Reviewed by Linda on
Her Darkest Nightmare has a lot of tension, the psychological aspect of this thriller is very well done. There were, however, several instances where I had to consciously suspend disbelief in order to follow Evelyn.
Her Darkest Nightmare happens about six months after the ending of Hanover House, and the prison / psych ward has opened and is almost at capacity. With one of the doctors out sick, and another one having left because of the long winter in Alaska, Evelyn has a smaller team to deal with, which means there's more work for all of them. Because Evelyn has brought in a new inmate - without discussing it with her colleagues first - the sense of mistrust was very strong from the beginning. Both on Evelyn's behalf, and on behalf of one of the other doctors there.
Between the dark days, snow storms and a gruesome murder, Her Darkest Nightmare pushes the feelings of unease, and it is very easy to understand why Evelyn is so on edge. When one of the inmates keeps telling her that not all the psychopaths at Hanover House are in the locked-up area, she has one more thing to worry about. And of course, all of her fears bring her back to Jasper and those fateful days when she was sixteen.
Even with all the darkness and fear in Her Darkest Nightmare, there is space for the romance and relationship between Evelyn and Amarok to develop. It made me breathe easier to see that she had someone to lean on, even if she thought she didn't really need to. Amarok was her rock through all that happened, but he also managed to show her that he trusted her, and made sure not to smother her with his concern. He is definitely wise beyond his years.
Written in third person perspective, past tense, with dialogues as well as narration, the story unfolds at a nice pace, and the suspense is very well done. I think the reason why I didn't give Her Darkest Nightmare four or more stars is because I found Evelyn to be a bit repetitive at times. And I definitely would have liked to see more of one specific character...
Maybe she was dead. She'd been expecting death, been thinking that, unlike most people, she wouldn't live long enough to graduate from high school.
"Weather report says we've got another storm coming in. So they caught an earlier flight. You didn't get the message?"
She couldn't fall if she didn't try. Fear was costing her a great deal of what others enjoyed in life.
Reading updates
- Started reading
- 30 August, 2016: Finished reading
- 30 August, 2016: Reviewed