Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.08 AVERAGE
3.08 AVERAGE
Okay so... I really wanted to like this book. I genuinely did, but I couldn’t. Allende’s descriptions and flowery language fall very short in this book.
More than anything I think the problem is that this book is having an identity crisis. The pacing is super off and at page 150 I had no idea who the main cast even was or where the plot was headed. If you want to read a book by her, I loved “in the midst of winter” not this one though.
More than anything I think the problem is that this book is having an identity crisis. The pacing is super off and at page 150 I had no idea who the main cast even was or where the plot was headed. If you want to read a book by her, I loved “in the midst of winter” not this one though.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Estoy acostumbrada a una Isabel Allende tirada más al realismo mágico, y tal vez ella misma también porque hay ciertas inconsistencias en el libro que no son de una escritora como ella.
Yendo al libro como tal, me gustó el enfoque desde el juego de rol(probablemente porque fui una rolera casi adicta durante un buen tiempo) y un par de personajes que están bien hechos como el del asesino, pero no ha mantenido en mi el suspenso de un buen policial, ni me ha gustado la protagonista principal. Entre paréntesis, adoré al perro Atila.
Yendo al libro como tal, me gustó el enfoque desde el juego de rol(probablemente porque fui una rolera casi adicta durante un buen tiempo) y un par de personajes que están bien hechos como el del asesino, pero no ha mantenido en mi el suspenso de un buen policial, ni me ha gustado la protagonista principal. Entre paréntesis, adoré al perro Atila.
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
So unlike her other books, there is no lyricism or beauty in the language in this one. It's a straightforward murder mystery, and not even a particularly interesting one.
I found this an engaging book in many ways. I think it's really a satire on the genre, or really on multiple "thriller"/"mystery" genres. Allende can't help herself when it comes to character writing, they do sort of run off the page and take over your life while you're reading the book, but it all comes to more or less nothing by the end, just peters out. Her use of multiple, omniscient points of view is standard in the slasher/serial killer genres, but it's so wildly inconsistent as to lead me to the satire conclusion. She does it deliberately to show how absurd it all is. The ultimate hero who saves the day, no spoilers here, is another case in point. Very San Francisco, I must say! Bay Area people will get a definite and slightly hysterical kick out of the scenery and events. She should have brought in Bay to Breakers somehow just for the sheer craziness. I do wish the online gaming component had been better resolved or more useful to the plot, missed a bet there. Overall, as I said, engaging but crazy.
I thought the premise of this book was interesting - a teenage girl gets caught up in solving a string of murders with her group of online roleplay mystery solving friends. Unfortunately, there just isn't nearly enough of the Ripper group (who I found completely fascinating and wanted more and more of) and way too much background details about secondary characters (particularly Allen - like I don't care about his history/family/etc. that has zero impact on the plot). If I hadn't been listening to this I really believe I would have put it down after a couple of chapters, even with my finish-every-book-I-start tendencies. I just didn't care about things until about the last quarter of the book. The solution to the mystery is an interesting twist and fits even though it's so bizarre. But there just wasn't nearly enough of the characters I cared about and wanted to know more about and way too much detail and information about characters I was either apathetic to or didn't care for.
the blatant transmisogyny comes out of NOWHERE with this one and it's deeply upsetting. I would have given two stars because I was kind of enjoying the mystery until it went in the worst direction it could possibly go in, but I don't know if I want to give it that much credit.