Twisty!
I've mentioned before my love of a blue front cover (yes, that is my favourite colour) but I was drawn to this cover not just for the blue, but for EVERYTHING else it showed. I think the yellow text makes a great contrast to the blue and, whilst it gave me summer vibes, I wasn't here for that but, instead, the title, the teases and the supporting quotes and the image of the ship.
Returning to the title - there's always something about a limited time frame in a story that's appealing. Plus, the fact that it's set on a ship - a locked room style setting - had me excited to read it too...more on this below. Then, the key word killer! All of my perfect ingredients for a good read...
This review does not contain specific spoilers:
When I settled down to begin Five Nights, I found it easily drawing me in via the Prologue and I was curious as to what was going to happen. Many a hint of tension and past issues were given and this compelled me to read on.
On reaching Day One, the initial descriptions of the ship, the characters and more hints of things to come were effective. Keenly, I kept going and was not disappointed.
By Chapter 7, the first flashback is shown. In previous chapters, the author has provided some back story, but this flashback chapter works effectively to show events from the perspective of another character. Throughout, these flashback chapters add further depth to the main story whilst adding further mystery, at times, whilst also filling in some answers at others. I really enjoy a dual time frame and I think the story overall was strengthened by the inclusion of these chapters.
The story is only told from the perspective of Emily - with whom the reader boards the boat with, and the character in the flashback scenes. I think this works well to allow these two characters to only provide information to the reader that they want to share at the time. I will not delve deeper into this so not to create any spoilers. I also think that if the narrative had been opened up to further characters, then this would have revealed too much, or perhaps even become confusing as there are A LOT of characters. However, the Wolf deals with this well making each distinct and I did not have any issues remembering who was who throughout.
As I mentioned in my opening here, I think the main tale being set on a ship is brilliant. There are points at which Emily notes how far from land, no land in sight, no turning back etc. This, coupled with a storm later in the story, all adds to the claustrophobia that the author has created with the ship being the main setting.
The descriptions that kept me reading at the start continue throughout. You can tell that the author has experience of travel (mentioned in About the Author at the end) and the way in which the ship, its details and the flashback setting location is portrayed is effective throughout. There isn't too much description, but just the right amount to effectively accompany the action. There is also the right amount of dialogue throughout too accompanied, suitably, with the thoughts that Emily and the flashback character too.
By the halfway point, I was so puzzled...but in a good way! This is unlike me as I usually have theories or thoughts. However, this time I was just reading and enjoying...and wondering. I even Tweeted this at the time:
The more I read on, the more I became SURE that a huge twist was about to happen and I was right - sort of - as it wasn't just one twist, it was TWIST after TWIST after TWIST!
WOW!
By the end of the book, it was one of those that I had to look back through, seeing what I had missed. Very clever, very well plotted!
I really liked the ending...so much so I would've liked just one or two more chapters...even a further fast-forward in time. But, an open ending does allow you to use your own mind and I have!
I definitely recommend this book. I purchased it for 99p on Kindle and it's still on offer, or free if you have Kindle Unlimited.
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