Review: The Chalk Man

The Chalk Man by C.J. Tudor
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I came in wanting to be creeped out, but I wasn't. Barely a thriller.

This is a debut novel by C.J. Tudor, and the bones are there. Tragedies in the past with multiple deaths. A group of young friends and mysterious happenings that are not solved at the time but everyone moves on, as life does. Here's my issue. There is too much happening. We have a doctor under fire in the community. We have a hot headed reverend who has his own secrets. We have an albino teacher who makes questionable decisions. We have schoolyard bullies. We have a group of friends who don't seem to really like each other. We have a seemingly unreliable narrator. And lots of flash forwards and jumps to the past. This book is disjointed and tries to do too much. At the end you can see the threads but they end up in a knot instead of smoothly tying it all in a bow. Plus I really couldn't stand the MC, and that's a deal breaker for me.

But please, read this anyway. I'm giving it 3 stars and I would like to talk about it with you. Change my mind, because I wanted to love it but just ended up liking it a bit instead.

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