Book Review #3: Anna 0 2/5
Fiction falling within Psychological Thriller/Suspense Genre. Themes of sleep disorders, childhood neglect and abuse.
ANNA O HASN’T OPENED HER EYES FOR FOUR YEARS
Not since the night she was found in a deep sleep by the bodies of her best friends, suspected of a chilling double murder.
For Doctor Benedict Prince, a forensic psychologist on London’s Harley Street, waking Anna O could be career-defining. As an expert in sleep, he knows all about the darkest chambers of the mind; the secrets that lie buried in the subconscious.
As he begins Anna O’s treatment – studying his patient’s dreams, combing her memories, visiting the site where the horrors played out – he pulls on the thread of a much deeper, darker mystery.
Awakening Anna O isn’t the end of the story, it’s just the beginning.
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I used to love the thriller/suspense genre- in fact, if nobody died in a book, I wasn’t interested in reading it. It’s been many years since I’ve enjoyed that type of book, I think the last one may have been the Guestlist from Lucy Foley in 2020 (I quite liked it but her style is very formulaic so once you have read one, you have pretty much read them all).
I was hoping this would be the thriller/murder mystery that would pull me out of my genre slump. It’s a catchy blurb but unfortunately it didn’t deliver.
So I’m still on the hunt… if anyone has any recommendations, please please share them!
The Story
The story unfolds through the eyes of our protagonist, Doctor Benedict Prince (“Ben”). Ben is a typical English gentleman, a little bit scruffy in a charming sort of way. Probably seems at ease in most social situations and likely wears blazers with elbow patches (think Hugh Grant in his Nottinghill Days). He’s a forensic psychologist, specialising in sleep disorders working at the Abbey in Harley Street, a very well known establishment treating only the elite. Ben is has a young daughter named Kitty who of course he calls KitKat, much to her mother’s annoyance. Kitty’s mother, Clara and Ben have a strained relationship- they are divorced but Ben wants nothing more than to get back together it seems. It’s unclear what Clara wants, she features quite randomly in some places and there were better ways to make her and Kitty’s storyline a bit more cohesive.
One night Ben gets a call from his mentor and boss Professor Bloom. The famous Anna O case has been assigned to him. Everyone knows Anna O. The beautiful wealthy young entrepreneur who seemingly killed her two best friends and then fell into a deep sleep (and therefore not able to be prosecuted). The Ministry of Justice want Ben to help wake her up so that she can have her day in court.
This could be the moment of his career- fame and glory will follow and of course Kitty and Clara will come running back to him (or at least that’s how he sees it). Ben takes the case and delves into Anna’s world.
He meets her family and acquaintances in an attempt to find out who the real Anna O is. Like most well connected socialites and entrepreneurs, her childhood was full of neglect and her friendships based on false pretences. She was deeply troubled and it seemed to get worse just before the murders. Everyone in her life, from her parents to her business partners (the victims) kept secrets and the night of the murders may be the key to unlocking them all…
As Ben learns more about Anna, someone also begins to take an interest in him. Following him and posting about him on an Anna O fan blog. It all gets very suspicious and before long, Ben finds himself in danger, with potentially only Sleeping Beauty herself as an ally…. (or persecutor??).
The Writing Style
Mostly a first person narrator style. Very easy to read, not overly descriptive with short and snappy chapters. The author isn’t out for the Booker Prize and he knows it. The first quarter of the book kept me engaged whilst I waited for the inevitable twist (although this engagement was fairly short lived and I’ll admit that I skim read the last few chapters).
The Good Bits
Not much I am afraid. The idea was decent and the first few chapters were pacey with well developed characters and scene setting. I was intrigued for almost the first half and then things spiralled down from there.
Any Negatives?
Hmmm, a few! What started off as a fast-paced suspenseful thriller got completed mangled via an almost nonsensical, one too many characters and twists plot line. I know that this genre needs to keep the audience guessing, but the worst way to do it is to throw in pointless characters and then tie it up with a weak connection so it “kind of” works.
Just over half way in and I wanted it to be over. We got stuck in the weeds of a lot of psychology theory (likely in an attempt to prove that the author did some research) - but it was too much and not required to advance the story.
The Final Twist came together in a very clumsy manner. It was such a stretch and major coincidence. It’s annoying because it wasn’t a totally awful premise but poorly executed. I recall trying to explain the plot to my husband and I lost him pretty quickly.
Also, this may sound picky - whilst I liked the easy writing style, some sentences and character names were just LAZY and I have definitely read a version of them before. Ben’s daughter Kitty and her nickname KitKat just irritated me. Kitty is already the diminutive name for Katherine, we just don’t need KitKat… It just felt inauthentic and lifted from some average young adult novel.
In Summary
It had potential and but didn’t live up to the hype for me. Incoherent and long winded plot combined with too much “research detail” and generic writing. A clear example where better editing and finetuning was needed. A great thriller doesn’t need to be so complicated that the readers forget the original story. I wish more authors understood that.
If the thriller/murder mystery genre is your bag, then you still might be tempted to read it- if so, I’d really recommend rather borrowing than buying.
L
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