Reviews

The Writing Class: A Novel by Jincy Willett, Jincy Willett

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trin's review against another edition

4.0

Amy Gallup is a novelist who peaked too young; she now teaches adult extension writing classes. Things are going well with her new group of students, except someone—one of them—is sending poison pen letters and playing cruel pranks. And then things escalate…to murder!

Low marks for that summary. But Willett’s novel (for some reason being marketed as mainstream fiction even though it is, let’s face it, a mystery) is fantastic. She gives Amy a fascinating history that she unfolds slowly and cleverly, and both the scenes involving student critique and those involving Amy’s investigation are fun and vivid. (Though I have to say, even the worst writers in Willett’s fictional class are head and shoulders above some of what I encountered in my one college creative writing course.) Willett manages to evoke some genuine and intense creepiness with the idea of it could be any one of them, these people that I know and like; it reminded me of [book: Gaudy Night], in a way, although Willett is actually a bit braver in her choice of the eventual culprit. There’s a bit too much lantern-hanging at the end when Willett tries to excuse some of the loose ends, but I was captivated from start to finish. Recommended.

ceratium81's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

jofizz22's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

jess_mango's review against another edition

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3.0

I am about 10 pages away from being done with this but I will mark it as read anyhow since I will finish it at lunch or on the train ride to book club this evening.

I really don't know what to make of this novel. I give it somewhere between 2 and 3 stars. I think I need to stop reading these "ensemble cast" writing group/book club/cooking club etc. books. I never seem to rate them more than 3 stars.

ir_sharp2's review against another edition

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5.0

I LOVE this book! Every time I sat down with this book, I got sucked out of my world and into theirs. It was amazing! I don't even know if I cared so much about whodunit as long as the story kept moving. I can't remember the last book that was able to completely pull me out of my world. Amazing!

hectaizani's review against another edition

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4.0

This book reminded me obliquely of the movie Best in Show. The movie is a satirical look at stereotypical dog show types, and this book does the same for creative writing class types.

It's funny, smart and very readable. It's also a mystery. The mystery suffers a little in that it's not quite as interesting as many of the other elements. At times I'd be wishing the author would get on with the mystery elements and get back to class.