Reviews - Senseless | The StoryGraph

199 reviews for:

Senseless

Ronald Malfi

3.83 AVERAGE

bloodycheesecake's review against another edition

4.5

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I loved this novel, and it has instantly become my second favourite Malfi novel behind Come With Me. Like that novel, Malfi shows his mastery of the crime thriller with supernatural elements. There are traces of a ghost story, a creature feature, and even a vampire tale, but they are kept mainly in the background to great effect, adding to the dark and paranoid atmosphere without overwhelming the narrative. I think what I loved most about this novel is that most of the book jumps between three seemingly separate stories, almost as if it were a short story collection, but each of them is permeated with a sense of interconnectedness that is deliberately obscured until almost the very end, delivering an ending that is at once wholly gratifying and seductively ambiguous.

zenzi2read's review

4.25

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I really loved the way the author blended supernatural elements into a crime thriller. I figured out most of the mystery on my own fairly early on, but I still feel like the book is worth read.

This was an interesting group of characters. Maybe even a few too many it’s slow paste and there were a few too many POV’s but it’s still enjoyable.

Content Warnings

possum156's review against another edition

4.0

dark mysterious medium-paced

winlei's review

2.0

i’m speechless but not in a good way. this book was so meandering and long and for absolutely no reason or pay off at the end. initially the writing was compelling enough but the ultimate downfall of the lack of interesting characters or cohesive plot made this an absolute slog of an experience.