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bretts_book_stack's review against another edition
5.0
The population of Venice has dropped from 175,000 after World War II to just over 52,000 today, the massive decrease driven largely by the overwhelming tourism that floods in every year much like the sea that’s slowly dragging the city under. This is just one of the ancillary components that amplifies @christbollen’s fantastic “A Beautiful Crime”, and the setting for young grifters Clay and Nick to make their mark.
Bollen shifts his non-linear narrative between our two ambitious lovers deftly setting up an act of revenge while keeping the reader on slightly unsteady ground.This is an intellectual thriller that’s threaded with commentary on race and social class that I thought was just brilliant, and made me check my own assumptions and prejudices while reading.
It would be easy for Bollen to create ugly, unsympathetic portrayals of these two men, but he does the complete opposite, making them both exceedingly charming and compassionate as they increasingly find themselves over their heads.Additionally, he’s also written a great collection of distinct and well drawn supporting characters including Nick’s ex lover in New York City, an elderly transgender woman, and the man marked to be taken by our driven protagonists.
And finally, Venice.
Bollen states in the notes how he lived there for months in 1999 interning at the Peggy Guggenheim museum. (which one of his characters had as well). It’s evident he managed to absorb the atmosphere like a sponge, and translate it into text, and it becomes a character in its own right, its quarried stone streets spread out like a maze. You’ll almost feel the crush of the crowds at San Marco square and hear the gondoliers singing. I highly recommend you mix a Negroni and add this terrific book to your #TBR list for the summer. I loved it.
Bollen shifts his non-linear narrative between our two ambitious lovers deftly setting up an act of revenge while keeping the reader on slightly unsteady ground.This is an intellectual thriller that’s threaded with commentary on race and social class that I thought was just brilliant, and made me check my own assumptions and prejudices while reading.
It would be easy for Bollen to create ugly, unsympathetic portrayals of these two men, but he does the complete opposite, making them both exceedingly charming and compassionate as they increasingly find themselves over their heads.Additionally, he’s also written a great collection of distinct and well drawn supporting characters including Nick’s ex lover in New York City, an elderly transgender woman, and the man marked to be taken by our driven protagonists.
And finally, Venice.
Bollen states in the notes how he lived there for months in 1999 interning at the Peggy Guggenheim museum. (which one of his characters had as well). It’s evident he managed to absorb the atmosphere like a sponge, and translate it into text, and it becomes a character in its own right, its quarried stone streets spread out like a maze. You’ll almost feel the crush of the crowds at San Marco square and hear the gondoliers singing. I highly recommend you mix a Negroni and add this terrific book to your #TBR list for the summer. I loved it.
bookcrazyblogger's review
4.0
A Beautiful Crime pulled me in with the captivating scenery of Venice, Italy and slayed me with American greed. The novel follows gay couple Nick and Clay as they attempt to con a wealthy American businessman. Frankly due to poor choices, they’re in thousands of dollars in debt, so the con is the way they see to make a living for a couple of years, living as wealthy individuals. Why thousands of dollars would only last someone a few years is beyond me, as I’ve never been around that kind of money in my life. It had some interesting things to say about gay culture, specifically the idea that an older gay man is considered significantly more attractive to a younger gay man because he has more to offer in terms of wealth and experience, while in the same breath, dismissing the younger men for chasing after older men, because they’re perpetuating this sugar daddy mentality. I also found it interesting to see how Nick is written as your typical Midwestern American (unfailingly polite, always apologizing) and to watch him change into a character that not only do we, the readers, not recognize but that he, the character, does recognize as well. It was a masterful character arc that was interesting to watch.
satukats's review against another edition
3.0
The premise of this book sounds perfect (two young gay men, new lovers, move to Venice and try to pull a massive con on a rich asshole who has a thing for silver antiques!) yet I was rather bored. It never got sunspenseful enough for me, and I was never truly invested in what was happening. There was nothing inherently wrong with the book, it was well written with fleshed out characters. I just don't think this one was for me. Which is a shame cause it could have been such a me book.
em_reads_books's review
4.0
I'm not a huge thriller reader, so always happy to find one that's slow paced and driven by strong characters and sense of place. This one had the suspense of how our heroes would pull off the scam (or were THEY the ones being scammed???) all wrapped up in a loving tribute to two cities losing themselves to development and rising oceans.
anneaustex's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
natesbookstack's review against another edition
4.0
Be Gay Be Greedy! Wow this novel is just wow! For the price of a hardcover you are transported to the city of Venice. You can smell, taste and imagine the sights. And it’s GAY and in the best way. You go along for the ride with boyfriends Clay and Nick and you do not want it to end. You want to keep reading and you feel a little greedy with each page.
A character study of how far a person will go to keep the con going! Highly highly recommend!!!!
A character study of how far a person will go to keep the con going! Highly highly recommend!!!!
cozyinthenook's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
nampahceitac's review against another edition
3.0
This book establishes from the first page that it could be a thriller—but what follows is a metered, lush, high-stakes romance. Nick and Clay, betting their lives on the promise of Venice with nothing to lose, attempt to con their way out of youthful debt and into freedom, something that the two gay, American, millennials desperately crave (other than eachother, of course).
The world building alone is a detailed love letter to Venice, bolstered by Bollen's own experience of the city, and too of New York. It's one of those geography-specific reads that doubles as a story and an almost-vacation.
Some favorite quotes;
• "He wondered how many miles Ari had read in his life when the lines were totaled up. How many times around the world?" pp. 55
• The use of the world "chiaroscuroing" pp.52
• "It seems sometimes, in coming here, I've traded in for the daydream full time. Try as I might, I can't seem to shake myself into a lucid thought. It's all just drift and beauty." pp. 338
3.5/5, but for the beauty of Bollen's prose as he approaches a thriller/crime novel, a 4
Hardcover bought at the Oxford Exchange bookstore in Tampa, FL.
The world building alone is a detailed love letter to Venice, bolstered by Bollen's own experience of the city, and too of New York. It's one of those geography-specific reads that doubles as a story and an almost-vacation.
Some favorite quotes;
• "He wondered how many miles Ari had read in his life when the lines were totaled up. How many times around the world?" pp. 55
• The use of the world "chiaroscuroing" pp.52
• "It seems sometimes, in coming here, I've traded in for the daydream full time. Try as I might, I can't seem to shake myself into a lucid thought. It's all just drift and beauty." pp. 338
3.5/5, but for the beauty of Bollen's prose as he approaches a thriller/crime novel, a 4
Hardcover bought at the Oxford Exchange bookstore in Tampa, FL.