The Nesting was a very different book from the one I was expecting.
I didn't really feel a connection with any of the characters and that made it hard to care about them and their situation. The story follows Lexi who steals the identity of another woman in other to become a nanny to two children in Norway after the death of their mother. This is a story that should be very much up my street and while I enjoyed aspects of the book it never reached the highs it could have done.
This book was very up and down for me. The plot would speed up and slow down at various points and it was a bit of a task getting into the story initially as it felt very tropey. However, I found that when I got halfway through the book I was happily in the story. I feel like there is a lot of potential in this book but it didn't quite do it for me.

Lexi has hit rock bottom. She has no home, no job, no life. When she overhears a conversation about a nanny job in Norway, she takes an opportunity, steals an identity and moves to Norway working as a.nanny for a recently widowed man.
The story is Grim fairy tale esq. and is a spooky, thriller page turner.
Brilliant.

https://lynns-books.com/2020/11/12/the-nesting-by-cj-cooke/
3.5 of 5 stars
My Five Word TL:DR Review : Atmospheric setting, slightly perplexing plot

The Nesting is a book that I enjoyed but at the same time it didn’t quite wow me the way I’d expected it to. To be fair, the writing is great and really easy to get along with, in fact the strength of the writing won me over completely and I will definitely check out other works by this author based on this read. Before I get ahead of myself though, a little about the plot.

As the story begins we meet Lexi Ellis who is going through a very dark period in her life. I won’t elaborate but things don’t improve and Lexi finds herself, friendless, boyfriendless, jobless and homeless in fairly quick order when a chance encounter seems to reverse her bad fortune. However, there is one small glitch, Lexi needs to take a new identity to turn her life around and by ‘take’ I mean steal. So, new identity in place, Lexi takes the job and moves to Norway where her new employer (Tom) is building a summer house overlooking a Fjord and needs a nanny to take care of his two children following their mother’s suicide.

The setting is inspired and I loved it. It is indeed gothic. We have a major building project in the works here. This is a make or break project and tension runs high, especially as problems keep mounting. We have this whole feeling of nature rebelling against the work taking place. Trees that seem ominously close, water sprites and hoof prints that mysteriously appear. There are creepy carry ons, mysteriously forbidden basements and ghostly apparitions. On top of that the story is infused with Norwegian folklore and stories that add an extra layer.

To the characters. Well, obviously we have Lexi – also known as Sophie for a good portion of the story (stolen identity and all). We have Aurelia, her storyline takes place in the past. Aurelia was Tom’s wife until she committed suicide and we now spend time with her in the past to help build up the backstory of how the summer house plan came to fruition in the first place. There are the two children, Gaia and Coco. Gaia suffers nightmares and frequently wakes during the night. Lexi really falls for both girls and in spite of her lack of experience and being thrown into the deep end a little she makes pretty good progress. There are more characters, including a housekeeper who has secrets herself but I don’t want to elaborate too much.

The thing is, this has everything that I love in spades and even writing this review I’m getting excited all over again about the gothic creepy feel and the homage to other classics such as Rebecca which sprang into my mind whilst reading, and so why didn’t this totally win me over. Well, the plot is a little unusual. There are a number of elements. There’s the gothic story itself, there’s all the folklore elements, a haunting and a murder mystery and it just feels like there’s too much and a number of the threads remain unresolved. I wasn’t quite sure if this was down to an unreliable narrator but certain points just didn’t seem to go anywhere.

So, overall, in spite of issues regarding the story and a few unresolved threads this is a well written book and I’m not entirely sure whether the issues I had are more about my lack of concentrations at the moment. One thing I can say is that this is superbly written and I feel like I’ve found a ‘new to me author’ to check out.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.

As the lives of two womennseparated by time are woven together, CJ Cooke takes us on a hauntingly atmospheric tale of chilling woods, sad ghosts and a tragic past. It's a classic gothic tale, that oozes threat and malice while managing to keep the reader enthralled in unravelling a mystery locked in a secret diary.

Told through two POVs, I found myself drawn more to Lexi's contemporary story, which was riddled with the constant threat of hauntings from the mysterious sad lady with holes for eyes. Including the two motherless children added to the creepy atmosphere. I don't know what it is about children in horror, but they always seem to up the spook level. There is a level of suspense that is often hard to maintain in these types of thrillers, however I think it was handled well here. The pacing stays tight and fast throughout, not allowing this tension to drop and I think this is enhanced by the inclusion of Nordic folklore, which added a level of authenticity to the story.

