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steffiraquel's review against another edition
2.0
⭐2
Disappointed is an understatement. I really loved the format of being passed on to different character's perspective, but that meant you never really cared about them. I predicted the end and I think the commentary on some mental health things rubbed me the wrong way...
Disappointed is an understatement. I really loved the format of being passed on to different character's perspective, but that meant you never really cared about them. I predicted the end and I think the commentary on some mental health things rubbed me the wrong way...
cordillia's review against another edition
3.0
יישום די בנאלי לרעיון מעניין ומקורי שבבסיסו הזיכרון האנושי.
התוצאה בפועל היא ספר מתח בינוני. לעיתים מרתק ולעיתים סתמי עד משעמם ממש.
מקווה לראות ניסיונות מוצלחים יותר ליישם את הרעיון של צ'ירוביצ'י: ניסיון לפתור תעלומת רצח ישן תוך הסתמכות על זיכרונם של אנשים שונים שהיו מעורבים בפרשה, שלכל אחד מהם זיכרון וסיפור שונה לגבי מה שהתרחש.
ספר המראות/י.א צ'ירוביצ'י
התוצאה בפועל היא ספר מתח בינוני. לעיתים מרתק ולעיתים סתמי עד משעמם ממש.
מקווה לראות ניסיונות מוצלחים יותר ליישם את הרעיון של צ'ירוביצ'י: ניסיון לפתור תעלומת רצח ישן תוך הסתמכות על זיכרונם של אנשים שונים שהיו מעורבים בפרשה, שלכל אחד מהם זיכרון וסיפור שונה לגבי מה שהתרחש.
ספר המראות/י.א צ'ירוביצ'י
snazzybooks's review against another edition
4.0
Book reviews and more on www.snazzybooks.com
This is an interesting, well-written book with plenty of layers and depth, centered as it is around a story within a story. It definitely drew me in, and I do love books with several parts or narratives - particularly when there's also an element of mystery!
The Book of Mirrors is a story of several parts - we start by reading the manuscript sent to an agent, but soon discover it's only a partial manuscript and so although it seems to be based on truth, on a real murder of a University Professor which happened many years ago, we don't know if it's true - and if it is true then who killed him, and how?
We switch to other viewpoints as they try to find out what actually happened. I really love novels which are essentially a 'book within a book' with dual narratives, as this is. I always find them intriguing, and The Book of Mirrors was no exception. The only annoying thing about this kind of novel is that I often feel that, just I'm just becoming completely absorbed in the plot, it switches and I feel a bit disappointed because I want to continue. However this does allow the reader to read from another viewpoint, and tease out the small intricacies connected to the murder that only certain characters may know.
Avoiding some of the characteristics of the crime genre, this book does not focus on the police investigation much at all; it's more focussed on the private investigator hired by the publishers, who is trying to work out what happened. Memories are muddied and forgotten (and purposefully altered?) so that nothing is as it seems. I really like that sense of uncertainty. When reading the manuscript we are focussed on the story as it unravels, completely at the mercy of the narrator, Peter, and whether he is a reliable narrator - or not.
E.O. Chirovici writes really well, and creates a novel which you'll want to keep reading. It's different and deliciously deep, drawing you in as you try to unravel the details!
* Many thanks to Cornerstone for providing a copy of this novel, on which I chose to write an unbiased and honest review *
This is an interesting, well-written book with plenty of layers and depth, centered as it is around a story within a story. It definitely drew me in, and I do love books with several parts or narratives - particularly when there's also an element of mystery!
The Book of Mirrors is a story of several parts - we start by reading the manuscript sent to an agent, but soon discover it's only a partial manuscript and so although it seems to be based on truth, on a real murder of a University Professor which happened many years ago, we don't know if it's true - and if it is true then who killed him, and how?
We switch to other viewpoints as they try to find out what actually happened. I really love novels which are essentially a 'book within a book' with dual narratives, as this is. I always find them intriguing, and The Book of Mirrors was no exception. The only annoying thing about this kind of novel is that I often feel that, just I'm just becoming completely absorbed in the plot, it switches and I feel a bit disappointed because I want to continue. However this does allow the reader to read from another viewpoint, and tease out the small intricacies connected to the murder that only certain characters may know.
Avoiding some of the characteristics of the crime genre, this book does not focus on the police investigation much at all; it's more focussed on the private investigator hired by the publishers, who is trying to work out what happened. Memories are muddied and forgotten (and purposefully altered?) so that nothing is as it seems. I really like that sense of uncertainty. When reading the manuscript we are focussed on the story as it unravels, completely at the mercy of the narrator, Peter, and whether he is a reliable narrator - or not.
E.O. Chirovici writes really well, and creates a novel which you'll want to keep reading. It's different and deliciously deep, drawing you in as you try to unravel the details!
* Many thanks to Cornerstone for providing a copy of this novel, on which I chose to write an unbiased and honest review *
siobhan_leahy's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This was a novel way of telling a story, fragments of a 30 year old murder priced together from 4 different perspectives. All of which would be considered unreliable narrators.
I'd been putting off reading this as I've never seen anyone talking about it or reading it so it was a great surprise. I would definitely recommend it. Or it could be the psychiatric elements and forensic hospitals, as they are my day job so I tend to enjoy seeing them used in fiction.
Will be checking out any more work by E. O. Chirovic!
I'd been putting off reading this as I've never seen anyone talking about it or reading it so it was a great surprise. I would definitely recommend it. Or it could be the psychiatric elements and forensic hospitals, as they are my day job so I tend to enjoy seeing them used in fiction.
