Book Review: Closer Than You Think by Taura King
Want to know if Closer Than You Think by Taura King is worth the read? Here’s my full review to help you decide
Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher/author in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own
Closer Than You Think Info
Author: Taura King
Rating: ⭐⭐
Where to buy Closer Than You Think
Closer Than You Think Summary
My vocation is death. I’m a skilled killer trained by circumstance and bloodlust. I take lives with a flick of my wrist. I never feel guilty when I do my job. In fact, I feel euphoric.
The most dangerous men in the world hire me to be even more dangerous than they are. They pay me handsomely, not knowing I’d do it for free. Not knowing I crave it. That I’d kill just as easily as I take my first breath in the morning.
I’m evil. Plain and simple.
There’s not a single thing good about me.
Except her.
And she doesn’t even know it.
But she will, soon enough.
Closer Than You Think Review
Characters (4/10)
The characters looked great on paper for the first few chapters. I felt the tension and the hunger that Silas exudes everytime he stalks Hallie and Hallie seemed like a fun character in her own right.
Hallie is a schoolteacher who loves her job but she recently went through a hard time with her ex-boyfriend being found dead from an apparent overdose situation of which she didn’t even know the man had a drug addiction causing her to not trust her own intuition.
But after a few chapters the characters fell flat for me. The actions they took or made just didn’t align with what their characteristics were supposed to be at the start of the book.
Like I said previously, Hallie is a dedicated schoolteacher, she loves her job but when everything went down with the mafia and Silas it’s like she forgot she even had a job in the first place.
I understand that when your life is in danger you forget things but once they settle down you do remember them especially when you have bills to pay. Hallie didn’t once inquire about how she was going to go to work or anything after she moved in with Silas or more like when Silas kidnapped her.
Silas’s obsession for Hallie at first was cute but towards the end it became boring due to repetition. I get it you’re obsessed with her. Can we move on now?
It’s akin to seeing your friends display intense PDA and you just want them to just get a room to not only save yourself but also the public from this cringe behaviour.
Atmosphere (5/10)
The atmosphere of this book was not immersive whatsoever of which I will get into more detail in the writing section of the review. There were too many inconsistencies that distracted me way too much and just made the book look ridiculous even in its own universe.
Writing (7/10)
I fully understand, comprehend, recognize and acknowledge that the book I received is an ARC but damn this book had a lot of inconsistencies.
The inconsistency started from the first few chapters too and from then on it got worse and worse.
First inconsistency in the book was when Hallie was masturbating and Silas is observing from the fire escape and he breaks into her house to have sex with her and then Hallie cries out Silas’s name. Also in this situation Hallie was high from wine and some drugs prescribed by the doctor.
The speed at which I was pulled out from my immersion of this book gave me whiplash because how the hell did Hallie call out Silas’s name? THEY DON’T KNOW EACH OTHER.
At first I thought okay maybe they do know each other. This could be a childhood love type of scenario and I am thinking okay okay I am digging it again BUT NO SHE REALLY DOESN’T KNOW SILAS AT ALL SO NOW WE ARE BACK TO HOW THE HELL DID YOU KNOW HIS NAME HALLIE??
Not only that Silas cums into Hallie and I am here thinking oh the stakes are higher now because there is no way Hallie won’t notice the sperm and then she would be on high alert. Things are getting fun now but no.
Hallie is dumb because she didn’t notice anything! And I know Silas didn’t clean her the night before!
There were other inconsistencies but I am willing to let it go because they were inconsequential. The one above though annoyed me to no end because of the possibilities in plot development.
The author is obviously talented in writing I don’t deny that but I think they would need more time to hone their skill in the art of toeing the balance between being descriptive and being overly descriptive to the point it irks the readers.
Because I really enjoyed the writing in the first few chapters but then all the descriptions just took the time away from the author actually moving on with the plot of the book. After the fiftieth time Silas says he is obsessed with Hallie, it loses all meaning and I just want to know what happens next.
Plot (4/10)
The plot for this book was all over the place up to the point I even forgot the original plot.
The pacing towards the end was just atrocious. It went so fast Hallie legit lost her personality and became this boring doll of a woman just waiting for Silas to save her. Where did the feisty woman go?
Not to mention, Silas’s obsession with blood didn’t make another appearance again so why even mention it in the first place?
Then we have the absurd plot of the mafia wanting Silas’s skills to kill the senator and so Silas killed a different man to get the attention away from the Senator being killed but the Senator was still alive anyway? So what was the point? What was the reason (honestly Cardi B meme is so relatable)
The ending of the book killed me because at the end Silas and Hallie lived happily ever after with no mention of Hallie going back to work as a schoolteacher.
Maybe I am just blind and didn’t see the subtleties but it sure read like she is never going back to work and will now live her best soft girl life.
Which almost made me want to lose my mind because why then y’all heavily implied her schoolteacher life if it has no consequence whatsoever.
I honestly couldn’t with this book towards the end.
Intrigue (4/10)
It was intriguing in a way that I just wanted to know what was the ending and how the author will tie everything up.
Logic (4/10)
Suffice to say the logic in this book was not logic-ing because as I stated in the plot section of the review, Silas killed another person to divert attention from the death of the Senator but the Senator was still alive?
So what was the point of the mafia hiring them to kill the Senator then. Also, there was the issue of the journalist looking into Teddy’s death, the author never had a conclusion for that plot point so why include it at all then?
The journalist pressured Hallie for information and to help him out and once Hallie finds out Silas killed Teddy for reasons it just ends like that? Did Silas kill the journalist? What is going on?
Enjoyment (3/10)
Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy this book as much.
Conclusion
The highlight of this book is definitely the writing but the inconsistencies in plot and the breakneck pacing at the end made the book less enjoyable for me.
Also, here’s my reading vlog for Closer Than You Think if you’re interested to see how I was slowly losing my brain cells and patience.
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