Pieces of Her

I always enjoy Karin Slaughter books and this is why I pre-ordered this book. I don’t know where the real Karin Slaughter went but this is just not up to her usual standards. The characters, except for the father, are extremely unlikeable. Read half—then started speed reading until I finally gave up. There are too many GOOD books out there to spend time trying to read one you don’t care what happens to the characters!

I will start by saying that I love this author and have read everything she has published. I can't get enough of her Grant County / Will Trent series and have also read and mostly enjoyed her stand alone books. This one just wasn't what I expected and didn't even read like the author's style to me. While it's well written and has a good story, the characters are really tough to care about. What happened to flawed but kick-ass female character's? There wasn't one redeemable one for me.  Andrea is truly the worst character I have come across in a KS book. She is weak and immature and is best at crying, wailing and stuttering when she is not frozen and blank. The chapters without her were significantly more tolerable than those with her. She is an incredibly immature and helpless 31 year old - more like a sullen, unpleasant, dim witted teenager. I am surprised that someone like Laura would have raised such an irritating, useless human being. And I am amazed she was able to bumble and stumble her way through her investigation without curling into a ball and blowing the whole thing by page 30. Paula was an equally abhorrent human being - angry, cruel, disgusting and hateful. The epilogue from Laura's perspective felt like a completely different character than the one in the flashbacks - she somehow regressed in that final scene, coming across as a shallow, one dimensional twit who needed a revelatory moment of closure after 30 years. It was pretty hard to get through this book since it is so character driven and I couldn't stand most of the characters. I finished it because I love the author but I am pretty disappointed. I guess I will continue to hope for the next Trent book in 2019 and forget I read this one when it is over. 5 stars for writing but 2 for making such an unlikeable, pathetic main character and mostly intolerable supporting cast.

I am a huge fan of Karin Slaughter's books, but when I read the following "Andy backed out of the space and followed the signs toward UT-Austin. The sprawling campus took up forty acres of prime real estate. There was a medical school, and hospital, a law school, all kinds of liberal arts programs and, despite not having its own football team, countless Texas Longhorn flags and bumper stickers" I'm going to give Ms. Slaughter the benefit of the doubt and believe that it is the absolutely clueless, gormless, totally inept protagonist of the novel that didn't know UT-Austin is the University of Texas, and yes, it does have a football team (recent performances notwithstanding). I could not stand the Andy character, and while her total ineptitude might have been believable in a 20 or 21 year old, it was beyond irritating in a 31 year old. This is someone who is supposed to have survived the hard life in NYC for six years and worked as a 911 dispatcher for a year? She is not the child her mother deserved.

I've read all of Karin Slaughter's books. After this one, however, I will no longer automatically purchase a new Slaughter book. The book has a promising premise and a good plot. In the past, the author has created excellent and strong female characters; in this one, the two main female characters are inarticulate, subservient and whiny. Totally turned me off.

This book was totally exhausting to read, the only good thing is I read it quick on a rainy day. The main character was a joke, could not relate to her at all. So that was a big turn off. It’s like after Gone girl, every writer feels they have to write their own version. And the movie rights have already been sold, unbelievable. Her other books are so much better then this. Please go back to Will. I forgave you for killing Jeffery, but this book , no thanks.

I've read all of Karin Slaughter's books and, until now, loved each one. I was shocked by the unlikable main characters and the messy timelines. To me, every book needs at least one character I can root for or at least feel concerned about. This book didn't have one. The ending felt very truncated. I pre-ordered the book and had looked forward to it for a long time. What a disappointment.

I cannot believe Karin Slaughter wrote this horrible, poorly thought out book. The main character, Andy, is so immature you wouldn't believe she's 31. She acts like a teenager. She constantly is stumped at what to say and just stammers like a moron. Also whoever proof read the book missed quite a few errors, there's even a section where Andrea "Andy" is referred to as a he. I just hope her next book doesn't involve these characters as I wouldn't waste my time reading it. So disappointing from one of my favorite authors.

This book jumps right into action: Andrea is having lunch with her mom (Laura), discussing her life choices (31 years old, still lives with mom, doesn't have much of a career or a personal life) when chaos erupts and her life is forever changed. The first third of the book is very tense, Andrea finds herself on the run and trying to figure out who her mother really is.Then the time flips to 1986 and Laura's life takes shape. I admit that it really stalled the momentum at first when it went back in time, but eventually those chapters were just as tense as the present day ones. So it just dragged in the middle a little.After that first time jump the chapters alternated between 1986 and present day. Laura's life is explained as Andrea discovers more of it on her own. The last part of the book more than makes up for it dragging in the middle, and Andrea finds out how far her mother will go (and has gone) to protect her.I'm glad it was revealed at the end what Laura said to Paula in the motel room as I really wanted to know. So petty but I mentally high-fived Laura anyway!

Really disappointed with this book. Didn’t like the characters, thought the daughter was too weak to be believable in the first few chapters, found the premise of the story ludicrous. The perils of pre-ordering - next time I will make sure I can read the beginning before purchasing. Bring back Grant County and Will Trent!

Being a huge Karin Slaughter fan, I can’t wait for her new book so had this book on pre-order. I normally can’t put her books down but after reading a few chapters of this, I was so disappointed. I actually had to force myself to pick it up and continue. I found it quite difficult to keep track of the two time frames, I didn’t warm to the characters and found it hard to keep interested. Having read all of Karin’s books, normally I don’t want her books to finish as I know I’m going to have to wait a while for her next one. However, this was a first for me as I was actually glad to reach the end.

Absolute rubbish, so disappointed as I was really looking forward to reading her next book. To be fair, I kept trying, picking it up and putting it down, leaving it and then going back to it, before giving up altogether. The characters are simply unbelievable, the storyline even more unbelievable, this does not warrant purchasing. I am going to take some convincing to buy her next book, unless it is aother Will Trent novel!!!

I was so irritated by the lead character that I almost gave up but continued in the hope it would get better, it didn't! I wouldn't bother with this book, not up to her usual standards.

i really had to force myself to put the book down. it is anouther great stand alone. it had a enough intrigue to keep you reading. only not five stars because i found the chapters a bit long and would have prefered the back story to have been told in shorter pieces as it took away from the current story.bur excellent as usual.