This book started off really promising, with an interesting third person present tense narration (I mean, how often do you see that pulled off well?) but then fell flat. The two narrators, Linden and Charlie, were bearable to begin with, but towards the end - especially with Charlie - I started to stop empathizing with them and to be honest didn't really care. The changing character dynamics ended up leading to a really, really anti-climactic finish; it just went too far into the whodunnit and became boring and a sea of meh-ness. I lost track of all the characters.
I really wish Leah could have been developed as a character, because she was cool. I didn't really enjoy the romance, but I thought it was done with a good light touch; there no perfect soul mate dramatics going on here.
The whole murder and crime part of the novel didn't work for me. There was no guessing to be done and it played out in a very boring way. I'm not a great reader of this contemporary-crime sort of genre, though, so I suppose if you're into that you might want to give it a go. I especially recommend for readers of Sophie McKenzie.
I could talk about Splintered Light more, but there isn't that much to say. It was a passable but forgettable novel. It starts off new and exciting (plus, can we please swoon over that cover?) but goes downhill very soon. I'll be looking out for more from this author in the future, though, because I'm still stuck on that third person present tense narrative skill. It takes a lot to make that work, I'm telling you.
• Buy this book at the Guardian Bookshop.
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