Blog Tour & Review: THE CABIN by Jasinda Wilder

 

Sometimes the epilogue to one story is the beginning of another.

From Wall Street Journal bestselling author Jasinda Wilder comes an all-new, emotionally gripping novel, The Cabin, available now!

One year ago, I buried my husband.

One year ago, I held his hand and said goodbye.

Now I spend most of my days lost somewhere between trying to remember every smallest detail of our lives, and trying to forget it all. I fill my hours with work until I’m too exhausted to remember him, to feel anything at all.

One year, 365 days—and then one knock at my door changes everything. 

A letter from him, a last request, a secret will:

My dearest Nadia,

Trust me, my love. One last time, trust me. Sometimes the epilogue to one story is the beginning of another.

Download your copy today or read FREE in Kindle Unlimited!

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3mdQmZ6

Amazon Worldwide: http://mybook.to/TheCabinWilder
Amazon Paperback: https://amzn.to/2TlHhkK

Add THE CABIN to Goodreads: https://bit.ly/2IG0gnX

REVIEW: 

"More simply put, then: you'll never totally forget him or replace him, you can't and won't and shouldn't. He's dead, and nothing is going to change that. You have a life to live, and only you can choose what to do with it"

This was a story about moving on. Learning to live again after the death of your one true love. Your husband. Your wife. That was the point of this story and Jasinda sort of got that message across to me, the reader, by THE END of the book, I got the fact that one should be able to move on after losing someone they love, but that doesn't mean they have to forget what they had and what they meant to them, but that's about all I got from this story unfortunately.

First issue, I knew right off the bat that the husband was gonna die, thanks to the synopsis. That left zero mystery and decreased the emotional impact quite honestly. So because of having that knowledge going into the story, I didn't allow myself to build a connection between those characters and their relationship because I knew it'd be severed at some point or would be severed upon starting the book. And even if I wanted to allow myself that connection, the writing itself hindered that ability. The rhythm of the story was one steady beat....rushed and surface. Many passages would basically read like: I drove up the driveway. I opened the garage door. I parked the car. I shut the garage door. I got out of my car. I went in the house. I set my keys down. I hung up my coat. You get the point...very rhythmic. Very step by step. Very surface. There was also a lot of "silent" moments. A lot of interactions between the characters, that the author said: There's as much silence as there is talk. as if there was nothing to add to the depth of the story or character. I needed more of those inner thoughts of the characters to really connect with them, but I wasn't able to do that with this book. Also, the predictability of this story left little to the imagination and angst level.

Second issue, this story was told in several POVs and the reader NEVER knew who's POV they were reading because they were never told. The reader has to decipher WHOM was talking after reading a couple sentences in each chapter. It was all very frustrating and took me out of the story.

Thirdly, editing issues. I rarely let arcs with grammatical errors bother me, but this one needed to go through another round of editing. I could not overlook them because they eventually felt like a "Chinese torture" tactic on top of my first issues I was struggling with. These errors further pulled me away from the story and further frustrated me. Then there was a plot error. At 28% it was stated that both her and her deceased husband's parents were dead, but then at 85%, it was stated that her mother was still alive and she still visited her from time to time. So which was it? Is she dead or alive? With more editing, this could've been caught, I'm sure. Then there were several times that the author was overly detailed about inanimate objects. TOO detailed. This lead me to start skimming some parts, so I could get to the meat of the story. Maybe this was a word count tactic? Who knows. All I know is I don't care to know about what type of fixtures are on the cabinets in the kitchen.

Lastly, the characters. Nathan's character development seemed forced. Like the author kept throwing random hardships onto his backstory for complexity, but it didn't work. It didn't make him seem more complex, it just felt wrong to give him those added layers when he was better without them IMO. Then Nadia, IMO she didn't do much growth until the very last minute, it was miniscule and abrupt. She was a very stagnant character throughout the story, which to a degree makes sense because she lost the love of her life, but the author could've given her more depth.

He's loving me from beyond the grave. He was telling me how much he loved me--he has been, through this whole thing. The cabin is his love letter to me. Each item was his voice and his hands, caressing me. Reminding me that he loved me that I was his and he was mine and he knows me. But the cabin was also him telling me that I still have to remember to live. That I have to go on without him. That I can go on without him. He chose Nathan for me. God, only Adrian could do that. Would do that.

I tried to like this book. I really T R I E D. I literally forced myself to finish it even though I no longer felt a connection with ANY of it. I was skimming over the over the top details and only reading the dialogue by the end. Honestly, I would've been happy if Nadia ended up alone at the end. That she would've been able to find happiness and peace on her own, instead of her dead husband orchestrating the whole thing between her and Nathan. I didn't feel their relationship was authentic, especially with the fact that 95% of the book was more about her and her husband and her pain after losing him. Nathan and hers "relationship" (and I put that in quotations because it was like 3 chapters of the book), was rushed, like most of the timeline in this story (weeks/months would just go by, so we didn't get to see their connection grow), and as a result their connection didn't feel organic to me. 

This story had a slight PS I LOVE YOU vibe to it with how her deceased husband wrote a book and planned out things for her after he was gone, but even that comparison is far fetched at best. The concept was there, but the execution was lacking. This story had SO MUCH potential. It just didn't pack the emotional impact it should've. I have read one other book with a similar storyline that the author brought me what I expected and it is one of my favorite books. I was hoping for THAT in this book. I was truly looking forward to the emotional upheaval that the blurb implies this book would be but alas it was lackluster for me. I'm not a totally cold-hearted human being, I DID feel emotions while reading this. I DID cry during the earlier moments with her and her husband and I DID cry when he eventually died. I am human after all. Those moments were raw and real and very sad and Jasinda conveyed that pain and loss, but those were the only moments throughout that really hit me in the feels and I was expected MANY MORE moments that just those couple. Unfortunately, the best part about this book, for me, was the cover, which is stunning and book shelf worthy.

1 star

xoxo, Vivian💋

Enter to win an Exclusive Cabin Recovery Kit!  Join Jasinda's Reader Group during release week and enter the big Giveaway pinned at the top of the group →  https://bit.ly/35pQlKR

 

Meet Jasinda

NEW YORK TIMES, USA TODAY, WALL STREET JOURNAL and international bestselling author Jasinda Wilder is a Michigan native with a penchant for titillating tales about sexy men and strong women. Her bestselling titles include ALPHA, STRIPPED, WOUNDED, and the #1 Amazon and international bestseller FALLING INTO YOU.  You can find her on her farm in Northern Michigan with her husband, author Jack Wilder, her six children and menagerie of animals.

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