Arc review: The Interpreter by Brooke Robinson

I was kindly sent an advance reader copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Blurb:

The most dangerous person in the courtroom isn’t the killer…

Single mother Revelle Lee is an interpreter who spends her days translating for victims, witnesses and the accused across London. Only she knows what they’re saying. Only she knows the truth.

When she believes a grave injustice is about to occur, and a guilty man is going to be labelled innocent, she has the power to twist an alibi to get the verdict she wants. She’s willing to risk it all to do what’s right.

But when someone discovers she lied, Revelle finds the cost might be too high… and she could lose everything, including her son.

My thoughts:

The Interpreter is a unique story, with an array of unlikeable characters. For me, unlikeable characters makes a great psychological thriller. Our main character, Revelle is a complicated and unusual narrator who just wants to keep her son safe. As a court interpreter, she finds herself stuck in a situation where she may have to twist the truth to help others. There are times where I did find the story to be far fetched, with Revelle placing herself in these situations herself. It’s not difficult to see why the narrator feels concerned about her son, but whether a person under that amount of stress would act in the same way, is another question. I found some of her actions inexcusable.

While there are parts of this story that didn’t work for me, some did. I was most intrigued by her job as an interpreter. I also liked the scene where she interpreted in the police station for the homeless man and how her character developed from that point. It was fun to read about a career most people probably don’t know about. The legal side of the court cases were also engrossing to read about and I wish there were more scenes in this setting. These were the chapters that captivated my attention the most.

I didn’t like the part of the story where the narrator became panicked over her son’s safety because it became repetitive. Nothing changed, other than her level of panic. While she was scared of something happening to him, the stakes didn’t seem that high to me as I figured out who may have been causing her so much grief early on in the book. It wasn’t bad, I just preferred the parts surrounding her work more.

The ending was slightly anti-climatic in terms of shock value, but it was enjoyable. I definitely think the story picked up towards the third half of the book.

If you’re looking for a thriller with lots of twists and turns, this probably isn’t for you. But if you like more of a character driven plot with unlikeable characters then you should definitely pick this one up.

Rating: 3/5