Will be checking out any more work by E. O. Chirovic!
saarahn's review against another edition
5.0
I have just discovered my kind of book, I didn't want to finish it!
This is such an astoundingly intelligent book, there were so many twists and turns. It had me cutting corners, drawing a blank, not knowing what to expect, racing ahead, creating my own scenarios, and constantly reaching dead ends....Even then, the ending was a complete surprise. This book has been the most engaging I've read in a long time, I feel as though I've exhausted my brain- in a good way, just so we're clear.
All the characters had a story, there was intrigue hints of scandal, dark histories of being misunderstood, of being framed, used and manipulated. I was at a loss for just who could possibly have been the perpetrator of the crime. They were all such viable suspects, something a little 'off' about all of them. Could they all have worked together? Could Professor Weider have created his own elaborate 'murder' to frame someone, or all of them? The characters, themselves, were at a loss too- no one seemed to have the slightest evidence. They all just had theories....I was just as engaged as they were, struggling to piece things together with a feeling that something was still missing.
For the longest time when I was reading this book, I was more than convinced of the perpetrator. My bet was Laura, she being a close student of Professor Weider, and a psychology student. I've actually always loved Psychology, and I've studied it for a number of years, and I both, resent and admire the societal stereotypes we have of psychologists. As is typical of most people, I've always been of the opinion that one can't really trust psychologists. The way they are able to manipulate thoughts, get into your head, have you open yourself up to them, has always disturbed me. And this is how we learn Professor Weider, a cognitive psychologist, to have been:
'.... he always seemed stuck inside a sort of glass cubicle, locked up in there by his own incapacity to accept that others weren’t just sock puppets in his twisted mind games.' And I thought the same thing of his student, Laura. I just kept imagining the number of minds she had been toying with, ever since the murder of her Professor. All in all, I'm pleased I was wrong.
This really is just the kind of book that makes you want to be a detective. But, unlike is common of most detective mysteries, Chirovici focusses on the motives of the individuals, what drove them to kill, it was all 'whydunit', as he writes in his 'Author's note', as well as a 'whodunit'. As a lover of history, I loved this element within the book. History, itself, seeks to uncover every small detail which contributed to any event, an individual's motives and intentions have a lot to do with that.
I honestly think this book will make a really good film. Honestly. One of those really complicated films that you're still immersed in long after you've watched it. Chirovici really is correct when he writes of the feeling the ex-detective felt once the case was finally solved, I feel the same way after finishing this book. He writes: 'When you finally discover the truth about a case that has obsessed you for a while, it’s like losing a travelling companion. A talkative, prying and perhaps even ill-mannered companion, but one you’ve grown used to having around when you wake up in the morning.'
I received this book through NetGalley.
This is such an astoundingly intelligent book, there were so many twists and turns. It had me cutting corners, drawing a blank, not knowing what to expect, racing ahead, creating my own scenarios, and constantly reaching dead ends....Even then, the ending was a complete surprise. This book has been the most engaging I've read in a long time, I feel as though I've exhausted my brain- in a good way, just so we're clear.
All the characters had a story, there was intrigue hints of scandal, dark histories of being misunderstood, of being framed, used and manipulated. I was at a loss for just who could possibly have been the perpetrator of the crime. They were all such viable suspects, something a little 'off' about all of them. Could they all have worked together? Could Professor Weider have created his own elaborate 'murder' to frame someone, or all of them? The characters, themselves, were at a loss too- no one seemed to have the slightest evidence. They all just had theories....I was just as engaged as they were, struggling to piece things together with a feeling that something was still missing.
For the longest time when I was reading this book, I was more than convinced of the perpetrator. My bet was Laura, she being a close student of Professor Weider, and a psychology student. I've actually always loved Psychology, and I've studied it for a number of years, and I both, resent and admire the societal stereotypes we have of psychologists. As is typical of most people, I've always been of the opinion that one can't really trust psychologists. The way they are able to manipulate thoughts, get into your head, have you open yourself up to them, has always disturbed me. And this is how we learn Professor Weider, a cognitive psychologist, to have been:
'.... he always seemed stuck inside a sort of glass cubicle, locked up in there by his own incapacity to accept that others weren’t just sock puppets in his twisted mind games.' And I thought the same thing of his student, Laura. I just kept imagining the number of minds she had been toying with, ever since the murder of her Professor. All in all, I'm pleased I was wrong.
This really is just the kind of book that makes you want to be a detective. But, unlike is common of most detective mysteries, Chirovici focusses on the motives of the individuals, what drove them to kill, it was all 'whydunit', as he writes in his 'Author's note', as well as a 'whodunit'. As a lover of history, I loved this element within the book. History, itself, seeks to uncover every small detail which contributed to any event, an individual's motives and intentions have a lot to do with that.
I honestly think this book will make a really good film. Honestly. One of those really complicated films that you're still immersed in long after you've watched it. Chirovici really is correct when he writes of the feeling the ex-detective felt once the case was finally solved, I feel the same way after finishing this book. He writes: 'When you finally discover the truth about a case that has obsessed you for a while, it’s like losing a travelling companion. A talkative, prying and perhaps even ill-mannered companion, but one you’ve grown used to having around when you wake up in the morning.'
I received this book through NetGalley.
jessy_reads's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
jojojgb's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 stars: the story idea was strong but to make the ending work there are too many coincidences and people involved. It felt like too much of a stretch at the end.
kris386's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
thesullenreader's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0