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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
Well, I'm certainly not the ideal target audience for The Westing Game since it's actually intended for middle-schoolers. I also didn't grow up reading this book, so there's no nostalgia factor for me. All I can say is that while the puzzles were interesting and it's probably quite accurately marketed as a sort of Knives Out for children, that I found that plot a little less satisfying than I'd hoped.
Sixteen people have been approached to rent apartments at Sunset Towers, a beautiful new building that happens to be north of the Westing estate. That's right, they've been approached by a mysterious individual and it turns out that they also happen to the heirs of Samuel W. Westing, who has been recently found dead in his estate. Old Man Westing was an eccentric millionaire, who came from nothing and made his fortune in paper products. And now he has gathered his supposed heirs to play a final game to inherit his massive fortune.
I liked the idea of a mystery for middle-schoolers where the readers have to piece together the puzzle to find out why Westing had chosen these people specifically, which this book certainly was. However, I found that sixteen is too many characters to keep track of and I had a tendency to get confused about them, especially since they tended to off on tangents of their own.
Who were these people, these specially selected tenants? They were mothers and fathers and children. A dressmaker, a secretary, an inventor, a doctor, a judge. And, oh yes, one was a bookie, one was a burglar, one was a bomber, and one was a mistake. Barney Northup had rented one of the apartments to the wrong person.
Sixteen people have been approached to rent apartments at Sunset Towers, a beautiful new building that happens to be north of the Westing estate. That's right, they've been approached by a mysterious individual and it turns out that they also happen to the heirs of Samuel W. Westing, who has been recently found dead in his estate. Old Man Westing was an eccentric millionaire, who came from nothing and made his fortune in paper products. And now he has gathered his supposed heirs to play a final game to inherit his massive fortune.
I liked the idea of a mystery for middle-schoolers where the readers have to piece together the puzzle to find out why Westing had chosen these people specifically, which this book certainly was. However, I found that sixteen is too many characters to keep track of and I had a tendency to get confused about them, especially since they tended to off on tangents of their own.
Spoiler
Each pair of heirs have been given a set of words to try to figure out what Westing's thinking, but the words all differed and they each had different interpretations of how they were supposed to act on them. This meant that there were various subplots to keep tracking - Turtle's stock market analysis; random items going missing around the building; conflict between the tenants and so on.
Why I Stopped Reading on p. 45: This is one of those slightly uncomfortable Newbery books of old (though it's not as old as I first assumed) whose point-of-view choices make no sense as a middle grade novel, with sentences like "She must have been a handsome woman at one time, but life had used her harshly."
In addition, I really couldn't care less about this mystery or anyone trying to solve it. It's rather like reading a chess game instead of a novel; the characters are cardboard "plot pawns." This is typically considered a writing flaw, but here it seems intentional. And, well, I just don't like it, and life is short, and my current TBR shelf holds 1400+ books. I'm also pretty sure I know exactly where this is going...Westing is not actually dead. Right? < looks up spoilers > Yep, I'm right!
In addition, I really couldn't care less about this mystery or anyone trying to solve it. It's rather like reading a chess game instead of a novel; the characters are cardboard "plot pawns." This is typically considered a writing flaw, but here it seems intentional. And, well, I just don't like it, and life is short, and my current TBR shelf holds 1400+ books. I'm also pretty sure I know exactly where this is going...
mysterious
medium-paced
emotional
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:
Complicated
mysterious
medium-paced
funny
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I still haven't decided if Mr Westing was a really good guy or a complete jerk, but his game was definitely brilliant.
PS: (he was probably a bit of both)
PS: (he was probably a bit of both)
This was my favorite book in middle school, and it's been so long that I forgot how it ended and it was a joy to read it with fresh eyes again. It's from the 70s so bits and pieces of it haven't aged particularly well, but overall I enjoyed it just as much as I did 12 years ago.
I give this a solid MEH. I had a hard time getting a clear picture of characters, didn't like the flow between scenes and characters for the most part. Ending was all right but I had to talk myself to get it finished. I wanted very much to just set it aside and forget about it.
It's prejudices and stereotypes DO NOT age well.
It's prejudices and stereotypes DO NOT age well.
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes