“No one knew her. No one cares about her. No one cares about finding out who did this. They just care about how much they hate me.”

Title: Thicker Than Water

Author: Brigid Kemmerer

Series: Standalone

Publication: December 29th 2015 by Kensington Books

Pages: 322

Source: Netgalley

Summary from Goodreads:

Thomas Bellweather hasn’t been in town long. Just long enough for his newlywed mother to be murdered, and for his new stepdad’s cop colleagues to decide Thomas is the primary suspect.

Answers that could get them both killed, and reveal a truth Thomas would die to keep hidden…

My Thoughts:

Hmm…. I’m still trying to sort out how I feel about this book. I love the Elemental Series, trust me – the Merrick brothers rank pretty high up there on my list of favorites. But, Thicker Than Water – despite being just as much fun as the Elemental books – fell a little bit short for me in the overall scheme of things. In all honesty, I did love the book – I blew through it in a matter of hours. There were just a lot of little nit picky things and an overall sensation of meh that plagued the electronic pages of my kindle.

I think the one real bright spot in this whole fiasco was Thomas. I could care less about Charlotte, the paranormal aspect (more on that later), and everything else that went on in this book. Thomas’ inner monologue was a tough one to get through, but it was also something that was completely relatable. He is alone. So alone that he might as well be stranded on a desert island with nothing to help him escape – in fact, that is exactly how he feels. His mother has just been murdered, he’s a suspect, and no one seems to give a damn about him or his grief. Thicker Than Water kicks off at his mother’s funeral – it made me cry. He doesn’t even get to attend the funeral for a reason I am not going to explain because it will just piss me off more. Thomas on his own is a very interesting character. He is scarily intense, quite stubborn, and a giant ball of sunshine (sarcasm). No really, Thomas is probably the only reason I kept reading this book besides the name on the front cover.

Charlotte… lord, you don’t want me to get started on Charlotte. I hated her. There, I said it. Shoot me and come after me with your pitchforks. I hated her, I really hated her family –  I just loathed her entire existence in the book even though this was supposed to be a romance. I swear Charlotte’s only purpose for being included in this book was to screw with Thomas. She is literally the cause of his entire downfall and she doesn’t seem to give a rat’s ass. She is a pushover, a stereotypical Mary Sue in disguise, and the epitome of why I sometimes hate Young Adult literature.

As usual with a Kemmerer book, the plot was outstanding. There is an overtone of mystery and danger that keeps the pages turning at light speed. When I started this, I had no idea what this was about. I saw Kemmerer’s name, clicked request, and did a little happy dance when I was approved. I have to say, the book is one hell of a page turner – despite the person I want to strangle( see what I did there?!?).  My one problem in the midst of all this amazingness, besides Charlotte, was the sudden onslaught of unnecessary paranormal bullshit. The book was fine, and I probably would give it a higher rating if it had just stuck to a contemporary real world fiasco – but no. There had to be supernatural stuff involved, bah humbug. The whole supernatural empath thing was such a let down! It wasn’t well thought out or developed, it was rushed, and it was just overall stupid. I had come to expect undeniable realism with the supernatural in Kemmerer’s novels, so talk about a serious let down.

Overall, I am torn on what to think or feel about Thicker Than Water. It had the good, the amazing, and all the horrible things it possibly could have had. Thicker Than Water both will keep you up at night and interested, but it’s female protagonist will also make you want to repeatedly hit yourself in the head with a sledgehammer. With a disappointing and anticlimactic ending yet an exciting and heart pounding lead up, Thicker Than Water is best left alone unless you really just want to kill some time. Like a few hours. Seriously.