Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.34 AVERAGE
3.34 AVERAGE
mysterious
tense
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:
Yes
I found this book a bit hard to connect with, mostly because of the narrator and the writing.
First - the narrator. Elliot Chase was annoying beyond belief. I didn’t feel that I really got to know him because everything about his backstory was very ambiguous and minimal. The parts you do get to learn do make sense a bit for why he is the way he is, but I felt no connection to him. In fact, I despised him, hoping he was the murder victim by the end.
Second - the writing. I found this style of writing very confusing, hard to enjoy and get absorbed into because it bounces around everywhere. The majority of the book is written in first person from Elliot’s POV. But randomly, there will be a sentence or a paragraph that jumps to another persons point of view, without warning. I often had to go back a few sentences or a paragraph and read it again before catching that I was reading Kate, Lana, or Leo’s POV.
I had a fellow book club member mention this style was very different from The Silent Patient, and that was spot on. I didn’t like the way this was written at all.
Now for the story itself. Another review mentions “anticipation fatigue”, which I didn’t know was the term I was looking for until I read it. You’re left constantly in this state of “some thing happens, but I can’t tell you yet. But it’s good” for so long that by the time it happened, I could feel it coming. Unlike The Silent Patient, this did not leave me with a gasp of shock at the memorable twist at the end.
Overall, this book was a bit of a let down. Maybe my expectations were too high after the Silent Patient, and maybe that’s my own fault. I’ll still give his other book (the Maidens) a read, but I think I’ll lower my expectations after The Fury.
First - the narrator. Elliot Chase was annoying beyond belief. I didn’t feel that I really got to know him because everything about his backstory was very ambiguous and minimal. The parts you do get to learn do make sense a bit for why he is the way he is, but I felt no connection to him. In fact, I despised him, hoping he was the murder victim by the end.
Second - the writing. I found this style of writing very confusing, hard to enjoy and get absorbed into because it bounces around everywhere. The majority of the book is written in first person from Elliot’s POV. But randomly, there will be a sentence or a paragraph that jumps to another persons point of view, without warning. I often had to go back a few sentences or a paragraph and read it again before catching that I was reading Kate, Lana, or Leo’s POV.
I had a fellow book club member mention this style was very different from The Silent Patient, and that was spot on. I didn’t like the way this was written at all.
Now for the story itself. Another review mentions “anticipation fatigue”, which I didn’t know was the term I was looking for until I read it. You’re left constantly in this state of “some thing happens, but I can’t tell you yet. But it’s good” for so long that by the time it happened, I could feel it coming. Unlike The Silent Patient, this did not leave me with a gasp of shock at the memorable twist at the end.
Overall, this book was a bit of a let down. Maybe my expectations were too high after the Silent Patient, and maybe that’s my own fault. I’ll still give his other book (the Maidens) a read, but I think I’ll lower my expectations after The Fury.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I liked it, but the ending is kind of predictable.
1 star
I am a lukewarm reader of Alex Michaelides' books yet every time I try reading them. This is definitely the weakest one out of his three. At this point he's known for his twists so it's not surprising to read a book where the entire book is flipped on its head. I will give him credit for this concept of the five acts telling the same general timeline but each one zooms out a little and adds more detail in to help tell the story. I see the vision. But there are several big problems with this book.
- The narration of this book was super wonky. It's an unreliable narrator but then scenes where the narrator never was are told objectively - like you have to use the narrator you picked...
- The narrator does this whole breaking the fourth wall thing the whole time and it just didn't work for me. even the backstory stuff could've been fleshed out and used sooo much better
- This whole plot feels like the episode of Community
- I know every character is supposed to be terrible, even Lana (you just don't realize for a while because it's Elliot's POV) but the book actually does nothing to address this after all the shocking twists are out of the way
I am a lukewarm reader of Alex Michaelides' books yet every time I try reading them. This is definitely the weakest one out of his three. At this point he's known for his twists so it's not surprising to read a book where the entire book is flipped on its head. I will give him credit for this concept of the five acts telling the same general timeline but each one zooms out a little and adds more detail in to help tell the story. I see the vision. But there are several big problems with this book.
- The narration of this book was super wonky. It's an unreliable narrator but then scenes where the narrator never was are told objectively - like you have to use the narrator you picked...
- The narrator does this whole breaking the fourth wall thing the whole time and it just didn't work for me. even the backstory stuff could've been fleshed out and used sooo much better
- This whole plot feels like the episode of Community
Spoiler
where they keep shooting each other with fake guns in a whole dramatic standoff like 10 times. Past the first plot twist it just gets unrealistic and ridiculous- I know every character is supposed to be terrible, even Lana (you just don't realize for a while because it's Elliot's POV) but the book actually does nothing to address this after all the shocking twists are out of the way
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Setup was interesting and had potential but there’s too much meta commentary and the final plot is overly complicated. The twists are a little too over the top and the MC’s backstory was too overdone.
I'm still chasing the high of the twist in the Silent Patient and the Maidens. Unfortunately, this one was not of the same caliber, but I still enjoyed it and will keep reading his books.