In this debut novel from Anne Mette Hancock, The Corpse Flower is just like the title suggests: not everything is as it seems.
Thank you to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for a free copy of this book, in return for an honest review.
Anna Kiel has murdered someone. Now, 4 years later, no one can find her. She’s disappeared off the face of the planet.
Until Heloise Kaldan receives a letter from someone claiming to be Anna.
Heloise is a reporter in Copenhagan, Denmark, and is the one person to whom Anna has decided to share her story. In the beginning, Anna is cryptic, but as things progress, Heloise realizes she may be in more danger than she realized.
The Corpse Flower started a little slow. The author created so many questions in the first 1/3 of the book, that I was a bit confused for a bit. It did ease off after a bit, thank God, as my questions started getting answered. I was thankful for that.
The Corpse Flower….really?
I couldn’t figure out why the title. My husband loves Corpse Flowers, and is always telling me how badly they smell, so I couldn’t figure out why an author would choose to name her book after such an awful plant.
But I got it, and you will too. No spoilers, promise, but I did get why.
This book is not what I expected. The characters weren’t who I thought, and the murder that I thought fit so nicely in the book, had a couple twists that caused me to rethink my deductive abilities. Anne is so good at creating a story fraught with angst, but full of hope. I hoped the characters would get their closure, but at the same time I wasn’t sure they would.
Characters
I distrusted Anna Kiel from the beginning. I mean, she was a MURDERER! She killed someone! As I, along with Heloise, got to know her, I still didn’t trust her, but I started to learn why I couldn’t trust her, and that made me trust her. If that makes any sense.
So many of the characters were simply despicable. Johannes Mossing was one of those characters. I never liked him. Not even a little bit. I didn’t even really know why for most of the book. When I finally discovered his secret, I realized why I never liked him.
I’m trying REALLY hard not to give spoilers, you guys, I swear. It’s hard with this book, though!
Travel the World Through Reading
The author, Anne, is from Denmark herself, and I gotta say, her descriptions of Copenhagen are amazing!
Every time I read a book set in a different country, it makes me want to travel the world! This book is no different.
Anne did such a great job with her characters, even though some of them are truly terrible people (like, I want to kill them, terrible).
I hope you get a chance to read this book. I really enjoyed it, and I hope you will too! If you’ve read this book, let me know in the comments what you thought!
What do you think of the title? Head over to my discussion forum and let me know the weirdest title you’ve come across that ended up fitting the book perfectly. When the book was over, you got it.
Check Out These Other Book Reviews
While you’re here, please subscribe! You’ll get a weekly notification of new posts, and I never spam. Promise!
Until Next Time, Friends!
