Das Kalte Herz Der Schuld (2011) - Plot & Excerpts
This was a difficult book for me to review. I wanted to love it, like five stars, crying and kissing it's shiny cover type love. It wasn't that. But it was pretty darn good. Summary: boy's girlfriend dies and he investigates the murder with her cousin. Why do I have to summarize the book? Can't you read the blurb?Characters:Audrey, meh. I didn't really get her, I should say, I didn't really relate to her. She was a well crafted and complex character but I just didn't feel it. I think that it was because she felt very clinical and detached. She talked about all her issues, she said she was angry, but somehow it didn't shine through the writing. I didn't think that she was very realistic, especially when the story was written from her perspective.Neily was very similar to Audrey, everything that I said about her, works for him too, except that I could relate to him much more. His grieving process seems much more realistic, and he was funny, in that snarky way that I love. I would date him, Carly, what's wrong with you?Carly, somehow she was the most interesting, complex, relatable character in this entire book, and she's dead. I see her grieving process, I see why she does things and how they could seem logical with what happened. And I was really sad that she was dead, I wasn't really that sad for other people in the book, but Carly I was really upset about.Those were the only characters in the book. Everyone else was a throwaway. That was a huge issue in this book, I'd have liked to know more about everyone else.Setting:Brilliant. Brighton was just creepy enough, and the culture was super cool.Plot and Writing:The writing was good, but I saw another reviewer say clinical, and I think that's perfect, something about it was this wall, something that stopped me from really getting into it, I caught myself skimming some descriptions and some boring romance scenes...bleh.The plot is what makes this book shine, so brilliant and so gripping, everything was a twist. I don't want to give anything away, but oh my, what a plot.Long story short; this book would have been five stars if other characters were more fleshed out, the main characters more relatable, and the writing more emotional, but the plot and the creepy setting saved it. A gripping, fast read, but nothing too special. The portrayal of flawed people and relationships is what made this book so awesome to read. "My grandmother used to say that flaws are God's greatest gift to humanity, because they give us the opportunity to learn from ourselves and from each other. She said they're not obstacles to perfection, merely signs and guideposts on the path we take in pursuit of it.' 'But if nobody's perfect, no matter how hard we try, then what's the point?' Harvey didn't look up; he was concentrating hard on his work. 'The universe is infinite; we'll never map its edges, yet NASA keeps on sending up spacecrafts,' he said, folding the metal precisely. 'The point is just to get a little closer.” ― Anna Jarzab, All Unquiet Things
What do You think about Das Kalte Herz Der Schuld (2011)?
Surprisingly great! I think I'll be reading more books about mysterious deaths. It fascinates me.
—Natty
A good, fairly complex read, with some relevency to todays High school life.
—shosho
It was a decent book but I didn't like it in the long run.
—THEObsessiveReader
