an okay book. 1.5 stars down because there were moments in time when I actually felt like putting the book down, plus the thing about it being a little too draggy for my taste.
Overall an okay book. 1.5 stars down because there were moments in time when I actually felt like putting the book down, plus the thing about it being a little too draggy for my taste.
I was disappointed by this story. It had an interesting premise and promised to be very atmospheric. It also had a quote on the front from another author I'd read and enjoyed (Ruta Sepetys). And I did have fun! It was a cloak-and-dagger, romantic Victorian romp.My big problems with it were that it took longer for me to finish than I wanted, so it felt like it dragged on, and it was terribly predictable.
I just had this problem with another book and it really frustrates me, because I'm normally no good at predicting anything in books. I'm clumsily and happily in the dark if a story is done well. I saw every one of the twists coming except for one, maybe. And the main character saw none of them coming. I would have appreciated if she had seen a couple of the smaller ones coming, but when she didn't, she just felt like an idiot, to be frank. There were times when the main character was sharp and insightful and other times where I just wanted to grab her hand and go, "Oh honey." Alas, it wasn't an endearing trait.
Also, as time went on, the story smacked a little too much of Titanic for me. There was a scene that was practically word for word out of Titanic that I already mentioned as I was reading, but it just got to the point where it all became too ho-hum.
Cool idea, not good enough execution for me. I still had fun, but could have had more. Not too bad for literally just browsing in the library and pulling things off the shelf willy-nilly.
I just had this problem with another book and it really frustrates me, because I'm normally no good at predicting anything in books. I'm clumsily and happily in the dark if a story is done well. I saw every one of the twists coming except for one, maybe. And the main character saw none of them coming. I would have appreciated if she had seen a couple of the smaller ones coming, but when she didn't, she just felt like an idiot, to be frank. There were times when the main character was sharp and insightful and other times where I just wanted to grab her hand and go, "Oh honey." Alas, it wasn't an endearing trait.
Also, as time went on, the story smacked a little too much of Titanic for me. There was a scene that was practically word for word out of Titanic that I already mentioned as I was reading, but it just got to the point where it all became too ho-hum.
Cool idea, not good enough execution for me. I still had fun, but could have had more. Not too bad for literally just browsing in the library and pulling things off the shelf willy-nilly.
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