Review by jsparkleflower -- Toxic Side Effect
Posted: 23 Jun 2018, 15:25
[Following is a volunteer review of "Toxic Side Effect" by Sandy Magner.]
3 out of 4 stars
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The book, Toxic Side Effect, by Sandy Magner, is a suspenseful story whose main character is a divorced woman with two grown children whose father has been poisoned and the two main suspects are her own mother, and the father’s girlfriend from a long-term ongoing affair. The basis of the story revolves around, Jen who is placed at the center of an investigation into her father’s murder. She unravelled a secret world of her father that her mother has kept from her her whole life. This story drew in my interest at the very beginning. The shortness of the story helped to keep me involved as it was fast paced and most events took place within a short span of time.
I did find I had empathy for all the characters in this book as it progressed. Their ongoing struggle in dealing with the death of a loved one was shown in a realistic manner. For anyone who has lost someone, the stages of acceptance in this books were viable.
What I enjoyed most about this book was the quick pace of the investigation. There was not an extensive amount of characters to confuse the reader, yet there were enough to give good story and character development. I also enjoyed the intrigue of trying to consider the murderer in the story. With the constant shifting of information presented in the story, it made my personal view of the guilty party shift also, leaving the ending as a surprise to me.
I was not impressed with some of the vulgarity in some character’s speaking lines. I felt these curse words were not necessarily needed to enhance the story. It actually was a bit of a turn off. I also noted a few grammar issues, which didn’t change the story, but made it a tad confusing in minor places. I also struggled some with the idea of the main character sometimes leading the investigation alone, without the assistance of the police, and the police allowing it. This seemed too unrealistic to ever happen in any real life situations that might be similar.
Despite the above negatives, I truly did enjoy this story. I was a page turner from the start. With good character development in many characters. I did find it a bit odd as to how involved the main character was in doing a large portion of the investigation herself, despite the high involvement of the police character in the story, I did find this a bit non-believable. However, I can state that I did enjoy the story and would recommend this to others. I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars for the fact that I did not enjoy some of the cursing I felt wasn’t needed to create character development. Had this character used more conservative language my ratings would have been higher.
******
Toxic Side Effect
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
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3 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
The book, Toxic Side Effect, by Sandy Magner, is a suspenseful story whose main character is a divorced woman with two grown children whose father has been poisoned and the two main suspects are her own mother, and the father’s girlfriend from a long-term ongoing affair. The basis of the story revolves around, Jen who is placed at the center of an investigation into her father’s murder. She unravelled a secret world of her father that her mother has kept from her her whole life. This story drew in my interest at the very beginning. The shortness of the story helped to keep me involved as it was fast paced and most events took place within a short span of time.
I did find I had empathy for all the characters in this book as it progressed. Their ongoing struggle in dealing with the death of a loved one was shown in a realistic manner. For anyone who has lost someone, the stages of acceptance in this books were viable.
What I enjoyed most about this book was the quick pace of the investigation. There was not an extensive amount of characters to confuse the reader, yet there were enough to give good story and character development. I also enjoyed the intrigue of trying to consider the murderer in the story. With the constant shifting of information presented in the story, it made my personal view of the guilty party shift also, leaving the ending as a surprise to me.
I was not impressed with some of the vulgarity in some character’s speaking lines. I felt these curse words were not necessarily needed to enhance the story. It actually was a bit of a turn off. I also noted a few grammar issues, which didn’t change the story, but made it a tad confusing in minor places. I also struggled some with the idea of the main character sometimes leading the investigation alone, without the assistance of the police, and the police allowing it. This seemed too unrealistic to ever happen in any real life situations that might be similar.
Despite the above negatives, I truly did enjoy this story. I was a page turner from the start. With good character development in many characters. I did find it a bit odd as to how involved the main character was in doing a large portion of the investigation herself, despite the high involvement of the police character in the story, I did find this a bit non-believable. However, I can state that I did enjoy the story and would recommend this to others. I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars for the fact that I did not enjoy some of the cursing I felt wasn’t needed to create character development. Had this character used more conservative language my ratings would have been higher.
******
Toxic Side Effect
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like jsparkleflower's review? Post a comment saying so!