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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Jason Christ it’s Jesus Bourne
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
As far as American assassin-spies go, Jason Bourne might be the best, but the amnesiac romance hindered the story’s progression. I don’t need romance in my spy novels even if the love interest humanized Jason Bourne a little. The concept of an amnesiac assassin on the run from the government is really good, but the execution here was ultimately disappointing.
Good story overall. But the book dragged in several places.
I have been meaning to read this book for a while because my husband loves the movies so much. When I found out it was a bestseller from the year I was born, I went for it. I have to say, overall I loved it and there were some parts I didn't want to put the book down, and other parts were really confusing and hard to follow.
I did NOT however, like the way the romance was written between Marie and Jason. It didn't seem real to me...because typically, people don't speak or act that way. I remind myself that this was written a long time ago, but sometimes it had me shaking my head and saying "yeah right!"
I have not seen the movie yet but I intend to, just to maybe put some faces with the names and characters in the book--adding another dimension.
Overall, very nice. I will be reading the second and third installment eventually.
I did NOT however, like the way the romance was written between Marie and Jason. It didn't seem real to me...because typically, people don't speak or act that way. I remind myself that this was written a long time ago, but sometimes it had me shaking my head and saying "yeah right!"
I have not seen the movie yet but I intend to, just to maybe put some faces with the names and characters in the book--adding another dimension.
Overall, very nice. I will be reading the second and third installment eventually.
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Holy info-dump batman! The thinly disguised info-dumps are painful, the instantaneous lovey-dovey relationship stretches belief, and certain details really bothered me. Especially during the beginning, I found myself wishing I'd just watched the movie 3 times instead of reading this book.. It did get more engaging near the end, but I don't think it made the slog worth it.
Ludlum over-explains everything. Every super-mega-cool-WOW spy detail needs it's initial Ph.D. dissertation when first introduced, and then at every subsequent occurrence needs a little ELI5 just in case the reader forget how it works during the intervening 20 pages. Yes, I understand that the neato spy details are part of what makes it a fun spy novel, but at some point the author needs to give the reader's intelligence some credit.
And the downfall of the fashion shop was just plain silly. What a lame climax. Carlos and the fashion lady both know that Bourne has compromised the shop, and it didn't scare them a bit. And then he terrifies the organization by....by making the shop seem compromised? What the hell is this plot point??
And not just that, but Carlos is built up as having this far reaching organization of disconnected tendrils, and then I'm suddenly supposed to believe that there's some kind of need for the fashion shop to be a base of operations which is even possible to compromise? Yeah, tldr, I could have done without this plot point.
Bourne's and his lady's emotional interactions were also pretty weird. He was always flying off the handle, she was always perfectly loving and composed. Even setting aside the datedness of the relationship, it's just not good character writing.
Ludlum over-explains everything. Every super-mega-cool-WOW spy detail needs it's initial Ph.D. dissertation when first introduced, and then at every subsequent occurrence needs a little ELI5 just in case the reader forget how it works during the intervening 20 pages. Yes, I understand that the neato spy details are part of what makes it a fun spy novel, but at some point the author needs to give the reader's intelligence some credit.
And the downfall of the fashion shop was just plain silly. What a lame climax. Carlos and the fashion lady both know that Bourne has compromised the shop, and it didn't scare them a bit. And then he terrifies the organization by....by making the shop seem compromised? What the hell is this plot point??
And not just that, but Carlos is built up as having this far reaching organization of disconnected tendrils, and then I'm suddenly supposed to believe that there's some kind of need for the fashion shop to be a base of operations which is even possible to compromise? Yeah, tldr, I could have done without this plot point.
Bourne's and his lady's emotional interactions were also pretty weird. He was always flying off the handle, she was always perfectly loving and composed. Even setting aside the datedness of the relationship, it's just not good character writing.
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Thiller. Very enjoyable read and much more challenging than the movie. In fact, the book bears almost no resemblance to the Matt Damon remake. I haven't seen the original movie.