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clemrain's review against another edition
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Where do you begin with The Dinner? I suppose it would be with the dinner.
This book takes course through one dinner. An important dinner and discussion between difficult characters that are strong in their beliefs and will act on them. That is a threat.
The narrator, Paul, is astonishingly written. A wild ride of inner dialogues and anecdotes that are placed in just the right places. Koch uses great pacing and placements of Paul’s recounts. Paul is of the best unreliable narrator’s I’ve read.
The Dinner is such a real depiction of racism, prejudice and privilege. That doesn’t catch on until it does and then it just settles. I can’t explain it. Koch does such a good job. You really get put into the disillusionment of these people. It’s astonishing. These are some well written and realistic characters though majority of them, I really don't like.
I wish I could read this book in its original language. I wonder how much it would’ve differed. The pacing the wording. Either way, I do think this translation is effective.
The ending is five stars to me. Of course it ended like that. There is no consequence for people like Paul. It was realistic. Though I wonder a lot what “disease” Paul left unmentioned. I wonder our conclusions as readers are meant to be us facing our own prejudice.
This book is frustrating and for most of it I was just trying to understand what the point was. But there is a point and I wonder if it’ll ever be understood by the people this book is about.
This book takes course through one dinner. An important dinner and discussion between difficult characters that are strong in their beliefs and will act on them. That is a threat.
The narrator, Paul, is astonishingly written. A wild ride of inner dialogues and anecdotes that are placed in just the right places. Koch uses great pacing and placements of Paul’s recounts. Paul is of the best unreliable narrator’s I’ve read.
The Dinner is such a real depiction of racism, prejudice and privilege. That doesn’t catch on until it does and then it just settles. I can’t explain it. Koch does such a good job. You really get put into the disillusionment of these people. It’s astonishing. These are some well written and realistic characters though majority of them, I really don't like.
I wish I could read this book in its original language. I wonder how much it would’ve differed. The pacing the wording. Either way, I do think this translation is effective.
The ending
This book is frustrating and for most of it I was just trying to understand what the point was. But there is a point and I wonder if it’ll ever be understood by the people this book is about.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime, Medical content, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Racism, Death, Blood, and Murder
Minor: Infidelity and Body horror
hannakutlu's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Mental illness, and Murder
bookish_houseplant's review against another edition
dark
slow-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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Murder, and Physical abuse
emilyyyyyyyy's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Murder
Moderate: Mental illness, Racial slurs, and Racism
hannibanani29's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Alcohol, Hate crime, Violence, Classism, Cursing, Death, and Racism
bitchbokchoy's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
slow-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Mental illness
go2hellstephanie's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The Dinner unsettled me in ways I wasn't expecting, even for a thriller novel. A story that takes place over the course of one dinner couldn't be that bad, right?
Being in the mind of Paul Lohman became more and more uncomfortable as more was revealed of the crimehis son committed that sparks the plot for the book. His attitudes, seemingly normal if not a bit aggressive, at the beginning of the book became more unsettling and horrifying as I read further and more was revealed. There were several moments where I had to close the book because of the discomfort I felt.
I was surprised at how much horror I felt at the end of the novel, even after I thought most things had been revealed. It's a testament to Koch's skill in writing that dawning dread.
It was a great read--perfectly horrific without excessive gore.
Being in the mind of Paul Lohman became more and more uncomfortable as more was revealed of the crime
I was surprised at how much horror I felt at the end of the novel, even after I thought most things had been revealed. It's a testament to Koch's skill in writing that dawning dread.
It was a great read--perfectly horrific without excessive gore.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Violence
syaluo's review against another edition
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Violence, Classism, and Mental illness
niliii's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.5
A truly terrible book. .5 stars because at least it was a fast read, though it felt like it took forever.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Murder
Moderate: Bullying, Mental illness, Classism, and Racism
kaitlyn_avecado's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-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
4.5
Listened to the book. I would LOVE to see this as a stage play. The personalities of the characters and the main conflict are slowing unveiled - creating lots of suspense
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence