The Family Remains

Holy closure to the first book!

Honestly if I hadn't read the first book and felt some commitment to the characters I don't think I would have enjoyed this book. There were a lot of aspects that felt too unrealistic, such as the small town detective piecing things together from seemingly nothing or knowing every time someone is lying, movement of characters on fake documents they had been questioned about. It felt a bit far fetched.

I did enjoy learning about Racheal and in my own cluelessness/ forgetting people's names not realizing how she tied into everyone else until far later in the book. I also enjoyed Henry's twisted first perspective chapters, a broken person who puts you on edge because you never quite know what he's going to do. I found him quite gripping and engaging.

I do feel like the book dragged at the end trying to fit all the pieces of closure in, jumping from one aspect to another providing answers to wrap everything up.

I did really enjoy the story and appreciated the closure but, as I mentioned, I was already invested in the characters from book one and jumped right from finishing it into the second book. I recognize that if more time passed between reading or if I hadn't read the first book I don't think I would have enjoyed it.