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2.97 AVERAGE
2.97 AVERAGE
I was provided an ARC of this book by NetGalley for review.
This book by Daniel Handler was just not it for me. I'm not sure what I expected to read but this wasn't it. The writing is overwrought and odd. The dialogue is choppy, confusing and unnatural. The dialogue bordered on dialectic for me, hard to parse and at odds with how I read and speak. The characters were unlovable and not at all engaging. The plot wasn't fun or enticing or memorable.
But hey...I read the whole thing? So I guess I kept turning the pages? I can't think of anyone I might recommend this for. I think I read it half based on Handler's writing pedigree but perhaps it was too big a right turn from the Lemony Snicket series for me to really enjoy. Even if I finished the book, I still found myself grumbling and shaking my head and rolling my eyes at times.
This book by Daniel Handler was just not it for me. I'm not sure what I expected to read but this wasn't it. The writing is overwrought and odd. The dialogue is choppy, confusing and unnatural. The dialogue bordered on dialectic for me, hard to parse and at odds with how I read and speak. The characters were unlovable and not at all engaging. The plot wasn't fun or enticing or memorable.
But hey...I read the whole thing? So I guess I kept turning the pages? I can't think of anyone I might recommend this for. I think I read it half based on Handler's writing pedigree but perhaps it was too big a right turn from the Lemony Snicket series for me to really enjoy. Even if I finished the book, I still found myself grumbling and shaking my head and rolling my eyes at times.
I was a huge fan of Daniel Handler's Series of Unfortunate Events (under the name Lemony Snicket) as a kid, so I was curious to see what his writing for adults would be like. I did recognize some of what I had loved back then -- his clever use of language in particular -- but was mostly disappointed. The plot was disjointed, I didn't care about the characters, and sometimes I felt like I just...didn't get what was happening? It just didn't achieve what I think it set out to achieve. Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury USA for providing this book in exchange for my honest review.
"The Basic Eight" is one of my all time favorite novels, so dark and funny and amazingly well written, and so I was excited to get another acclaimed Handler novel, but like with his other post-"Basic Eight" adult work, I just didn't like it. I found the structure, the characters (and "characters" seems too strong a word, as they didn't seem like actual, well-fleshed out characters), the plot, the motif, EVERYTHING, slightly irritating.
About a third of the way through. I used to love Daniel Handler's writing style but I found this to be cumbersome and overly complex, words for the sake of words. I am looking for strong plot and character development at this point in my reading life, not having to puzzle out a sentence to try and understand what the author might mean.
challenging
sad
slow-paced
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
medium-paced
dark
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really like this one. He is so great at writing books for children, young adults, and adults alike. I felt like I was really there at Bottle Grove. Looking forward to more of his books in the future. Thanks for the review copy from NetGalley.
While the language of this book is alluring and fun to read, I wasn't as moved by the story as I hoped to be. The introduction tapered off for me, and from there I felt a bit slighted. I do recommend this, however, to fans of Hemingway and Pancake.