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jeannine6's review
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
kris386's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death, and Suicide
Moderate: Terminal illness, Child death, Bullying, Chronic illness, Gun violence, Alcohol, and Violence
Minor: Infidelity, Racial slurs, Drug use, Sexual content, Cancer, Car accident, Domestic abuse, and Homophobia
dalmavatai's review
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? Yes
3.5
First off, let me just say that this is a retelling of And Then There Were None. It's not just inspired by it as most of the marketing suggests - it's a straight-up retelling so go into it knowing that.
I actually really enjoyed this book and is probably my favorite Peter Swanson as I found both The Kind Worth Killing and Every Vow You Break mediocre. It was fast-paced, exciting, and had a reveal that I didn't expect and really enjoyed. As usual, Peter Swanson doesn't have super memorable characters or relationships, and the reason behind the murders did not surprise me as it was very similar to the one in And Then There Were None. I also thought some of the connections could have been revealed in a more interesting and suspenseful way, so by no means is this a perfect book. But I did really enjoy my time reading it and if you're looking for a fast-paced, plot-based thriller with a satisfying (albeit not completely unpredictable) twist, then this one's for you! Just be aware that this is a retelling and therefore if you've read the original and loved it, this might not be your thing.
I actually really enjoyed this book and is probably my favorite Peter Swanson as I found both The Kind Worth Killing and Every Vow You Break mediocre. It was fast-paced, exciting, and had a reveal that I didn't expect and really enjoyed. As usual, Peter Swanson doesn't have super memorable characters or relationships, and the reason behind the murders did not surprise me as it was very similar to the one in And Then There Were None. I also thought some of the connections could have been revealed in a more interesting and suspenseful way, so by no means is this a perfect book. But I did really enjoy my time reading it and if you're looking for a fast-paced, plot-based thriller with a satisfying (albeit not completely unpredictable) twist, then this one's for you! Just be aware that this is a retelling and therefore if you've read the original and loved it, this might not be your thing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Infidelity, Murder, Death, and Child death
shazzalovesnovels's review against another edition
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
"Bad People go unpunished all the time. And innocent people suffer outrageously."
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder and Child death
Minor: Car accident and Suicide
elmewhy's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
~~3 Stars~~ 8th March 2022
The Set-Up... Hooked! The synopsis was wow and completely enticed me to read this. It had everything, a cool premise and synopsis, the promise of a great twisty and turny mystery, and a respectable author behind it.
The Plot...I had high expectations but was let a little down. The book was a great easy read and the short chapters kept the story going - I enjoyed how a death/murder wasn't detailed to the ground to drag out the word count, it kept up the thriller/mystery theme. Sprinkled into each character's subplot was a little life lesson/issue that kept things relatable, the overarching theme and ending themelife isn't fair was kind of eh to me but was natural to the tone of the book. Honestly, I don't think the realism of this book gets enough credit, (I mean bar the serial murder part) we saw all the different ways people reacted when they received the mysterious mail, honestly, I too would throw it away and forget all about it.
A prominent reference either spoiled or helped me predict exactly how this book was going to go, reading this book wasn't a case of 'How will this end?' it was more 'Oh, I know what is gonna happen how will Swanson do it differently' - Read below for the Agatha Christie thing.
The Characters...I found each character really interesting, the short descriptions of them were enough to grasp their personalities - There was some diversity between them, as much as you couldwhen you realise their joint connection later on it made sense, and there was a lot of diversity personality-wise given the connection . Although in any book that has nine main figures and then adding in the side characters there were a lot of people to think about, we switched character perspectives and hero/heroines which for me kept it interesting. I enjoyed how the nine interacted with each other in different capacities, and there were some interesting personality traits. However, there were one or two characters who were basically irrelevant to the plot One character, Jay Coates, pretended to be the Jay Coates in the letter but wasn't actually him and we ended his plot there with no explanation?? You could say it displayed human needs for attention but eh just irrelevant . IMO the characters were fleshed out nicely considering the number of people we are introduced to, we weren't necessarily following anyone so the deaths weren't a real shock and kept the story flowing easily.
The Agatha Christie thing... Now I enjoy a reference here and there to AC within modern thriller/mystery books. However, my biggest issue was how much "And Then There Were None" was mentioned -and if you know ATTWN it will spoil who the murderer is or at least give you a very strong indication. Plus the book is used as a plot point to figure out the "why" for the murderer. . From knowing ATTWN, the ending felt underwhelming and predictable, I felt spoiled without even reading a spoiler - if it's a retelling then the book was great, if it's not, it should be.
*Heard this wasn't the first time Swanson has referenced an AC book in his books.
The Ending... I don't have any strong feelings about how this ended, the above points clarify this. The justification for the murders was questionable and I would have liked more reasoning behind it. The connection reveal was okay but did need more fleshing out - we basically heard nothing from the people who we needed to hear fromThe parents connected them all with the death of Jack Radebaugh/ Jonathan Grant's sister but we heard nothing from them at the end?? . The biggest surprise for me wasn't even the ending, and honestly, maybe my mind just wasn't connecting these dots properly but I enjoyed this connection more than the ending - How Alison Horne's older lover was Jack Radebaugh - didn't connect that up at all until the ending. I mean kinda creepy how he slept with his ex-friends/sisters killers daughter to try and get back at him before killing her BUT I have to admit it was the most exciting reveal
Overall, I did enjoy my reading experience with this book. I wasn't too baffled by the plot and the reveals weren't very exciting. The set-up for the book was there and completely had me hooked but the actual end product wasn't living up to the hype. I will read more of Swanson's book though as I did enjoy the writing style.