I also found that I warmed to Lexi (or Sophie, depending on who she was talking to). From the start she seems like the stereotypical gothic thriller protagonist. Someone who lies to get a job as a nanny to creepy children, who then gets into a heap of trouble. However, over the course of the story I found her to be well developed and interesting. Her compassion to the children made her endearing, and by reading Aurelia's diary we see links and comparisons between the two women.

An interesting take on a common gothic trope, with a bucketful of atmosphere and some nice characterisation. With a fast paced plot and plenty of twists and turns, this was a fun (if scary!) ride.

“The Nesting” by C.J. Cooke is a perfect combination between a gothic suspense thriller and a haunted house story.

We follow Lexi who decides to leave her troubled life behind and move to Norway to work as a live-in nanny to two little girls. But she soon realises that she is about to deal which much more than what she originally thought.

The author created an incredible and a chilling to the bone atmosphere in the book - mysterious death, an isolated old house by the fjord and suspicious characters. I love how the story combines the elements of nature with a Nordic folklore which makes the book very unique and interesting. I’ve found the novel to be extremely well written with some very fascinating descriptions of nature and local believes and I was unable to put the it down. I must admit I was a tiny bit disappointed with the ending as I felt it was a little bit rushed and predictable but I still enjoyed the plot itself.

It was a great thriller that definitely stands out from the other. If you like a creepy story “The Nesting” would be a perfect choice.

Aurelia has it all, two beautiful daughters, a handsome architect husband and a housekeeper who dotes on her. She is truly living a charmed life and when her husband tells her that he is going to build her a house in her ancestral country of Norway she is overjoyed. Her joy is short lived as the land they have bought doesn’t seem to want them there.

Lexi doesn’t have it all, her life is falling apart, she finds herself homeless and on a train. On that train she overhears two young women talking about a nannying position for a man and his two young daughters which will take the successful applicant to Norway. Despite no qualifications Lexi manages to scam her way in to the position and finds herself looking after two adorable girls with no idea whatsoever of what she should be doing. She also learns that her employers wife committed suicide in Norway.

The Nesting tells us its story from two different POV’s, the present with Lexi and the past with Aurelia. Each woman encounters things, things that should most definitely not be there, things that could be warning them both of trouble to come. The land in Norway where the family are building there house sounds idyllic, its by a river that flows in to a nearby fjord, its surrounded by thick forests and there is nobody for miles around. It should be peaceful, the perfect retreat from the city but it turns out to be the complete opposite of that, the land is full of whispers and creeping shadows, unexplained occurrences and things out of the corner of your eye. Very quickly Lexi realises that her new life maybe a lot worse than her old.

From the beautiful cover to the very last page, The Nesting sucked me in. I think the setting really hit the nail on the head, I’m a sucker for books set in Scandinavia and the Norwegian setting was perfect, atmospheric and wonderfully creepy. It wasn’t as scary as I would have hoped but it had its moments.

A perfect Autumnal read.

Thanks to Net Galley for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

A gripping and highly entertaining mix of horror, Scandinavian folks, ghosts that kept me on the edge.
I loved the well thought MC, she's strong and face things with a lot of humour.
The character development, the world building and the storytelling are excellent.
It's very interesting story and I hope to read other story by this author.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

A beguiling Gothic tale rich in atmosphere, suspense and intrigue, C J Cooke’s The Nesting is a dark and chilling read that is completely captivating.

Lexi thought that Lady Luck had truly smiled down upon her when she met architect Tom. Swept away by this charismatic man, Lexi had fallen madly in love with Tom and she had moved in with him and his two young daughters in a beautiful home in a Norwegian forest. Lexi thought that she was living in a fairy-tale surrounded by miles upon miles of unspoilt natural beauty, snow and the soothing sounds of the fjords echoing in the distance. However, Lexi quickly realised that rather than fairy tale she had originally imagined, she might have just stepped into a dark and twisted nightmare as her new family has plenty of long-buried secrets and rattling skeletons in their closets that are about to come out into the light…

As the past and the present begin to intertwine in the most shocking and unexpected of ways, Lexi realises that Tom hasn’t been completely honest with her and that the handsome prince she had fallen madly in love with might not be the man she had initially thought him to be. The beautiful house which she had once thought completely and utterly enchanting turns out to be a terrifying mausoleum whose corridors abound with the shadows of old sins, past demons and festering wounds that have trapped Lexi into a frightening reality that is far removed from the enchanted idyll she had initially thought it to be.

