I wanted to like this book more than I did. I'd say it was maybe 3.5 stars. It had all of the things I like in a book--a secret past, a mystery with a twist, a celebrity or famous person in an isolated location--but it didn't quite stick the landing for me. I'm not quite sure what was missing--maybe more tension? But I was never quite pulled in and immersed in the way that I wanted to be.

With spooky season right around the corner, I wanted to start off the season with a dark thriller and my goodness did this one deliver! With a secluded Scottish island, unreliable narrators, incredibly flawed characters and timelines this book had everything I was looking for and more.

This book is a slow fire burning (see what I did there 🙃 also a great book by Ms. Hawkins) But once the story gets going, it’s a raging fire of emotions and I left feeling satisfied with the ending and the story told.

If you’re looking for a dark read this spooky season make sure to pick up this book October 29, just in time for Halloween!

Thank you NetGalley and Mariner Books for an arc of this book. All opinions are my own.

I was a bit underwhelmed by this book. I found it to be a bit predictable and I wasn't a fan of the ending of the story.

Artist Vanessa Chapman died with an unusual will. She left her small island house to her long-term companion Grace. All of her artwork and notes, however, she left to her former lover and bitter enemy Douglas Lennox -- or rather to the foundation he created. The foundation is currently being run by Douglas's son Sebastian since Douglas has also died in a shooting accident on his estate. Sebastian is a spoiled rich kid who doesn't know much about art, so he's glad that James Becker has been hired to oversee the day to day "arty" work of the foundation. In addition, James is something of a Vanessa Chapman fanatic. He's studied her all of his life and is thrilled to be able to delve into her papers and to see all of her artworks up close. While many of Vanessa's physical works have been sent to the foundation, none of the paperwork, notes, journals or photos have been. Grace Haswell is still living in the house she inherited from Vanessa and is still in possession of the papers that should go to the foundation. Ben is sent to get the material from Grace. The house is located on an island that is separated from the mainland by a causeway that is underwater many hours of the day, depending on when the tide is out. There is an added sense of urgency to retrieving whatever else they can from the Vanessa Chapman estate. One of her artworks, a work involving "found objects" inside a glass cube has just been discovered to contain a human bone. This is alarming since twenty years before, Vanessa's husband came to the island to visit her and was never seen again. Could this bone possibly be an explanation of what happened to him? Grace, living alone now on the island, isn't too happy to receive visitors, but she and James soon bond over their shared admiration of Vanessa and her work. Unfortunately, this sense of comradery leads to ill=advised confidences being shared on both of their parts.

The book moves along at a very fast pace. It is a combination of backstory being revealed about both James and Grace, as well as entries from Vanessa's journals and various notes, emails, and newspaper stories. There are plenty of surprise revelations and twists and turns throughout the story. Loved it!

The blue hour by paula hawkins is beautiful written and well paced. I was drawn into the hook of a reclusive artist who still left mysteries behind after she died. But I will say that I was ultimately disappointed in how the book ended leading to my decreased rating.

Vanessa Chapman was a famous artist. Upon her death see gave her entire works of art including her diaries, sketches and personal letters to The Lennox Foundation. Becker is the currorator for the Lennox Foudation and recieves a disturbing email about on of the pieces that is on loan that is part of the Divison I and Divison II collection. The bone that is in the sculptor is not animal but actually thought to be human. Vanessa's estrangef husband went missing over twenty years ago.Now Becker must travel to Eris Island and uncover the truth behind the mystery.

When art curator Becker is notified that a prized piece of his assigned collection may contain a human bone, he investigates the matter. The artist, Vanessa, now deceased, has left behind a trove of papers and artwork closely guarded by her protective and jealous friend, Grace. To find out the truth, Becker must get past Grace who will protect Vanessa at any cost.

The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins is a slow burn mystery more than a thriller. The entire book is very atmospheric and moody. At one point, I had an idea of what was going to happen and I was terribly wrong. Vanessa was completely intriguing and seeing Grace’s perception of her was the best part of the book!

The Blue Hour was quite good! It was a bit different from her other title, but I think that’s a good thing. The ending left some things unstated, but we can infer a lot of things from it; so, as someone that likes a tidy ending, this was mostly okay for me. The pacing a was on the slower side and there are still a couple character relationships I’m trying to sort out even after finishing the book. However, the characterization overall was excellent. Such complex characters!

Overall, this gets a 4/5 from me. I would have liked some direct answers to a few questions I had by the conclusion of the book, but that’s my biggest complaint. Good writing and the switch in POVs was clear because each character had a clearly different voice. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This review was assigned via Library Journal. It has been submitted to my Editor there. Per Library Journal, I am not supposed to post anywhere else.
Thank you!

This one is definitely no thriller. It was more of a slow burn mystery with an atmospheric setting on a secluded island, which I enjoyed. I felt this one was on the slow side for me and was hoping there would be more twists. And though I didn't get that, I did like the sense of unease I got while reading. The writing was well done and there were parts that were suspenseful. Although this wasn't a top read for me, I will still be reading Paula Hawkins future books as I really enjoyed THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the gifted copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I loved The Girl on the Train & Into The Water, so I was very excited when Netgalley & Mariner Books approved me for this ARC. I can say that this is definitely not my favorite by Hawkins. The book follows Becker, an art director, who is interested in Vanessa Chapman's work. Vanessa is a famous artist whose work is missing and the art director is determined to find it, but Vanessa has died a few years back, and Becker confides in Grace, who was closest to Vanessa at the time of her death. The deeper Becker digs into trying to find the work, the more he realizes he may be unraveling more than he can handle.

