Finlay Donovan Knocks ‘Em Dead : First Book is Always Better!

Hi Readers! Here I am finally with a book review after many days. The reading slump this last month combined with the huge amount of workload has left me with barely a few minutes of reading time after waking & before sleeping. I finished this book a few days back. And, because I did not like it much, I thought I will write a simpler review with few words instead of my usual style. So, here you go!

~~THOUGHTS~~

I read Finlay Donovan is Killing It earlier this year. I truly enjoyed reading it. Be it the humorous fiction, mystery or romance; all these aspects worked so well in that book. I had also adored Finlay’s character & her growth in the book. I loved Finlay & Vero’s friendship. I loved seeing Finlay with Julian. I hated Steven to his core. The story had multiple murders, all of which were hilarious for readers because of how they involved Finlay. There were just so many reasons to love it. But, I suppose I can’t say the same for its sequel.

In Finlay Donovan Knocks ‘Em Dead, there is disappointment all over the book. All the reasons for which I loved the first book had disappeared in this one. There was no story in the first half of the book. I mean, sure random events in the first part all tie up at the end. But, it was not at all necessary to make it the entire first half to be filled with something that had a remote connection to bringing it all together at the end. This lack of story was my major problem with it. And, when I see one major problem, all the other minor problems come into visibility right away.

There were no sections which were humorous. There wasn’t any active murder played out. Just a part of a dead body which was a ‘passing-the-parcel’ thing throughout the book, which was gross. There was no romance, even with two men crushing on Finlay. I missed the Finlay-Julian chemistry which was so strong in the first book. The Finlay-Nick sexual tension was written well, but because I was Team Julian, it did not work for me. The whole author writing the crimes which happened around her gave the first book the ‘she-will-be-caught-any-second’ thrill, which was absent in this one. I also did not much care for the book Finlay wrote just like I did not care much for this book.

I can go on about what I didn’t like, but then that will simply sum up the entire essence of the book. I really wanted to enjoy this one, laugh about the blunders Finlay & Vero got themselves into, wanted Steven dead because he was a leech of a man, but also did not want him dead because he was the kids’ father. I wanted someone unbelievable to be ‘FedUp’ and ‘EasyClean’. FedUp’s identity reveal at the end was ENTIRELY UNDERWHELMING. And, I was actually fed up because there is no reveal for who EasyClean was.

I wanted it to be a mindless simple mystery book which I loved. I wanted it to be different. And, I wanted it to be more, so much more. I was really bummed out about this one. I have rated Finlay Donovan Knocks ‘Em Dead at 2/5 stars.

I have one more review and a post in my to-do list, which I will write soon. If you have been following me in Instagram, you know that my today’s goal is to complete Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead. So, wish me luck!

Until next time,