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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Had a really hard time following this book. Most likely because it was hard to remember characters and how they are related to each other.
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Good plot and wisely developed but ending is a little bit disappointing
dark
mysterious
tense
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:
No
This would be more of a 3.5, but closer to a 3 than a 4. The premise of Strange Houses is great. The main character (only referred to as Author) finds something strange in house plans, and the whole story explores the oddities of these house plans and the mystery of what they were used for. It's creepy, it's very cool, and I love that they had pictures for you to analyze.
Something the writer manages to capture VERY well is the dread. You look at these floor plans, you see their oddities, and you're constantly plagued with "What was this for? Why would they do that?" and as you get further in the story, you realize this is not the only house that's weird, there's multiple locations and you're left wondering what the heck is going on.
My biggest problem is that everything happens in an overly convenient way. Kurihara, someone helping Author solve this mystery, makes some incredibly wild guesses early on in the story. And yet, it's pretty much spot on to what is happening. It doesn't feel realistic, these aren't conclusions a reasonable person would make. It turns what is otherwise a very cool and spooky premise into a plot of convenience. They are right EVERY SINGLE TIME, and it sets tiring quick.
It's luckily a very quick read so I do recommend it if you're interested. But I wish I could have loved it more.
Something the writer manages to capture VERY well is the dread. You look at these floor plans, you see their oddities, and you're constantly plagued with "What was this for? Why would they do that?" and as you get further in the story, you realize this is not the only house that's weird, there's multiple locations and you're left wondering what the heck is going on.
My biggest problem is that everything happens in an overly convenient way. Kurihara, someone helping Author solve this mystery, makes some incredibly wild guesses early on in the story. And yet, it's pretty much spot on to what is happening. It doesn't feel realistic, these aren't conclusions a reasonable person would make. It turns what is otherwise a very cool and spooky premise into a plot of convenience. They are right EVERY SINGLE TIME, and it sets tiring quick.
It's luckily a very quick read so I do recommend it if you're interested. But I wish I could have loved it more.
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
oof... this was not good. on the plus side: finally picked up a book!
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This was a very quick read because of how often the floor plans of houses were reprinted on each page - which granted stopped you from having to continuously look backwards to recall a particular feature.
It's a fun romp of very speculative detective work. The kind of thing where you look at it and say 'this feels like something my friends and I would say just because we're drunk and think we're the mystery gang'. A lot of the first part of the plot is just that; two friends looking at floor plans and devising strange ways to explain why it's a murder mystery house rather than just a house with a bad design.
The explanation to the mystery is interesting to a point, though telegraphed in some ways through the prominent idea that these houses were built by the larger family. You don't build a murder house with secret passages only for one person in the family to be in on it. The final notion that we don't know if the boyfriend is the dead body and this was all a ploy was a nice twist.
It's a fun romp of very speculative detective work. The kind of thing where you look at it and say 'this feels like something my friends and I would say just because we're drunk and think we're the mystery gang'. A lot of the first part of the plot is just that; two friends looking at floor plans and devising strange ways to explain why it's a murder mystery house rather than just a house with a bad design.
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
My sister picked this book up in Waterstones and it was a very confusing thing to flick through without context. She was intrigued so bought it and read it and recommended to me, and I never turn down a book. This book however, confused me while reading and confuses me now I’ve finished reading. I think part of this is my lack of ability in understanding floor plans (the help with this step by step within this book definitely helped but it was still difficult), and the other part being how utterly weird the plot is. It was very twisty, and lots of characters involved was making me confused as to who was doing what where (floor plans not helping) that it did frazzle my brain a bit. I do love a non traditional book so it did have that, but it was and has confused me, being the reason for 3 stars.
dark
mysterious
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A