As she begins to hear things and see strange occurrences, she wonders whether her mind is playing tricks on her…or whether she should trust her instincts, follow her gut and find a way out of the gilded cage which she is jailed in. With her two young charges to protect, Lexi needs to break free and defeat the menacing threats that surround them. But will she ever unshackle herself from the terrors of the forest? Or is she condemned to a lifetime of danger and regret?

The Nesting is a brilliantly written, highly original and wholly mesmerizing tale that casts its spell upon the reader from the very first page and keeps them on the edge of their seats throughout. C J Cooke has written a lyrical, eerie, creepy and sinister page-turner readers will find impossible to put down and difficult to forget.

A twisted fairy tale for grown-ups that will haunt readers long after the last page is turned, C J Cooke’s The Nesting is a terrifying Gothic treat perfect for curling up with on a cold October afternoon.

The Nesting tells you pretty much everything you need to know about whether or not you'll like the book within the first pages - a woman being chased through woods, a folk tale, a different woman slitting her wrists, and the difficulty telling the difference between reality and hallucination. I mean, there's clearly more going on that just that, but essentially those initial pages clearly lay out what to expect. I suspect the majority of people will know whether they like this book before they've even finished the first chapter. This didn't help me save any time though, because I hadn't even finished the prologue before I swooned over a line about a river - yeah, I was clearly going to read the whole thing.

The biggest hook of the whole book for me is, without doubt, our perception of the world. There are numerous sections that blur the lines of reality, primarily through dreams and Norwegian folklore. It is a delicate balance that Cooke manages to maintain throughout. The theme runs deeper though - the way obsession can justify irrational behaviours, and how we can view reality through the lens of our personal perspectives. Not only is it interesting as a concept, but it also creates a framework for an interesting story.

The story somewhat eschews a genre. Despite the setting, it never really hits the scandinoir notes. It doesn't read like a horror story even with spirits hovering and swimming around. Much like the river I enjoyed in the prologue, this book knows the path it wants to take and does so without a care for any attempts to define it for ourselves. That makes it stand out. It has an originality that doesn't try too hard. Cooke doesn't stomp around writing a genre-defying story, she simply writes without fear. It's elegant and enjoyable. It almost meanders along for much of the book, with a sudden rush of conclusion like a stretch of rapids.
Characters slot into place in your mind, they're crafted to allow just the right connections to form in your brain. Which makes the ending feel right. That simple quality which is hard to define. Those pages where everything just lands exactly where they need to, leaving you sated.

Read those first few pages and then go with what you feel. If you're sold early then I suspect, like me, you'll find this to be a rewarding read.

was drawn to The Nesting by the absolutely stunning cover, but this book offers so much more than that. It is wonderfully atmospheric and it is perfect to read as the dark nights are closing in.

The majority of the novel is set in Norway and i was immediately transported to the setting by the beautiful descriptions, particularly the surroundings of the Faraday's unconventional house.

The plot of The Nesting has several different elements to it. It is difficult to explain in more detail without spoilers but  there is always a sense of tension as we read on to see which part of the story will unravel next. I did not expect the plot to go in the direction that it did and I really enjoyed all the twists and turns. There are also mythical and supernatural undertones to the plot which I found particularly interesting and they definitely gave the novel an extra layer.

The Nesting is the first book I have read by the author but I will definitely be looking out for more.

Much of The Nesting takes place in Norway, in an isolated setting, complete with a vulnerable nanny, a mysterious family, two tiny children who have recently lost their mother in tragic circumstances, a grieving widower and a housekeeper straight out of a Hitchcock movie, put it all together, and you have all the right ingredients for a truly, unsettling read.

