Book Review: After All I’ve Done by Mina Hardy

WTAF?!

This was an insane thriller. I figured out half of the big revelations early on, but oh my great and glorious God, I didn’t see the other half coming from a mile away… Normally that would be a great thing, but here it felt overdone. This was the mother of all reveals – literally. And it actually made me laugh out loud. Also literally.

The story is an entertaining, if not altogether original, one. Admittedly, it felt a lot longer than it actually was. There was never a point where I thought about stopping, but there were several where it felt like the parade of horribles heaped on her characters was simply overwhelming the story. But I knew something was coming, and I was invested enough to see what that something would look like.

The writing was enjoyable throughout, the characters were generally detestable in the way of such domestic thrillers, and the secrets were pretty predictable – but it was an engaging read for all that. Then Things Started Being Revealed (yes, it deserves caps) and the book went from zero to sixty in about a half a second.

Personally, I found the ending a bit ridiculous. But I still read all the way through, and would read another from Mina Hardy. She did an admirable job getting me to fall into a story full of people that weren’t very likeable, and I suspect it’s because she’d made them so believable. For all their failures and faults and frailties, the characters seemed real and genuine in their broken selfishness. It made the story resonant even (especially?) when it was not pleasant. It made for a taut read and provided more than adequate cover for the moments that felt overdone.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my obligation – free review copy.