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pamelas's review against another edition
3.0
A pretty good, suspenseful read, with a unique setting and some interesting cultural tidbits. One thing I found very interesting is the former Red Guard members gathering to eat sorghum and other peasant food as they reminisce about the old days. Who knew?
adunten's review against another edition
2.0
Vreading Challenge 2016: A book set in the winter or snowy/cold conditions
How can an international murder mystery be boring? I don't know, but it definitely can. It can have characters whose personalities are never really unlocked. It can have all its most important revelations come in conversations between two characters that horribly violate the “show-don't-tell” rule. It can have a romance angle where the two lovers, parted for over 10 years, have sex days after they meet again almost like they're sleepwalking. It can take two radically different settings and not bring either of them to life. It can set the story amid the intricacies of two radically different cultures and not bring that culture clash to life. It can have a messy ending in which very little makes sense except the killer shows up in a remote location and says, “Yes, I did it, ha ha!” Therefore he must be the killer. And it can have an audio narrator who makes all of the above worse, with her rushed, mechanical delivery.
Bottom Line: Flower Net had some promising mystery/international thriller ingredients, but ultimately it was totally forgettable, not thrilling at all.
Does it pass the Bechdel test? Barely. There are a couple of scenes where Hulan talks to her neighbor.
How can an international murder mystery be boring? I don't know, but it definitely can. It can have characters whose personalities are never really unlocked. It can have all its most important revelations come in conversations between two characters that horribly violate the “show-don't-tell” rule. It can have a romance angle where the two lovers, parted for over 10 years, have sex days after they meet again almost like they're sleepwalking. It can take two radically different settings and not bring either of them to life. It can set the story amid the intricacies of two radically different cultures and not bring that culture clash to life. It can have a messy ending in which very little makes sense except the killer shows up in a remote location and says, “Yes, I did it, ha ha!” Therefore he must be the killer. And it can have an audio narrator who makes all of the above worse, with her rushed, mechanical delivery.
Bottom Line: Flower Net had some promising mystery/international thriller ingredients, but ultimately it was totally forgettable, not thrilling at all.
Does it pass the Bechdel test? Barely. There are a couple of scenes where Hulan talks to her neighbor.
nutti72's review
4.0
This is my first Lisa See book & man I really liked it. The tying in of a case between China & the US was well done. There were enough red herrings to keep me guessing for a long time. I look forward to reading more books in the series.
brookepalmer796's review against another edition
1.0
Not what I expected. I expected a crime mystery, it wasn't. And the language was terrible. Not her best work.
this_fanny's review against another edition
dark
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
3.5
leighryks's review
Flower Net: A Red Princess Mystery (Red Princess Mysteries) by Lisa See (2007)
quinnster's review against another edition
2.0
The only other book I've read by Lisa See is Snow Flower & The Secret Fan and I loved it! I was looking for something to listen to while I did some work and saw she had a trilogy of crime novels. Flower Net is the first, introducing Liu Hulan and David Stark who met in America when they were both working at the same firm. I think. I can't remember exactly! I know they were in love once, but Liu gets word that her mother is sick and she returns to Beijing. Family obligations have her remaining in Beijing, never returning to American and from what I could gather, never contacting David again until murders oceans apart appear connected and the two must work together.
The story itself was mostly interesting and I'm not sure if it was the narration of the book or the book itself that didn't enthrall me, but I wasn't in love with the book. I'm pretty sure it was the narration. And the strange background music that kept going on. I think I'll try the next book in actual book form.
The story itself was mostly interesting and I'm not sure if it was the narration of the book or the book itself that didn't enthrall me, but I wasn't in love with the book. I'm pretty sure it was the narration. And the strange background music that kept going on. I think I'll try the next book in actual book form.
karmakat's review
3.0
Very different from See's historical fiction (which I typically really enjoy). As mysteries go, it was fine. Not at all surprised by the ending, which is always sort of disappointing in a mystery.
infosifter's review against another edition
4.0
Liu Hulan is an investigator for the Chinese state with a past full of secrets and a heart burdened with guilt. When she is tasked with investigating a string of high profile murders end it is arranged that her former lover David, an American lawyer, will assist her she knows there are no coincidences in a surveillance state like China.
Content warnings: some graphic forensic descriptions murder victims, and occasional use of rough language
Content warnings: some graphic forensic descriptions murder victims, and occasional use of rough language