Lexie Ellis is desperate to escape her life in England, and so takes up, under false pretenses, the position of nanny, in an isolated house on the edge of a dark, dark wood. Her new home, and family, are full of mysterious secrets and pretty soon into the story I was jumping as much at shadows as Lexie, especially when she starts to hear unexpected noises, and senses unusual activity, in the house which holds so many hidden secrets. Deeply flawed, and vulnerable, Lexi has the difficult task of leading us by the hand through this complex and darkly, mysterious gothic story, which looks at the burden of responsibility, the heartbreak of tragic and unexplained death, and the overwhelming power of culpability.

Setting the story in Norway is inspired as not only do you feel the absolute chill of the icy outdoors but you are also plunged into a world of supernatural folklore which has a darkening relevance as the story progresses. Beautifully atmospheric, with a genuine chill factor, The Nesting grips from the very beginning, with a prologue which was both terrifying, and intriguing, in equal measure, and, as I continued reading I found that this shadowy tension never relaxes, not even for a minute, throughout the whole of the story.

The Nesting is a creepy, chilling story which is the perfect read for Halloween and a cold, autumnal night.

All month I've been itching to read a creepy, gothic book. The Nesting is both of those things and more.

Returning to Norway after the recent death of his wife Aurelia, Tom hires Lexi to accompany the family as their Nanny. For him, it's a chance to honour his wife the house she dreamed of while avoiding his grief, and for Lexi it's a chance to reinvent herself and start again after a recent suicide attempt.

But deep in the remote Norwegian forest, there is a threat lurking. But is it human? Are the things Aurelia and Lexi see really hallucinations or are they a real and sinister supernatural force that is out to harm them?

Atmospheric, eerie and haunting, this is the perfect book for this time of year. I'm a big fan of gothic novels, and Cooke executes this one expertly, with just the right amount of spine-tingling terror to keep you hooked and not wanting to turn out the light.

The writing is simply gorgeous and so vividly descriptive that I felt like I was seeing and feeling everything alongside the characters. I particularly liked how well her description of Lexi's first month as a Nanny captured the exhaustive nature of children and how she put us inside the mind of a young child so realistically.

The imagery of Norway made me feel like I was standing in that forest myself and I think that her choice of a remote Norwegian forest in winter was perfect for a Gothic thriller. Beautiful, haunting, dark, chilling and hostile, it sets the scene by simply being itself. The author entwines this with eerie Norwegian folklore and unexplained occurrences, creating the perfect recipe for this spooky tale.

Dealing with themes of motherhood, mental health and suicide, this isn't a light-hearted read, but it examines each one with sensitivity and realism. It is clear that mental health and motherhood are subjects that heavily impact and influence the author, as she has woven them into both Lexi and Aurelia's stories. I loved this, the way the women mirrored each other in so many ways and felt it gave them a deep connection despite the fact that they'd never met. I could personally relate to them both in their mental health struggles and they were definitely the characters I felt closest too.

All of the characters, even the minor ones, were interesting and well written. I enjoyed the flashbacks as they gave us a chance to get to know Aurelia and gave us possible clues about her death. It also gives the reader the chance to see a clearer picture of Tom, though I found him suspicious and unlikeable all the same. I thought Lexi was a great protagonist who was relatable, flawed and likeable. But the one who really stole my heart was Gaia. How could she not? She broke my heart when she talked about her 'Mumma' and definitely creeped me out most of all with all her talk of the Sad Lady.

An immersive, ethereal and chilling read, The Nesting is the perfect gothic tale for reading while cosy under a blanket this autumn. Just don't turn out the light!

loved this. It was equal parts chilling and emotive with a gorgeous setting beautifully described that made you just sink into it and I read it in one gulp of a sitting.

Lexi steals an identity and escapes from her life…taking on the role of Nanny to two girls who have recently lost their mother…but what exactly haunted Aurelia and is Tom Faraday, Dad, quite as perfect as he seems…

This is such a wonderful novel on so many levels. An exploration of grief in an isolated setting where mother nature rules, it is a creepy and effective modern fairy tale with quirky, intriguing characters and some dark imaginings that keep you turning the pages to find out what happens.

The descriptive language is pitch perfectly done so the whole thing has an off kilter, edgy feel and it is often unexpectedly heart wrenching. I just couldn’t bear to put it down and it stayed with me long after the final page was done.

Overall a truly excellent read. Highly recommended. Perfect for Halloween and the chilly weather.

