Scan barcode
A review by justinkhchen
Sun Damage by Sabine Durrant
3.0
3.5 stars
Slightly over-promised with its thrilling start, fortunately the remaining drama is still somewhat engaging, for the first third of Sun Damage I was completely engrossed by its summery, picturesque European setting, as well as the relentless psychological tension and mind game between all the primary characters (for once a thriller synopsis is not giving anything away, so I'll respect that and be vague in my review). When a pivotal incident finally hit, I was hunkered down and ready for this ride to fully take off... but apparently the book had other plans.
The remaining two thirds of Sun Damage was unexpectedly placid and low stake, confined to a single location when the narrative was suggesting a whirlwind cat and mouse game across Europe. Still, I found Sabine Durrant's writing to be pleasant and the character work solid, hence I was able to finish till the end without feeling like an unavoidable chore, even though the potential for it to be something more unhinged was constantly missed.
Reading Sun Damage actually mirrored my experience with The Villa by Rachel Hawkins in many ways: scenic European setting, suspenseful premise, but in actuality just slightly heightened, gossipy domestic drama in shiny packaging. While the material is objectively decent, I do feel like a victim of a bait and switch with its thriller-skewing marketing (however, if we were being meta—actually fit thematically to this novel). "Reminiscent of the works of Patricia Highsmith" does hold true, but only for the first 30%—embrace this as a decent, inoffensive mystery beach read, but a 5-stars thriller it is not.
**This ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Much appreciated!**
Slightly over-promised with its thrilling start, fortunately the remaining drama is still somewhat engaging, for the first third of Sun Damage I was completely engrossed by its summery, picturesque European setting, as well as the relentless psychological tension and mind game between all the primary characters (for once a thriller synopsis is not giving anything away, so I'll respect that and be vague in my review). When a pivotal incident finally hit, I was hunkered down and ready for this ride to fully take off... but apparently the book had other plans.
The remaining two thirds of Sun Damage was unexpectedly placid and low stake, confined to a single location when the narrative was suggesting a whirlwind cat and mouse game across Europe. Still, I found Sabine Durrant's writing to be pleasant and the character work solid, hence I was able to finish till the end without feeling like an unavoidable chore, even though the potential for it to be something more unhinged was constantly missed.
Reading Sun Damage actually mirrored my experience with The Villa by Rachel Hawkins in many ways: scenic European setting, suspenseful premise, but in actuality just slightly heightened, gossipy domestic drama in shiny packaging. While the material is objectively decent, I do feel like a victim of a bait and switch with its thriller-skewing marketing (however, if we were being meta—actually fit thematically to this novel). "Reminiscent of the works of Patricia Highsmith" does hold true, but only for the first 30%—embrace this as a decent, inoffensive mystery beach read, but a 5-stars thriller it is not.
**This ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Much appreciated!**