Book Review - Lovely Bad Things by Trisha Wolfe

Lovely Bad Things by Trisha Wolfe

I'm conflicted with my feelings about this book. I honestly can't decide if I loved it or hated it. The story was unique compared to what I'm used to reading. It's basically a mashup between a crime thriller and a romance novel, which I typically like.

Halen St. James is a crime scene investigator who's trying to solve the missing people and murders going on in Hollow's Row. But in order to do so, she has to enlist the help of Professor Kallum Locke who already had a reputation as a dangerous man before Halen convinced a jury that he was certifiably insane and he was sentenced to a psychiatric hospital. Anyway, she gets special permission to release him temporarily from the psychiatric hospital so that he can help her solve the case of missing people and murder. We ultimately find out that the missing people and murders have something to do with a ritual to ascend. And the alleged serial killer is taking inspiration from quotes from several philosophers and famous poets/writers. Throughout their time on the case, Halen finds herself unexplainably drawn to Kallum. That is until a major twist reveals why she feels this way. To avoid any major spoilers, all I'm going to say is that things are not the way she initially thought they were and there are secrets that she has tried to forget. 

I do want to say that the plot and story are unique compared to what I've read before, and I loved the incorporation of philosophy, writing, and the idea of rituals. These aspects were really well explored in the story. I just couldn't get over the flowery writing in this book. There were so many points at which I'd have to go back and read the same sentence or paragraph over again just to understand what the author was trying to say. It just felt confusing at times. I will say, however, that I thought this type of writing fit perfectly when the chapter was written from Kallum's perspective, being that he's supposed to be this creepy, stalker-ish professor with a dark, demented mind. But for the overall story itself, it just felt a bit unnecessary. 

All that being said, I still enjoyed this book overall, and the story did keep me reading until the end. I won't be rushing to read the second book (despite the major cliffhanger) though and that says something.