Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill

119 reviews

abijoyceshaw's review

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

2.75

The premise of a mystery novel within a mystery novel is interesting on a surface level. I enjoyed watching the secondary narrative unravel. The novel seemed to be building toward two climatic reveals, but I found the culmination of both narratives dissatisfying. The characters were fairly interesting, but they weren’t given enough depth for me to get attached.  

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originally_olivia's review

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

4.0

This mystery kept me guessing until the last moment! So many misleads, a really interesting format, and fantastic characters.
I was convinced it was Leo who was the killer. Sending Freddy those anonymous gifts, being at the library that day, running by Boos crime scene, so I was definitely disappointed by the outcome. I wanted the real Leo to know how the author really saw him and that she knew all along. But I guess that would’ve given him the attention he so desperately wanted.

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bkyng313's review against another edition

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

4.0

this was my first mystery book and i really enjoyed it! i loved all the twists and turns and i was faked out till the very last chapter

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samw0327's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Very meta which made it a slightly more challenging read. A book about a woman writing a book about a woman writing a book. 😂😵‍💫

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ladylothlorien's review

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

4.75

So good! I was intrigued to see where the epistolary element would really come into play. At first I was super into the “story within the story” plot line and then I absolutely had to know where the epistolary plot line was going! I had kind of guessed the end of both plot lines ahead of time but it didn’t dampen my enjoyment. I’m so happy to find this author has written a bunch of other books because now I am absolutely going to read her back catalog!

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joyfromhope's review

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

4.0

This story provides an interesting twist on the mystery genre - a novel within a novel within a novel but at the same time, not so convoluted that you can't keep track. The twists and turns kept me up reading way too late!
I am not sure what to make of the ending, I can't wait to discuss it with my bookclub to see what everyone's theories are!

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josefineisreading's review against another edition

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mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

I really really enjoyed this! I read it for my book club and it kept us hooked the whole way through mainly because we had no idea where the story was going and who was responsible for all this chaos. It was quite fast paced and easy to read with chapters being only a few pages. 

I think the ending was pretty packed together but it would’ve been nice if we had a few hints along the way. I’m not sure if this is done on purpose because this story is essentially a manuscript. Not sure about the very end of the book because I’m pretty sure this is stand alone but I guess we make our own assumptions. At first it was confusing with what was going on with the emails and the actual story but I think it was cool. Wish we could’ve gotten a bit more out of it. Overall, I really enjoyed it but that was because I could speculate with others. 

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kasper99's review against another edition

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mysterious medium-paced
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0


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bek_p87's review

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

3.25

The premise of this novel was intriguing - a mystery novel about a woman writing a mystery novel about a woman writing a mystery novel, where each of the fictional woman is involved in a "real life" mystery - but unfortunately it fell short. None of the mysteries were particularly well-told, and it was all just a little far-fetched.

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kyliejohnson201's review

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

5.0


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