Did I enjoy this book? Not as much as I wanted to. The storyline was good but it was a bit flakey in parts that I didn’t really enjoy.

I had kind of worked out who the real culprit was early on which was a shame as I feel it could have been more groundbreaking and there were too many diversions from the real culprit. I felt that the characters could have been developed a bit more fully.

Wow wow wow, you know when you have given a book 5 stars then you read an amazing new book and start to reconsider the previous 5 star ratings well this book did just that for me! This is defo a solid 5 stars from me, brilliant down to earth realistic story line, twists and turns and gripping from the start. I can honestly say this is one of my new fav books, well done Lesley Kara!

The only thing I didn't like about this book was the way the storyline wrapped up for Kay. I understand the need for a red herring, but I just felt it was a bit of a cop out blaming her family issues on a falling out. There was no explanation for the falling out either.

A bland mystery with shoddy plotting and shoddier representation. The Rumour was an easy read, granted: I read it in just over a day but just didn't find the story plausible enough to enjoy it or invest myself in its narrative. The characters feel one-dimensional and the pacing was unbearably slow for me, feeling like nothing had really happened as far as two-thirds into the book. This is the second book of Kara's that I've found tame (this one to a higher extent, granted) so maybe her writing style just doesn't click with me. A lot of filler and some really half-hearted representation of POC and LGBT as well.

Was anyone else bothered by the fact that this was written by an English woman but was meant to take place in America? Yet there were place names like Flinstead-on-Sea, children were named Alfie and Hamish, there was a juvie center called Gray (something) Grange...

All of that points to England or at least somewhere in the UK. And it really made me feel like 1) the author had never even been to America, 2) could not be bothered picking up an atlas or a map or researching at all, and 3) really fucked with my suspension of disbelief which in turn ruined my experience of the story.

This was also one of the longest reads I’ve encountered recently. Not in terms of actual length — but in terms of just how long it took me to get through it despite a shorter page count. It DRAGGED. There wasn’t anything remotely suspenseful until about 75% or 80% through the book.

In sum: Ugh. Do not read.

Edited to add — apparently the publisher transposed this book to take place in the US? When originally it had been set in the English countryside. FAIL, publisher. Big ol’ FAIL. I would’ve enjoyed this a little more (MAYBE a 3/5 stars) if my suspension of disbelief had not been shattered every other page.

Absolutely bored me to death. Put me to sleep, literally twice, before I got to page 180.
Felt very little connection to the main character or the suburbian issues she faced.
Couldn’t even bring myself to care that she’s being targeted by a killer.
DNF’d.

Great Read

Very good storyline, kept me hooked the entire time. I loved how at different points in the story you suspected different characters and it just shows that everyone has a secret of an undesirable background. Didn't see the ending coming, it was definitely a surprise. Overall well written and the suspense was kept just right throughout.

2.5
The book has a really good plot which kept me intrigued for the first 20 chapters. But then it dragged, a lot of characters to keep tabs on. I skipped to the end and it was a satisfying ending, just a little too much fluff in between.