New Review! The Empty Room by Sarah Clemens, 2.5 Cranky Stars

The Empty Room by Sarah Clemens
My rating: 2 of 5 stars



** 2.5 Cranky Stars **

Writing reviews like this brings me no joy. I know the amount of work authors put in and they leave a piece of themselves in every book.



I struggled with this book. I struggled to finish it and just when I was about to quit it, the pace picked up.



Set in the small town of Eastbrook, Maine, the story revolves around Dean and Elizabeth Montgomery. They purchase a Victorian era house to begin their newly married life together.



The property, bought as is, includes furnishings and the possessions of the previous owner, who apparently abandoned the property in a hurry. What appears to be good fortune houses a mystery.



As Dean and Elizabeth begin to uncover secrets and mysteries, Elizabeth goes missing. As questions are raised, the close-knit community that once welcomed Dean and Elizabeth become increasingly hostile.



Dean is sure they’re hiding something, not just about Elizabeth, but also the previous owner. Desperate to find the truth and Elizabeth, Dean scrambles to unravel the mystery, but sometimes, one is better off not knowing.



I’d like to start off saying that the premise of this book is a good one. I picked the ending, but it was still a wonderful twist.



Where the book failed for me is that it was slow going. It didn’t pick up speed until about the 80 percent mark. That’s too long for me and I admit that, at times, I was tempted to DNF it. Also, in parts, the writing was rudimentary. There was a lot of tell and I felt the author overly-described, not leaving much room for the imagination of the reader to fill in the blanks.



I wished the author had cut back on the descriptions and instead focused on building both the pace and suspense of the work. Personally, I believe the work would have been better for it.

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