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velvetsun's review
1.0
I usually skip writing reviews of books I don't like. But, since this book was provided in exchange for a review...here goes.
To be blunt, I didn't like anything about this book. There were no likable characters. Not one. The plot was disjointed and pointless. The writing style was self-indulgent. It was just a mess.
The main character decides to investigate the murder of a neighbor he can't stand (whom he lovingly nicknames "Baby Molester") after she is killed by a stray bullet while she sleeps. There is really no reason as to why he decides to take this investigation on in the first place, other than possibly out of boredom.
Also, this book takes place in San Francisco, which happens to be one of my favorite places on earth. The main character's at times obvious disdain for both the city and it's citizens was both off-putting and whiny. I mean...if he hated it so much, why not leave? I got the impression that his main joy in life was pontificating on how superior he was to everyone else around him. Not exactly a selling point in my opinion for for any kind of enjoyable reading experience.
Bottom line: A front-runner for my least favorite book of 2012.
(This book was provided by Edelweiss/AboveTheTreeLine.com in exchange for an honest review)
My YT Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/Bookgasmic
My blog: http://ravingbookaddict.blogspot.com/
To be blunt, I didn't like anything about this book. There were no likable characters. Not one. The plot was disjointed and pointless. The writing style was self-indulgent. It was just a mess.
The main character decides to investigate the murder of a neighbor he can't stand (whom he lovingly nicknames "Baby Molester") after she is killed by a stray bullet while she sleeps. There is really no reason as to why he decides to take this investigation on in the first place, other than possibly out of boredom.
Also, this book takes place in San Francisco, which happens to be one of my favorite places on earth. The main character's at times obvious disdain for both the city and it's citizens was both off-putting and whiny. I mean...if he hated it so much, why not leave? I got the impression that his main joy in life was pontificating on how superior he was to everyone else around him. Not exactly a selling point in my opinion for for any kind of enjoyable reading experience.
Bottom line: A front-runner for my least favorite book of 2012.
(This book was provided by Edelweiss/AboveTheTreeLine.com in exchange for an honest review)
My YT Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/Bookgasmic
My blog: http://ravingbookaddict.blogspot.com/
sarahjsnider's review
My file got corrupted when I converted it from EPUB to Kindle format, so I missed maybe half the pages in this book. If it were the last half of the book, I'd probably try to finish it soon, but I think I'm going to give this some space for now. The first part was really good.
library_orb's review
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
bashbashbashbash's review against another edition
3.0
Some parts of this were so good, so good – a lot of the stuff that's riffing on San Francisco, otherness and being Korean-American and the essay "Violence and Making Sense", and so on. Other bits were a bit flat (or had flat secondary characters) but still engaged me and kept the story ticking over. (Sid Finch didn't do much for me, but maybe I'm just inured to surfing cops? I can see this really working for someone else!) Then there was a dollop of bumbling misogyny on top – some disappointing characterizations of women as assemblages of entertaining body parts for the fun and edification of men (I'm not saying you can't talk about breasts in your novel, but maybe breasts-and-vague-niceness as the sum total of a woman's character?) – that I expect from older mystery novels but ones that are circa now. Overall, recommended, but with the caveats above.
jeffchon's review
4.0
Every once in a while, this place feels Yelp for books (which is why I avoid writing actual reviews, unless I'm super bored). The only reason I'm writing one now is because I came in to clear my "Currently Reading" queue (I think I read this maybe two years ago?) and noticed how oddly low this book's been rated. And because I'm super bored.
If you want to know what it feels like to be a self-loathing Korean boy, this book nails it. It's an excellent book. The only reason it's not getting the full five stars is because I feel like arbitrarily penalizing it for the Napoleon Dynamite-ass cover--but I'm not the weirdo here. Everyone who didn't like it is. I'm the totally normal person who enjoyed this book.
If you want to know what it feels like to be a self-loathing Korean boy, this book nails it. It's an excellent book. The only reason it's not getting the full five stars is because I feel like arbitrarily penalizing it for the Napoleon Dynamite-ass cover--but I'm not the weirdo here. Everyone who didn't like it is. I'm the totally normal person who enjoyed this book.
barrynorton's review
4.0
Borderline 4 - great sketches of San Francisco (found at City Lights, so I'm inclined towards that), reasonable of tech culture, some good noir moments and 'Point Break' tributes. While it has 'something' to say about American massacres and Korean culture I didn't wholly get that and the plot dropped in and out of credibility.
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