Reviews

IQ by Joe Ide

nicholeigh's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

3.5

sarnarf's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious 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? No

4.5

hrobison11's review against another edition

3.0

I don know quite what I was expecting here but I definitely wanted to keep reading this one. Listening to it did pose some challenges for me, but I got the general idea of the story. I was curious to learn more about Isaiah, but it was also interesting learning about all the other players in the story. It’s likely that I would read the next book in the series at some point.

shosh524's review against another edition

2.0

Slow going.

zaisgraph's review against another edition

adventurous informative 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

2.0

There is nothing remotely Sherlock about this. I really wanted to like this one too sighhhhh

It just wasn't clever enough 

dellaposta's review against another edition

3.0

Fun and easy mystery/thriller with well-drawn characters. Sometimes the switching between present setting and backstory made me tune out. I also wish the mystery had been more involving, as suggested by the author’s obvious (but unrealized) desire to create a modern Sherlock Holmes.

riviwriter's review against another edition

3.0

I liked this book, however, the writing style was off-putting. The main characters are African American teenagers and the book is written in a style that for me at least, read as somewhat inauthentic. I think more focus on the story and the narrative style and less on the environmental factors/setting/cultural dynamics would have benefitted the book. I really loved the main character, Isiah, and his backstory and the way the novel was structured was great. His sidekick and friend, Dodson, is a weird mix between comic relief and meaningful character. There was a generous helping of profanity, which I'm not a fan of even when used in an authentic way as dialogue. Some of the cases IQ works are sprinkled in as backstory, but the way a lot of them are tied up with a neat bow seems unrealistic. Despite the story offering a lot of moral ambiguity and painful situations for various characters, the overall story/plot style feels neat and forced. I would recommend it, although I wish it had been framed more for a young adult audience (less profanity, less sexual imagery, less glorification of criminality and drug use).

testaroscia's review against another edition

5.0

This was really an unexpected pleasure of a read/listen (i soaked the excellent narration from Audible version) on a long trip. It had a bit of everything - interesting characters and personalities, good pacing, convincing backstory. Definitely a fan.

niakantorka's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny medium-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

3.25

IQ left me behind torn. On one hand I really liked its premise and loved seeing Isiaha Quintabe (IQ) gather clues and work out how some things happened. On the other hand the time jumps were annoying most of the times and especially the younger Dodson drove me nuts. How Isiaha spent more than five minutes with him without wanting to strangle him was a mystery to me. 

The author definitely sold his mostly black cast to me and that is quite a feat when you look up Joe Ide, who’s an American of Japanese descent. I knew from the start that the slang would be a challenge for me because a) I’m as white and European as one can be and b) I'm afraid so - I don’t care at all for rap, rappers, and that helluva show that’s coming with it. 
For most parts this book felt like a trip gone bad - slow motion when you didn’t want it and too fast in other parts. (If you’ve ever consumed psychedelic drugs at the wrong time you know what that feels like. It’s been half a century for me and I still remember how bad it feels. 🙃). At times it was funny (like that divorce battle between Calvin and Noelle) but most of the time I just wanted to see Isiaha using his brain and not follow totally crazy people and their dogs (literally). 

I thought about giving up when the time skips came halfway and two third through but I also wanted to know whodunnit. The ending was a bit surprising, not who was the culprit, but what

Dodson

did. 

I’m not sure I want to read the next book in the series. Though I must admit, that Ide’s writing style was compelling at times. I’ll probably muse some more about this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Racial slurs, and Car accident

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Panic attacks/disorders, Kidnapping, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

dingusdaemonicus's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5