Reviews - The Spare Man | The StoryGraph

1.09k reviews for:

The Spare Man

Mary Robinette Kowal

3.76 AVERAGE

lauralauralaura's review against another edition

4.0

A slightly complicated mystery set on an interstellar cruise ship with plenty of red herrings and a satisfying conclusion. Very enjoyable.

docpacey's review

4.0

Nick and Nora Charles! In space! Clever premise, well done. I found the convolutions of characters doing things to make the reader think they are suspect to be a bit much, at times, but overall I enjoyed it as a breezy murder mystery summer read. Very woke (in a good way)

Q: 4
E: 4
I: 3

qxe+I = 19

celia_hf's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous mysterious reflective

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

readsforsanity's review

3.5

adventurous challenging mysterious medium-paced

allierose2's review against another edition

3.0

funny lighthearted mysterious slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

There’s some cool stuff here, and space murder mystery with 1930s glitter vibes is unequivocally cool. Unfortunately I got bad vibes from Tesla. One, probably she’s named after Nikolai but how do you not think Elon? Especially when she’s a billionaire? Ew. I get that making her wealthy and powerful allowed for some agency on the ship after Shal became a suspect (realistically they would’ve been in lockdown the whole time and the fact that they weren’t is ridiculous) but also, it sucked to see her wield power against normal people as a matter of course. Ultimately this was a romp but not enough got explained at the end

1. Did he stab himself? Really? Come on! 2. Why was yuki twins was that really necessary 3. Why were robots such a big deal when none of the guilty parties had any noted expertise with robots? 4. Why did they take the dog? WHY

etc etc.

I’m not mad that I spent a few days reading this but I am baffled that it’s on the Hugo shortlist this year.

neens_m's review against another edition

3.25

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

jonathan_lee_b's review

3.0

mysterious medium-paced

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

The Spare Man is being given dessert you didn't order.

mfallon3491's review

3.75

adventurous lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

askewroo's review

2.5

dark lighthearted mysterious tense 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: Yes

siborg237's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

This is a fabulous book, I absolutely devoured it. The story is twisty and turny and the reveal caught me out. If I couldn't love the story enough then the cocktail recipes at the start of every chapter are going to keep me coming back 😁

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