Details
-Plot: medium-paced
-TW: Death, Murder, Child loss/Death
-Ending Happy/Sad/Unfinished:No winners, even though one of our protagonists is revealed to be alive you have to imagine the disappointment they must feel after they woke up. No one survived apart from her, the criminal wasn't caught or appropriately brought to justice, and she was the only one equipped to maybe stop/figure him out. You could believe that justice was served from our killer's perspective -- but probably not. Follows the theme of 'it's not fair but so is life'.
The Set-Up... Hooked! The synopsis was wow and completely enticed me to read this. It had everything, a cool premise and synopsis, the promise of a great twisty and turny mystery, and a respectable author behind it.
The Plot...I had high expectations but was let a little down. The book was a great easy read and the short chapters kept the story going - I enjoyed how a death/murder wasn't detailed to the ground to drag out the word count, it kept up the thriller/mystery theme. Sprinkled into each character's subplot was a little life lesson/issue that kept things relatable, the overarching theme and ending theme
A prominent reference either spoiled or helped me predict exactly how this book was going to go, reading this book wasn't a case of 'How will this end?' it was more 'Oh, I know what is gonna happen how will Swanson do it differently' - Read below for the Agatha Christie thing.
The Characters...I found each character really interesting, the short descriptions of them were enough to grasp their personalities - There was some diversity between them, as much as you could
The Agatha Christie thing... Now I enjoy a reference here and there to AC within modern thriller/mystery books. However, my biggest issue was how much "And Then There Were None" was mentioned -
*Heard this wasn't the first time Swanson has referenced an AC book in his books.
The Ending... I don't have any strong feelings about how this ended, the above points clarify this. The justification for the murders was questionable and I would have liked more reasoning behind it. The connection reveal was okay but did need more fleshing out - we basically heard nothing from the people who we needed to hear from
Overall, I did enjoy my reading experience with this book. I wasn't too baffled by the plot and the reveals weren't very exciting. The set-up for the book was there and completely had me hooked but the actual end product wasn't living up to the hype. I will read more of Swanson's book though as I did enjoy the writing style.
Details
-Plot: medium-paced
-TW: Death, Murder, Child loss/Death
-Ending Happy/Sad/Unfinished:
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death, and Murder
markedwithanm's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Homophobia
becca_thegrimreader's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Nine names appear on a list, each one of them is going to die. Told from multiple points of view, nine strangers each receive a list with their name on it. They don’t know the others on it, and attribute it to a random computer mistake. Then they begin to be killed off one by one……
I think I expected a little more from this book. Peter Swanson has become known for inventive and new concepts and plots, but for me this fell short. I found the multiple points of view tedious and confusing. There are many characters that I didn’t get to know very well, and the constantly changing narrative was jarring. I think that if there had been a few less characters it would have been a little more successful. This negatively affected the plot as we didn’t get a clear storyline apart from reading about each of the characters’ everyday lives, and there was very little insight into the investigation.
After all this I was hoping that the reveal would be dramatic and make up for the rest of the book. Unfortunately it was anticlimactic. To those who love crime novels and figuring out who it might, there is no possibility of identifying the killer here. We do not get any facts until the killer reveals them themselves. I was disappointed with the ending and felt that it didn’t make sense. It was a disappointing read which left me feeling slightly bored.
Thank you to Netgalley and Faber and Faber Ltd. for the copy of this book. My review is honest and unbiased.
I think I expected a little more from this book. Peter Swanson has become known for inventive and new concepts and plots, but for me this fell short. I found the multiple points of view tedious and confusing. There are many characters that I didn’t get to know very well, and the constantly changing narrative was jarring. I think that if there had been a few less characters it would have been a little more successful. This negatively affected the plot as we didn’t get a clear storyline apart from reading about each of the characters’ everyday lives, and there was very little insight into the investigation.
After all this I was hoping that the reveal would be dramatic and make up for the rest of the book. Unfortunately it was anticlimactic. To those who love crime novels and figuring out who it might, there is no possibility of identifying the killer here. We do not get any facts until the killer reveals them themselves. I was disappointed with the ending and felt that it didn’t make sense. It was a disappointing read which left me feeling slightly bored.
Thank you to Netgalley and Faber and Faber Ltd. for the copy of this book. My review is honest and unbiased.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Minor: Child death
bookishflaneur's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Nine Lives is a tense and thrilling murder novel which kept me guessing to the last minute. As with “Rules for Perfect Murders”, I found the build up and climax incredibly well written and something I never could have guessed. The characters were very much flawed, but as a reader I was still able to feel for their situation. Personally, I preferred RFPM, however the concept for this book is still very good and very well executed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Suicide
Moderate: Gun violence and Violence
Minor: Racial slurs, Racism, Stalking, and Toxic relationship
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