Title: You Can Scream
Author: Rebecca Zanetti
Series: Laurel Snow #5
Much thanks to Rebecca Zanetti, Kensington, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I read the first couple books in this series and greatly enjoyed them, but One Cursed Rose was so awful it completely turned me off Zanetti for a couple years. I wish I’d continued this series where I left off instead of skipping to Book 5, because while the plot of this installment more or less stands alone, there are a lot of continuing storylines and allusions to past events that inform character attitudes and decisions. Maybe at least read Book 4 before this one?
Aside from that, I enjoyed this book a lot! There were a few areas that rubbed wrong, but not enough to ruin the book for me.
Huck’s character and his and Laurel’s relationship
Huck was pretty one-dimensional and just didn’t seem to have much going on except work and Laurel. He was almost more of a device than a character. I understand his focus and actions had to be relevant to the plot, but it came across like the guy had nothing else in his life or his personality besides work and Laurel. I also understand he’s in love with Laurel and he thought someone was trying to kill her, but his intense focus on her struck me as unhealthy and made me uneasy—seemed like it made Laurel feel that way too.
Huck’s “my reason” speech might seem romantic, but all I heard was him putting pressure on Laurel to be, literally, his reason for living. That’s not fair to her. I got the feeling that if she broke up with him, as she seemed fractionally inclined to do, he’d sink into a depression so deep he wouldn’t recover. Everyone was pulling at Laurel—Abigail said Laurel deserved better than Huck, the psychic guy said Laurel and Huck wouldn’t last, Laurel herself acknowledged that her feelings toward Huck had changed and she was trying to process exactly how—and it wasn’t made clear if she decided to stay with him because she actually wanted to, or because she wanted to prove herself and everyone else wrong. Yeah she said she loved him, but sometimes love isn’t enough.
Pacing
The pace was steady and quick, but there were some really jarring scene breaks that became progressively annoying. An exciting scene would play out, and at the height of it we’d cut away—and start a new chapter with the characters doing something super mundane. I understand the technique of ending a chapter on a tension-filled note to propel the reader on, but this felt more like coitus interruptus. Like being punched in the stomach while holding your breath instead of being allowed to exhale. Most times when that technique is employed, the next scene picks up exactly where the break left off, but when it jumps ahead in time to a super boring scene, the excitement over, everyone fine—it’s like, wtf? What happened? It’s unfulfilling and unsatisfying. It’s not sticking the dismount, it’s falling on your ass.
The only reason I can think of for doing this is to save time and words—moving on to the next scene and working in some brief exposition to convey how the last scene ended. It might seem efficient, but it actually sucks. A lot. A few times it was done well—like discovering a body and cutting a few hours ahead to after the scene’s been processed and the characters have some answers to discuss. But it doesn’t work to cut away in the middle of a car chase or shooting or fight between characters. At least not for me.
The end
I was left with questions. Also consequences were vague or simply not there. I really hate that.
We could have used some follow up regarding Walter and Tyler and the step-father. Did Walter get to go to the funeral? What was said? The situation was ripe for drama and we knew Walter was torn up about it all; it would have been nice for him (and us) to have gotten some closure on it one way or the other.
What came of Tyler’s conspiracy theories? What happened to the corrupt cops? Did Sandra take over the podcast? Did Tyler receive any praise for being right about a few things?
Was anything done about the harvested yew trees? More planted?
How was Viv after everything? Seeing her reunite with Kate would have been nice, or hearing that she’d entered therapy for PTSD. Even just being told she’d gone to the hospital and been released would have been good.
What happened to the chemical? Bomb? Company?
How were Laurel and Huck after everything? They killed people. Violently. Laurel fricken beat the lawyer to death, or at least that’s how I understood it. Or was that Fitz? Beside the point–she committed some violent acts, then just walked away. Do they have to take time off, have psych evals, go to court? Are their emotions effed up over it? Or everything’s just fine. They’re fine. It’s fine. Everything’s just fine. (*thumbs down fart noise*)
Concluding Abigail’s murder charge via that interview was underwhelming and annoying. I’d have opted for a courtroom drama over watching those two fake women simper at each other. But then I’d rather watch a true crime documentary over a reality show, so I suppose that tracks.
Nester was easily the most interesting character in the book and I feel like we saw him the least. More of him please!