The book starts out slow, introducing Becker, and all the background characters. The story truly takes off when he meets Vanessa's companion, Grace. The plot is very basic. An artist who becomes friends with a lonely woman who becomes obsessed with Vanessa and jealous of anyone else who is attached to her, especially her partners. The only true suspenseful thing in the whole book is that the island where Vanessa's house is, the one where Grace lives now, is only available during certain parts of the day due to the tide. The background characters, in my opinion, have nothing to do with the actual story itself. I was only interested in Becker & Grace, and everything happening on the island. Becker has a wife, who is pregnant and works with Sebastian, who was his wife's former lover. It felt like Hawkins was just trying to fill pages since his wife and Sebastian's storyline had nothing to do with the art plot itself. You start to figure out things slowly throughout the book, and by the time I was finishing up the last pages of the book, I already had everything figured out. The ending was such a disappointment. I kept going back to make sure I didn't miss anything because it ended abruptly. I'm giving this three stars because even though the main plot was intriguing, the rest of the book wasn't executed well enough for me to give it any more stars.

I read The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins

While this book started slow for me and took me a bit to get into it. The last half more than made of for it. I was in a state of panic for the remainder of the story and WOW what a ride. This is a for sure reread for me just so I can make better sense of the emotions I am feeling right now. This would have for sure been a 5 star for me but needed the beginning to grab me sooner. I will be rereading and this may change.

As much as I love P. Hawkins, I'm sorry to say this was a bit of a miss for me. The pacing felt sedated and the excitement & anticipation you covet when reading a book was nearly non-existent.
Regardless, this will not deter me from reading her work in the future.

I was grateful for the opportunity to read this arc, as always. So thank you netGalley and Mariner Books!

Pub Date: 10.29.24.

A gothic story for the ages!

Hawkins gives us the perfect storm - aristocratic inheritors, infamous artist and love triangles on an island accessible only twice a day due to tides.

Vanessa, the controversial artist left her work to one of her dealer and potential lover. Grace, her best friend resides at the island where she painted. The heir of the inheritance, the child of the dealer demands that Grace release works that she has hidden. And in the middle of it all is James, who absolutely worships Vanessa's work and is the devoted caretaker of her work. A storm rolls in and this slow burning tense story comes to a head.
All the while, Hawkins writes eloquently about art, the works and the Vanessa's eye for beauty.

A perfect story for thriller lovers, Hawkins does it again!

#mariner #thebluehour #mariner

An artist who lived a reclusive life as the lone inhabitant on an island accessible only during low tide dies and leaves her works to be exhibited by her former lover’s foundation rather than leaving them to a woman who had been a confidante for years. A bone believed to be human is discovered as part of one of her pieces. Could it belong to her ex husband who mysteriously disappeared years ago? To investigate that and the fact that there seem to be some of her works missing, a young employee of the foundation, enthralled with the artist, is dispatched to meet with the confidante. But, there is so much more to this story…

There is a sense of something ominously foreboding throughout this novel. It is a study of insecurity, obsession, friendship, gender, love, the artistic process, loneliness, pathology. Written with multiple POVs and timelines and interspersed with the artist’s journal entries, there are twists and turns that are slowly revealed. I had a difficult time engaging with any of the characters or the plot. Fans of the author and art enthusiasts may well enjoy the story more than I did.

I’m incredibly disappointed in this book.
The story is told in three POV’s. Becker, our MMC who is an art expert with a special interest in artist Vanessa Chapman. His POV’s are in present time.
Grace who was Vanessa’s closest friend. Her POV’s are told in the present with some random chapters throughout the book set in different times during Grace’s life.
Lastly, we have Vanessa Chapman’s POV told through diary entries.

The story was very low paced and extremely predictable.
When I got to the last page, I was so confused. The story couldn’t possibly just end there? But, it did.
Everything was left up in the air, there was no conclusion to this story.
Some books have ambiguous endings done so beautifully that it adds more depth to the story as a whole. This was not that.
It felt like the book stops in the middle of a page.

Thank you NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review

Unfortunately, this book was a miss for me. The characters were unlikeable, the plot dragged on and on, and I struggled to push through until the end.

It just wasn’t for me.

What a book, quite atmospheric. Set partially on a remote island that is accessible only during certain times of the tides. There are multiple mysteries but are introduced slowly. This is not a quick paced thriller, instead it is nuanced.

The book centers on the late artist Vanessa Chapman. She surprisingly willed all her creative works to the foundation run by Douglas Lennox. He was a sort of patron, and lover, of Vanessa before things turned very disagreeable.

Add in the director of the foundation, James Becker, who came from a working class background and still amazed at his fortune being among the upper class. And Grace Haswell, friend, doctor, and executor of Vanessa’s will, who lives in the house and island left to her. Grace hasn’t been the forthcoming with handing over the art work, her letters or journals, creating more disputes.

The book was well written. I found it hard to put down and just wanted to keep reading until the end.


tags: Fiction, Mystery, Crime, Art, Artist, Missing persons, Islands, Scotland

Unfortunately, I had to DNF this book. I loved her other book, "The Girl on the Train," but I could not, for the life of me, get into this book. None of the characters were compelling, and I did not know what was going on with the story from the start. I had to stop about halfway, and I don't think I have the interest to start again.