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organchordsandlightning's review
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
While an intriguing mystery (with some genuinely interesting political situations thrown in), I don't think the emotional core of the novel hit very well. It was really trying to set up St. John as a protagonist for a further detective series, but any look at his emotional core tended to be the most uninteresting parts of the book.
hannah_gunn's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
_shonahenderson's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
mindfulmagpie's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.0
Another atmospheric story from John Banville, a nice tangent to the Quirke books
erboe501's review
1.0
This book was so bad. Boring writing, bad dialogue, unrealistic characters, unoriginal plot. Banville gave into character stereotypes in the worst ways: a pedophilic priest, a troubled youth, a drug abusing high society wife, etc. It felt cheap to use trauma as the only motivation or explanation for character development. I wouldn't have finished this, but I was stuck on a road trip with nothing else to listen to.
kingarooski's review against another edition
4.0
John Banville’s murder mystery set in 1950s Ireland centres around the death of a priest in a country home. Set among the deep sectarian divisions and a conservative society, the reader is treated to a well-paced story with predictable, but well-crafted characters.
arrlaboy's review
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
laurajulie's review
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
dljmsw's review against another edition
2.0
I absolutely loved this book until the Interlude. It sickened me to read and was gratuitous. It made me really wonder about the author and his motivations. The last quarter of the book seemed to be written by a different author. The "reveal" was anticlimactic and the "twist" in the Coda was completely uninspired. But, I did thoroughly enjoy sections of the book; they were just overshadowed by overly specific and unnecessarily details of child sexual abuse and a sluggish ending.