MUD VEIN by Tarryn Fisher

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**SUMMARY**

When reclusive novelist Senna Richards wakes up on her thirty-third birthday, everything has changed. Caged behind an electrical fence, locked in a house in the middle of the snow, Senna is left to decode the clues to find out why she was taken. If she wants her freedom, she has to take a close look at her past. But, her past has a heartbeat... and her kidnapper is nowhere to be found. With her survival hanging by a thread, Senna soon realizes this is a game. A dangerous one. Only the truth can set her free.

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Mud Vein is a book which received a lot of mixed reviews. My friend/co-blogger Purple has read it and liked it a lot less than I did, so I suggest you read both sides before making your decision, because Mud Vein  is a kind of book which will not appeal to everyone.  You can read Purple’s review here.

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My rating:

**MY REVIEW**

He was a pretender, trying to grasp what if felt like to live. So, he found me looking at a lake and grabbed me. Because I wore a shroud of darkness and he wanted desperately to understand what that was like.

When Mud Vein was first published it received a lot of mixed reviews, that’s part of the reason why I didn’t read it right away. Also, this is the kind of book you need to be in the mood for, so I was waiting for the right time. Anyhow, in one particularly negative review I read who the kidnapper was. Now, even though I knew the big revelation, it didn’t deter me from reading. #spoilerscanttouchmeLOL

In terms of plot, Mud Vein is not the best psychological thriller I’ve read, but it has some of the most complex characters I’ve read about. Furthermore, the enjoyment of this book depends on your emotional connection with characters, particularly Senna. You need to feel Senna, and I felt her pain like my own. 

Senna is tragedy. She is complex and dark and I loved her. I wanted to see more, I wanted to see how she would deal with it. 

I loved the writing style and the characterization. The plot could have been a bit better, but this book is first and foremost a character study, not a complex mystery case. I’m not saying the plot is irrelevant, but it holds the second place in importance. 

Moreover, I admire Fisher’s writing, I admire her ability to create such dark, twisted characters. Makes me wonder what else lurks inside her mind. She definitely took a risk by creating Senna, she was not an easy character to like. And this was not an easy book to read, in the sense that it was just so damn sad! Depressing even.

Fear, light footed, dances around me. She whispers seductively in my ear. We are lovers, fear and I. She calls to me, and I let her in.

This is not for everyone, not everyone will like this book, not everyone will understand Senna. Perhaps you need to have a grasp on that darkness to understand her, I don’t know... But having an open mind upon starting this book is definitely recommended. 

I like pain. I like when it lingers. It reminds a person of what they've lived through.

I also think Fisher’s writing is much better here and more mature than in the Love Me With Lies trilogy. I admire Tarryn Fisher for not writing this to please the crowds, she wrote this for herself. Mud Vein was raw and honest. This might be just me rambling things, but this is the kind of book you pour your soul into. 

This book, this is what I love to read the most. Real stories about real people with real emotions.

I was going to give this 4 stars, because at some places the story dragged on and around the 70% mark I was even a little bored; but that ending was perfect. I loved how Fisher wrapped things up and I wouldn’t love it if it had ended any other way. While I loved The Opportunist, I disliked the other two. I felt like she wrote Thief just to gratify her fans. Here, I felt Fisher was more true to herself. And I’m happy to say that after Mud Vein I’m once again a Tarryn Fisher fan. I can’t wait to see what her twisted mind will think of next!

You’ve been silent your whole life. You were silent when we met, silent when you suffered. Silent when life kept hitting you. I was like that too, a little. But not like you. You are a stillness. And I tried to move you. It didn’t work. But that doesn’t mean you didn’t move me. I heard everything you didn’t say. I heard it so loudly that I couldn’t shut it off. Your silence, Senna, I hear it so loudly.

xoxo,

Beatrix