Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill

35 reviews

racl's review

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

It wasn't bad, and as someone who's not huge on mystery as a genre, it was easy and engaging enough to read.
Freddie, the main character, feels like a blank slate to me in a lot of ways - what we know about her is circumstantial, and her actions are fairly often contrary to her own perception of self.
The fiction within fiction gimmick was enjoyable - for me it helped separate the main mystery into more manageable chunks while adding another layer on top.
I won't read it again, but I had a good enough time with it.

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lauren_e_d's review

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mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This was an ok book. I enjoyed the mystery and how the 4 were brought together, and I actually did enjoy the subplot with the emails. However I think the email thing could have been more interesting and drawn out because it felt resolved quite quickly. In terms of the mystery, I liked it although I had a suspicion of who it might be. It wasn’t the best mystery ever but an easy read. 

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amberinpieces's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0


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bumblero's review

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adventurous hopeful mysterious 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

4.25

I thought the meta-narrative was intriguing. It helped me appreciate some of the subtleties that I missed but also made me question the three layers of story going on at once. Definitely kept me on my toes!
Would recommend! Likeable cast of characters, a decent sense of place, and I enjoyed how self-aware the book was. 

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j_emerson18's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.75

What a great book to start the year. It was inspirational and well written.  I love the plot twists near the end. The writing style was super intriguing. I loved the story with the four unlikely friends in the midst of a murder. **spoiler warning**
I am honestly a little upset by the lack of depth or detail about the secondary story between two writers in which one is a serial killer. I would have loved more information about the two of them. 

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aliciaurbain's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix

5.0


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linneak's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0


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atamano's review

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mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0


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cwerber's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

The whole narrative within a narrative is usually okay with me...until it's not. I'm not excatly sure what it adds to the narrative of the other story, but this wasn't it. 

One of the characters really made me roll my eyes. Seriously, you've been a stalker sweetheart. It's not loyalty or concern. It's stalking. And then to turn around and accuse the narrator of sleeping with the person you're stalking? Ugh. Sorry, Marigold, you're a bit too much for me. 

And Leo (Freddie's friend or whatever), no. Nope. You're much too good to be true. 

The info we found out about Whit came a little too late. He was also much too charming and I didn't like him at all. But then again, I don't think I like many people at all so that could be me. 

The reader is made to believe that Cain is the murderer from almost the get-go. Shady past; time spent in jail; living on the streets, etc. But Marigold and Whit seem too eager to pin it on him very quickly. 

I guess it brings me to Freddie, our main character and narrator of the story, an Australian living in Boston on a scholarship to write her book for a year. She seemed determined to want to fall in love with Cain. I could see tantalizing glimpses of her life - a dead sister whose death Freddie witnessed - but they were glimpses. 

I take that back, each character could have done with fleshed-out backstories. But there you have it. I should have stopped when I struggled but I finished.  

This book, obviously, wasn't for me. A reverse locked room mystery set in Boston with questionable or naive characters.

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purplepenning's review

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0


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