Dubiosity by Christy Barritt

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Dubiosity is my first ARC review and boy, it was a good one! This book centers around Savannah Harris and unraveling her town's mysterious disappearances and how they link to other crimes. It was very easy to slide into because of the author's charming writing style.

The author takes her time with the Savannah's character development and despite early signs the MC might develop into a Mary Sue, does a good job connecting with the audience. At first, I thought Savannah's grief fell a little flat but I changed my mind. Savannah is a rare female lead that can distance herself from her emotions. Savannah is balanced in the sense that she makes important decisions based on both logic and emotions. Savannah was also very candid about her short-comings and lack of moral fiber. This was so refreshing than the normal justification process that so many main characters go through. As good as Savannah was developed, there were inconsistencies. I did find it strange that she didn't freak out more about a strangers being in her house and that a creative journalist would name her cat "Tiger" for such obvious reasons.

Clive, is not handled as skillfully as Savannah. He comes off as an obvious good guy very early in the book. The first obvious clue-he drives a Jeep. It is a well known fact villains are not capable of driving such fun vehicle. Plus having the bad guy living on the property just would have made it too easy and not romantic. However, Clive is suddenly revealed to be a fake name about 80% (or more) of the way through the book and suddenly his name changed to Jack. It was jarring and strange. I don't think the author should have changed the narration like that so close to the end of the book.

That brings us to the mystery. The mystery element was more complex than usual but I loved it. I really enjoyed the chasing the answers down to each piece. Barritt engaged me and kept me guessing for most of the book. I did not loose interest in plot and the romance/subplots did not over power the main mystery. While I won't ruin the ending of the mystery, I will say that the conclusion was boring and over done. I was let down.

The spiritual turning point for Savannah felt sudden and rushed at the end. It sort of hit me out of left field, especially the intensity. There was a little bit of gradual change but it was like walking into the surf and you get about 6 inches in, then suddenly with one step you are blindsided by a drop off and in over your head. Everything else spirituality-wise was wonderful and I could appreciate Savannah's and Clive's struggles. The spiritual element balance in this book was also done extremely well. I was very worried at the beginning that either the spirituality in this book would be "cafeteria Christian" style or every single thing would be "over spiritualized" but everything was well balanced. (There was one cheesy moment, but I'll let it slide.) This was my best experience with Christian literature so far.

I give Dubiosity, four apples of five and would recommend this book to anyone that believes the Bible and enjoys mysteries.