Overall: 🐢🐢🐢
Storyline: ★★★
Writing: ★★★.5
Characters:★★★
Enjoyment: ★★★
“Roxie was gone. The sea had swallowed her.”
The Girl on The Beach by Carol Snow
The Story:
On the surface, Sonia and Graham Starr were a glamorous couple: She, the sleek entrepreneur; he, the boyishly handsome painter with an irrepressible zest for life. They had everything money can buy and the one thing it can’t—a precious, precocious four-year-old named Roxie. But when Roxie disappears into the Pacific Ocean on a perfect August afternoon, their world crumbles around them.
Months later, Roxie’s twenty-one-year-old former nanny, plagued by guilt and confusion, returns to the Starrs’ beach house on the “American Riviera,” the rarefied stretch of land around Santa Barbara where the mountains meet the sea. Her first night back, she gazes out at the sand, only to see a child who bears a striking resemblance to Roxie. When she calls out, the child runs away.
Colleen never believed that Roxie, who was afraid of the surf, would run into the ocean on her own. Now, she is determined to get to the truth, even if it means facing her greatest fears.
Key Elements:
Thriller, Mystery, Fiction, Ocean, Family, Multiple POVs, Cold-Case, Flashbacks, Therapy, Beach house
Why This Rating?
I received an ARC in exchange for a free and honest review
One moment everything seems simple – napping, getting some work emails finished up. Then the next you hear sirens and screaming on the beach for a little girl who was swallowed by the sea.
If you’re heading to the beach this summer and are looking for something that can send a little chill down your spine, you might give this one a shot. This was a solid read; however, the start of it was so-so. I honestly had a hard time placing a timeline for the first few chapters. If you stick with it, you’re given a really strong twist that I think you’ll really enjoy. I always try to race the story with the “who dunnit?”, happy to report I got the right answer this time! However, I certainly didn’t plan on the big surprise that this story tossed at us. When one of the reveals happened, there was a healthy amount of time spent with me flipping through pages to find the clues I missed – and that’s all the hints I’ll give!
Admittedly, this story had an uphill climb since we bounce back-and-forth between present time to the past (which isn’t my favorite style of storytelling). There was definitely drifting from the story happening for me when we were tossed into the past. And the Past of Past chapters – completely lost me. And while I wasn’t a fan, the choice to write it this way really did work though and I will be the first to admit it is needed for this story. Another strong part was the way Snow used ‘show, not tell’ techniques were easily in my top favorite take-aways from the entire thing. Best one was, “It is just a few steps from the living room to the bedroom. We leave the window open. A night bird signs.” Such a simple moment but I loved this one so much! Even out of context, you can see so much of what was happening. There were a number of others, but it was such a brilliant way of letting us do the work of setting the scenes. This isn’t saying description wasn’t a great part of the story either. Snow’s way of describing everything was very well done. Scenery, interactions, events, all very good! There is a moment when there is ice cream melting on Roxie’s hands – I cannot stand that feeling or even seeing it happening – Snow writes, “It flowed … like lava.” ICK! That whole scene was showing the slow moving but dangerous liquid creeping along her hands. Thumbs up for the writing!
Our characters, now that’s were is gets a bit tricky. I felt like the conversations were good. No uncomfortable pauses or phrases. Pretty smooth interactions happening between everyone. It just felt like we were kept at an arms length for a majority of what was happening. We gain some depth for a few of them as the story progresses, so I can see where backgrounds were being shown and empathy was being created. But I think I was focused more on trying to place the When things were happening and who the people where at the different times, that I lost some of the connection moments that were being built. This was far more on me than what was probably in the story. I also never really connected with any particular character. Maybe through the “Before” chapters, there was a building investment there. I just never got a chance to really sink into those moments. I was invested in figuring out the case though!
Definitely a fun read for you guys to give a shot! Especially if you are thriller readers. While this one won’t keep you up at night with newly discovered fears. This one will have you casting a cautious gaze around while you’re out and about places. Try and see if you can figure out Roxie’s cold case. I know I got really into figuring out everything that lead up to Roxie’s final moments with the Starrs’ family. Snow’s writing is truly beautiful, I’m just biased toward the story-telling method. Fair warning, when you get finished reading, you’re going to want to flip through and find the clues like I did!
Time to get lost in the next story!
