Reviews

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

am_berg's review against another edition

4.0

Just revisited this one after years of fond memories having read it as a child. The characterizations were even more enjoyable as an adult, although the book is also clearly dated (I remember one particularly cringe-worthy line about "one of those Black Panthers.") Such a satisfying mystery!

lackaaadaisical's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny lighthearted mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

The end is lovely and ties the entire story together.

chrisandrews's review against another edition

funny mysterious fast-paced

3.75

savvygreads's review against another edition

4.5

This was my favorite book for YEARS as a kid and it still definitely holds up!! I’m glad I didn’t remember most of the plot points so I could be happily surprised again :)

kittycat2302's review against another edition

5.0

It's impossible to REALLY review this book without utterly spoiling it. All I'll say is that it's not like anything else I've ever read, it's delightful, and it's much deeper than you might think on first glance. Highly recommend!!

terryma90's review against another edition

3.0

This book was definetly not my favorite middle grade mystery book but I would say that it was good. The writing I very much thought was classical. The things I didn't like about it was it was just a normal middle grade kinda mystery book.

vibingjaren's review against another edition

adventurous challenging hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Not my usual choice of a book, but it was pretty good. It was a little hard to keep track of all of the characters, but I loved the ones I knew. This book certainly has a lot of twists and surprises that I wasn’t expecting, but it was sweet and interesting!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content

Minor: Alcohol and Blood

livdelrosso's review against another edition

mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

jencunn2024's review against another edition

5.0

I’m not sure how this Newbery Medal winner never crossed my path when I was a kid, but this book is divine for kids and adults. It’s an amusing and fun whodunit set up similarly to The Game of Clue with about 20 characters. Crime solving was fun and entertaining throughout, and I’ve never encountered a book with so many characters and clues wrapped up in such a concise space. Loved this and will be seeking out more of Raskin’s writing that I have missed along the way! The writing is in brief clips so it is enjoyable for kids even with the complexity of the plot.

It was a fantastic book club pick!

rcpope's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted mysterious medium-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? Yes

3.75