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dvybb's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
purplepierogi's review
2.0
short but very bad lol. tangent after tangent but not in an artful literary way, more of a confused underdeveloped way
alissa417's review
5.0
One of the most loving, thoughtful portraits of the relationship between a father and son I've ever experienced. This is the first of Guterson's books I've read, won't be the last. His tender descriptions of human relationships are breathtaking, and - as an adoptive mother - I got lost in the actual court case at the heart of this story. Guterson's characters inadvertently spew so many toxic opinions, chronicling the hyperpolarization of this moment in America, totally without making those horrible characters the focus of his gorgeous plot. Yet the judge's words at the end (which I won't spoil here) could be the right (final ?) words for so many of us to us at our dinner tables, family gatherings, etc. I loved this so much and did not want it to end (yet read it in about 3 hours over the holidays). What a beauty.
homewrecca's review
3.0
Would have liked it better if the author focused more on the court case storyline and the father/son relationship. That's where is shines. Lengthy details about unimportant characters, Russia, tea, sentences the length of paragraphs, and so much writing about writing felt disconnected, distracting and disappointing. The writing itself, when focused, is very good.
candacesiegle_greedyreader's review
3.0
"The Final Case" is a lot. There's an attorney in his 80's asked to defend Betsy Harvey, a woman accused of killing her adopted Ethiopian daughter in an especially protracted and heartrending way. The novel is narrated by the attorney's son who reconnects with his father by being his chauffeur and back-up in the case. The writing is piercing, but fundamentalist Christians are becoming the go-to option for people who do something terrible but think it is right. I'm still thinking about this novel without being able to understand anyone's motivation.
alisoneroth's review
1.0
First of all, it really wasn’t anything like I thought it would be from the description. I also had a lot of problems with all of the legal stuff. A lot of it was borderline unethical and I think he did a bad job on the case. The book was also really rant-y and soap box-y. And I was just sitting there thinking “… I mean I don’t disagree, but what does this have to do with this book?” I had such high hopes for this book and it disappointed me in so many ways. I wish I hadn’t finished it, but I kept thinking “maybe it’ll get better, the description was so good.” Alas, it did not.
ericksonshaylee's review
3.0
I enjoyed the parts about the trial and the relationship between the father and son. The writing throughout the whole book is beautiful and poignant. However, the last quarter or so of the book was harder to get through. The scenes in the tea shop felt like they belonged in a completely different book, and they didn’t seem to fit the rest of the story. Like other reviewers have said, I finished the book not knowing what exactly it was supposed to be about. Overall, it was a good book, but not a great book.
mmc6661's review
1.0
I wanted to really enjoy this one. The premise is a great story about a writer taking time off to chauffer his aging father, an attorney who can no longer drive on what may be his last case. The case is the death of an Ethiopian foster child at the hands of her fundamentalist Christian parents. His father represents the parents in this case. Like he says someone has to represent them or it wouldn't be a fair trail. A sad story of bigotism, cruelty and abuse that rings all too true. That being said it started out really well. Then it went on and on without really getting to the story. I will say that the author's ability to write run on sentences is amazing in that one sentence filled a whole page.
I hate to say I didn't finish this one.
I hate to say I didn't finish this one.
rozlev's review
3.0
I slogged through to the end because the book was short. The writing itself is beautiful, so 2 stars for that. But, the Final Case isn't a mystery or a thriller. It's not tense or suspenseful. It's overlong, wordy, dry. There were interesting sections of the story, but also, long periods of just nothing...meandering passages and musings. I loved Snow Falling on Cedars, but this was a disappointment.