‘The Nesting’ is the latest book by C.J Cooke.

Deep in a remote Norwegian forest, Lexi has found a new home with architect Tom and his two young daughters. With snow underfoot and the sound of the nearby fjord in her ears, it’s as if Lexi has stepped into a fairy tale. But this family has a history – and this place has a past. Something was destroyed to build their beautiful new house. And those ancient, whispering woods have a long memory. Lexi begins to hear things, see things that don’t make sense. She used to think this place heavenly, but in the dark, dark woods, a menacing presence lurks. With darkness creeping in from the outside, Lexi knows she needs to protect the children in her care. But protect them from what?

‘The Nesting’ was a book that caught me completely by surprise. It’s a gothic thriller set in Norway but there is an element of humour in the story from the lead protagonisit which made for a fun reading in this dark story.

The story is seen primarily through the eyes of Lexi who tries to take her own life but when that doesn’t work, she realises that she needs to make a change to her life. Dumped and now homeless, she hops on a train and upon hearing a conversation between 2 friends becomes Sophie, a nanny to little girls called Gaia and Coco in an isolated part of Norway. Settled into her new role and identity, Sophie finds herself loving her new job but finds the house that she’s leaving spooky especially when she’s told to stay away from the basement.

Not only is the story seen from the narrative of Lexi/Sophie but there’s elements of insight from Aurelia who’s the mother of the 2 little girls who had sadly died from suspected suicide. Her insights feature her battle with her mental health as well as living in a forest surrounded by folklore and urban myths. Her husband, is determined to build her the house of her dreams but is constantly faced with issues and pitfalls along the way. The locals maintain it’s down the magic surrounding the land and in the end back away from the project.

The story is an atmospheric and vivid story. Right from the beginning, the author creates vivid descriptions of the forest and the surrounding areas as well the scary Norwegian folklores that make for unsettling but fascinating reading.

I loved the characters in this story. Lexi a great protagonist, she’s witty and self deprecating and fits easily into her role, even though she is making it up as she goes along. The theme of mental health is very prevalent in the story, as both Aurelia and Lexi have their own issues and this makes for sad reading at times as they try to decipher what is real and what is a hallucination.

Beautifully written against the snowy backdrop of the Norwegian landscape, ‘The Nesting’ is a stunning and chilling story that takes the reader deep in creepy folklore where secrets and ghosts lurk and nothing is what it seems.

You can buy ‘The Nesting’ from Amazon and is available to buy from good bookshops.

What a mix of mystery, old norse tales, ghosts & horror. It is a great story, i read it in one sitting, real page turner.

I was so excited to be able to read this wonderful book as part of the tour.

Lexi has attempted suicide, her life is in turmoil and she wants it to change. She gets on a train and whilst she is on it, she overhears a conversation between two women about a Nanny’s job in Norway that one of the women was going to apply for.

Lexi seizes the opportunity to reinvent herself as Sophie and applies for the job as Nanny to two girls Gaia and Coco. They live with their father Tom who has been recently widowed. His wife Aurelia tragically died in what they presume was suicide.

She is stunned when she gets the job and heads of to Norway where Tom is building a Grand Designs summerhouse in the edge of a cliff. When she arrives she meets Clive Tom’s business partner and his wife Derry and the Mrs Danversesque housekeeper Maren. Lexi has lied through her teeth to get this job and Maren is suspicious of her so Lexi does everything in her power to put her of the scent of discovery the truth about her.

Throughout the book we also hear from Aurelia and her time in Norway before her death. This book is really immersive, the setting is bleak, the past is tragic, and as for the sad lady! You will have to read it to find out more about her.

I really liked Lexi, she really is trying hard to sort herself out and her dream of writing a book appears to be within her grasp when she gets the job. She genuinely loves the little girls and I felt such sadness and empathy for them losing their mother as such a young age.

I think Tom is like a lot of men clueless to the strain of motherhood and Aurelia was obviously lonely and not well when she came to Granhus but she puts on a brave face because she feels she should be happy with her life. Both Lexi and Aurelia hear someone calling their name and these parts of the book are truly unsettling and I loved the incorporation of the folklore into the story which adds so much to the atmosphere of the story.

