The Taking of Annie Thorne by C. J. Tudor
Here it is! Our first ever “I didn’t like this one” review. Honestly, all I can say is that after reading The Chalk Man and loving it, I was pretty disappointed with Annie Thorne. Tudor is skilled at making you guess and question all the way up until the very end, but of course, the ending of The Chalk Man neatly tidied up all the plotlines and, quite frankly, blew my mind away. I didn’t get that here. Instead, I was left with questions unanswered and a “wtf?” expression on my face.
I think this happens a lot with debut bestsellers. When they blow it out of the water on their first book, publishers are less likely to have a firm-hand when editing the book.
QOTD: What second novels of authors have you been disappointed in?
The Taking of Annie Thorne follows the complicated and deeply flawed, Joe Thorne. In true Tudor style, the story flits between two timelines. One timeline follows teenage Joe as he grapples with bullying at school and issues at home. His little sister, Annie, is his only friend. That is until he falls into the wrong crowd and dear little Annie goes missing.
". . . when my sister was eight years old she disappeared. At the time I thought it was the worst thing in the world that could ever happen. And then she came back."
The other timeline follows Joe as he returns to his childhood village as a teacher, claiming that he wants to give back to his community; but Joe isn’t completely honest about why he has returned.
Sure, there were creepy scenes in the book and I do love a creepy scene — Tudor is especially brilliant at writing them — but overtime, these get boring and tedious because of all the flab that could have been cut out. Couple that with a completely ridiculous scene (I won’t spoil it) that was akin to something you'd read in a spy novel and this book was just not my cup of tea.
Will this stop me from reading another book by C.J. Tudor? I'm not sure. But will I be recommending The Taking of Annie Thorne? Probably not.
Have you read this book? I would love to discuss your thoughts.
- Ellie
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