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nico987's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
tomleetang's review against another edition
3.0
A psychedelic delirium of a novel that is a grotesque pastiche of human interactions. The writing is wonderfully dark, but it also feels so untethered from reality that I struggled to connect it with real-world meaning. It was really the unsatisfying ending though that let the whole thing down for me
lise_haag's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
emma37's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
trin's review against another edition
dark
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? It's complicated
1.0
Wow, I'm not having good luck with Muriel Spark, am I? This novel is absolutely baffling to me. No one speaks or behaves like a real person. As indicated by the front cover of my edition, the main character is setting up her own murder, but Spark never provides any real psychological insight into her or why she would do this. Hammy and melodramatic nonsense from an author I'd been led to believe was "literary" (whatever that means). Apparently it was nominated for one of the Lost Man Booker Awards -- lol, because of course it was.
dogsbooksandpizza's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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
4.0
This book kept me on the edge of my seat, and it made me appreciate the title the more I got into it. Very unnerving and unsettling from the first scene, which shows how unhinged the narrator is. I love the imagination that went into the story, but I did want a bit more, especially building up to the ending.