I came across Anatomy of a Scandal on the BookishFirst website, where chapter two was offered as a sampling. The author's writing style immediately sucked me in, and I couldn't wait to read the book. Unfortunately, while there are flashes of greatness, the book in its entirety didn't hold up to the promise.
This story has several narrating characters, alternating throughout. Most are written in the traditional third person. Kate's part is written in first person. These switches are handled well.
The main problem for me was the fractured timeline. We start out in the present. Chapter two takes us back six weeks. Chapter three has us back a full year. A few chapters later, we go all the way back to 1992. In that distant past, we keep switching narrators and spending time with them all through their college years. This was where the story lost its footing for me. We meander through each character's drama, with far more detail than needed. These sections tend to drag the story down rather than build suspense. We continue on, switching from the distant past to the recent past. About halfway through, we finally spend a chunk of time in the present. The jumbled timeline made the story as a whole feel jumbled.
The section of this book pertaining to the trial is compelling and captivated me in the way of that early chapter I'd previewed. I felt the immediacy of the emotions and the turmoil of the situation.
For the most part, the plot is straight forward and the characters behave in exactly the way we'd expect. The strength of this book is in the way the author lays the emotions bare, so that we have no choice but to experience them along with the characters.
This story has several narrating characters, alternating throughout. Most are written in the traditional third person. Kate's part is written in first person. These switches are handled well.
The main problem for me was the fractured timeline. We start out in the present. Chapter two takes us back six weeks. Chapter three has us back a full year. A few chapters later, we go all the way back to 1992. In that distant past, we keep switching narrators and spending time with them all through their college years. This was where the story lost its footing for me. We meander through each character's drama, with far more detail than needed. These sections tend to drag the story down rather than build suspense. We continue on, switching from the distant past to the recent past. About halfway through, we finally spend a chunk of time in the present. The jumbled timeline made the story as a whole feel jumbled.
The section of this book pertaining to the trial is compelling and captivated me in the way of that early chapter I'd previewed. I felt the immediacy of the emotions and the turmoil of the situation.
For the most part, the plot is straight forward and the characters behave in exactly the way we'd expect. The strength of this book is in the way the author lays the emotions bare, so that we have no choice but to experience them along with the characters.