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jackster62's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
mouse55's review
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
alidottie's review
4.0
I love how so many of McCall-Smith's books just introduce you to new friends that you get to spend time with again when he writes a sequel. These books are not exciting but they are comfy and they make me happy. Detective Varg is someone I enjoy hanging out with.
jsujata's review
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.75
rasputina_99's review
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.0
lillanaa's review
5.0
This book was received as an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
McCall Smith's books always bring about interesting feelings for me. They're fantastic, don't get me wrong, but there's also something oddly... Normal about them. The character of Varg is the linchpin of the entire operation, and I'm not going to say that's altogether a bad thing. Outside of him being eccentric, there really isn't much to these books, but that's what makes them so interesting and why I decided to pick up the second.
The plot of this one hits a few different, and odd, marks for me. It's fun, and the writing style very much helps convey that these are just very normal circumstances that are for some reason being brought into question. The only thing that hit me hard was the subplot with Anna, she became one of my favourites in the first book and I felt so badly for her the entire time. That whole part, to me, was the most impactful and showed the true colours of Varg in the end.
Ultimately, I have to say if you like McCall Smith's writing style then you'll probably like this, especially if you liked the first. Honestly, I'd even say I liked this more than the first. The series is starting to get some actual development, I'm curious to see if there's more to it.
McCall Smith's books always bring about interesting feelings for me. They're fantastic, don't get me wrong, but there's also something oddly... Normal about them. The character of Varg is the linchpin of the entire operation, and I'm not going to say that's altogether a bad thing. Outside of him being eccentric, there really isn't much to these books, but that's what makes them so interesting and why I decided to pick up the second.
The plot of this one hits a few different, and odd, marks for me. It's fun, and the writing style very much helps convey that these are just very normal circumstances that are for some reason being brought into question. The only thing that hit me hard was the subplot with Anna, she became one of my favourites in the first book and I felt so badly for her the entire time. That whole part, to me, was the most impactful and showed the true colours of Varg in the end.
Ultimately, I have to say if you like McCall Smith's writing style then you'll probably like this, especially if you liked the first. Honestly, I'd even say I liked this more than the first. The series is starting to get some actual development, I'm curious to see if there's more to it.
suegat's review
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0