There is so much hidden which is revealed as you head deeper into the story. Mental health, loneliness, loss and sadness. I was absolutely gripped from the outset and the relationships in the book are so complex and twisty I had no idea how it would end but I was not disappointed and I heartily recommend that you read too!! I loved this book.

The Nesting is a chilling, gothic novel which I found completely absorbing. The synopsis of this book really appealed to me as it involved a creepy house, supernatural goings on and it is based on Norwegian fairytales which I always enjoy.

Firstly the setting of this book was wonderful, with the author’s vivid descriptions allowing me to picture the setting in my mind. The natural landscape sounded so beautiful and has definitely made me want to visit Norway in the future. It had an almost otherworldly feel to it, where the family and the builders were stuck in their own magical bubble where anything could happen. I liked how the landscape changed as the book went on and develops alongside the story from lush green at the beginning, before things start developing, to brown when things start to get unsettling. I thought this was really clever and I helped add to the overall atmosphere of the story.

The characters were fabulous creations that I loved following through the book. They all go on quite a journey and my opinions of each of them kept changing as the story progressed. I often ended up having completely different opinions of them from when I started which I found very interesting. Lexi, for example, I started off finding very annoying but I warmed to as I saw how well she took to the nannying job and how much she obviously loved the kids.

The story starts off slow but soon becomes very gripping as things start happening at the house and we learn more about the characters. The story goes back and forth between what’s happenning now and what happened in the past which is told mainly from Aurelia’s point of view. This helped create a creepy, unsettling atmosphere which kept me on edge as I was never sure what was going to happen next. The tension slowly increases as the book goes on and I found myself suspecting everyone at some point.

The ending was brilliant and I was surprised how everything ended up which I always enjoy. I liked how the author keeps the story going for a bit longer after everything is solved so the reader can see how the family is after everything transpires.

Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Harper Collins for my copy of this book. I felt this was similar to The Snow Child, so if you liked that book I think you’ll like this one too!

I love a good Gothic haunted house mystery and there were elements of this book that I enjoyed but unfortunately I didn’t love it.

Lexi is a troubled young woman who we meet while she is in the midst of a suicide attempt. Her estranged mother is cruel and demeaning and her boyfriend who has just dumped her. She cons her way into a nannying job in Norway under an assumed identity, and enters the lives of a deeply dysfunctional family.

I very much enjoyed the remote Norwegian setting and the relationship between Lexi and the children she cared for, particularly the adorably precocious six year old Gaia. However, for me there were just too many far fetched plot devices (such as how Lexi comes to apply for the job) and co-incidences to make it believable or as dark and menacing as the author intended. The use of humour in Lexi’s first person narrative also jarred and just didn’t work for me.

This starts with the death of Aurelia. Was it suicide?

Then Lexi attempts to take her life, but is saved by a friend. Her boyfriend then leaves her.

She hears of a job opportunity in Norway, so she steals the identity of another woman and applies to be a Nanny.

She gets the job and travels to Norway to be Nanny to Tom’s children. Tom was Aurelias husband.

Lexi feels she is living a fairytale, but then the sad lady begins to appear and things get dark and creepy.

I found The Nesting to be an atmospheric and downright creepy gothic thriller with some really scary moments…..one to read with the lights on! …...a thoroughly entertaining read.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for an eARC of The Nesting.

It’s been a while since I’ve read a Nordic novel & I always enjoy some Gothic darkness, so this novel seemed to offer the best of both worlds being mainly set in Norway..
I was interested that the story would be narrated by a British woman, not a Scandinavian which I felt would give a different perspective to the usual Scandi-Noir novels I read.
The scenery was richly described and evocative. The folklore was fascinating &intriguing mixed in with unsettling ghostly everts which made me feel a little apprehensive, as I was on my own reading this in an old house at night!
The story tackled numerous issues of concern sensitively; post-natal depression, suicide attempts, homelessness and dysfunctional relationships to name a few- but ultimately I was left with a lot of questions. What was Derry’s role, how did Maren fit in and was there really a ghost in the house? I think just concentrating on the Nordic folklore & upsetting the spirits of the river would have been enough for me.
It also concerned me that all the way through it seemed to be ignored that Lexi/Sophie although very personable, was actually living a lie.
An enjoyable novel but the unanswered questions for me make it a 3.5 rating.