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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
I thought this was an excellent novel!
Absolutely impeccably written, with characters that really do jump out of the pages and are so realistic, each with unique characteristics and personalities. The whole plot of the novel is astounding really. It's original, dark, twisted, and filled with turns that shock and surprised you at the end of nearly every chapter. It's very deep and the ending is a shock, it really is. The whole thing is a shock.
But it's confusing. There were countless chapters and times during the story where I couldn't understand what was going on or if there was a small mystery, it was left pretty much unsaid and left to find out for ourselves. I sometimes felt left out, like the book was apart of a secret club I couldn't be involved in.
But altogether, it was amazing. I read this with my class and I just had my test on it today (fingers crossed I did good!) but I would definitely recommend this to anyone who wants a good mystery.
Absolutely impeccably written, with characters that really do jump out of the pages and are so realistic, each with unique characteristics and personalities. The whole plot of the novel is astounding really. It's original, dark, twisted, and filled with turns that shock and surprised you at the end of nearly every chapter. It's very deep and the ending is a shock, it really is. The whole thing is a shock.
But it's confusing. There were countless chapters and times during the story where I couldn't understand what was going on or if there was a small mystery, it was left pretty much unsaid and left to find out for ourselves. I sometimes felt left out, like the book was apart of a secret club I couldn't be involved in.
But altogether, it was amazing. I read this with my class and I just had my test on it today (fingers crossed I did good!) but I would definitely recommend this to anyone who wants a good mystery.
A fun, cozy, twisted mystery, as an enigmatic millionaire dies, and in his will, selects 16 “heirs” to solve his murder to receive the fortune. The bevy of interesting characters was my favorite aspect of this book.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Was recommended this book after reading, and enjoying, Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts. And I was not disappointed. Quirky cast of characters? Check. Mystery/puzzle to be solved? Check. Large inheritance at stake? Check. Between the two books I preferred Tuesday, but I’m glad I’ve now read this beloved YA title that Tuesday clearly owes a lot to!
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
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
I had never heard of this book before seeing it mentioned several times recently. A few people have said that it was their favorite childhood book, so I thought it might be fun to read with my son. We enjoyed the mystery aspect as well as the character and plot development (lots of twists and turns and red herrings), however, it was very poorly written and used extremely outdated language involving many stereotypes. The writing was clunky and difficult to read aloud at times due to missing transitions. Overall, it was a fun story, but I would only recommend it for children if read with an adult so you can help identify problematic themes and language along the way and follow it up with a conversation about outdated literature.
This was a fun, deceptively easy read. The Westing Game is a murder mystery for children (though I still never figured out who did it!) and is full of colourful characters. I love murder mysteries, and even though every time I start one I think "I will really pay attention, I will figure out who did it" endings always surprise me and The Westing Game was no exception! I will have to read it again one day; I am always amazed at how obvious the clues seem on a re-read!
funny
mysterious
fast-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
challenging
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I had been hearing about The Westing Game for well over a decade, so perhaps my hopes were too high for this book. I found all of the characters annoying and one-dimensional stereotypes. Even finding out their "secrets," like that Angela was the bomber , didn't give the characters that much more complexity. And they all seemed ridiculously dumb to me; I know that as the reader I got to see all of their clues, but really, nobody figured out that their clues were from America the Beautiful , even after they figured out where one of the lines in the will came from? And then at the end, everything has worked out perfectly for everyone and they all live happily ever after .
The clever explanation of how everything fit together brought the book from two to three stars for me, and as far as mysteries go, it was a fairly good one. I just couldn't get over the flat cast of characters.
The clever explanation of how everything fit together brought the book from two to three stars for me, and as far as mysteries go, it was a fairly good one. I just couldn't get over the flat cast of characters.
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
There's a fun mystery here where a bunch of characters have a word game / riddle to figure out in order to win an inheritance which seems to almost ask the reader to play along. However the story is more interested in how the characters grow and bond than on the solution to the mystery. So much so that having now finished the book, I did not totally understand what was going on. I understand the answers to the riddles but what that actually means, as in, why was any of this happening and was there an inheritance, I really don't get. During the finale, the youngest character, presumably because this is a children's book, suddenly becomes the main focus of the novel but up until this point it has been an ensemble so that felt quite jarring. Overall, quite a weird read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism
Minor: Racism