Before She Dies

by Mary Burton

[ibeforem]

Though not technically part of a series, Before She Dies closes off a loosely connected trilogy that started with Burton’s Senseless and Merciless. I think it was on par with those two books. In some ways, it was stronger. The romance is there from the very beginning rather than materializing towards the end, so we get a chance to root for it a bit longer. I would have liked to see a little more wanting from Charlotte’s point of view, but overall I’m not disappointed in how it developed.

I also thought Charlotte’s back story was more interesting than the female protagonists in the previous two books. The carnival makes for an unusual backdrop.

When it comes to the villain, I find that I finished the book feeling somewhat confused about him. (SLIGHT SPOILERS AHEAD) His placement in the periphery of the story was a bit too obvious, because if he’s not the bad guy, what’s his purpose? Maybe I just read too many of these types of books. I also didn’t understand his ultimate motive. I understood the fixation part of it, I just didn’t get why he started in the first place. (END SPOILERS!)

Overall, I did enjoy the read. I think Burton writes both strong female and strong male characters, yet is able to keep the male characters secondary. I will continue to keep Burton on my “to read” list!