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rustyray's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Original story that's well executed. Can be hard to remember multiple characters, but the MC struggles along with you. For a mystery, it does have reread potential
madison____'s review against another edition
4.0
It took me getting through the first 10% of the book to really feel invested in the story, but once I was in I was hooked. The storytelling around the two main plots, one of Amy Gallup and her writing class learning together about one and other and writing, and the other about the maniac-turned-murderer in their midst, was just so fun and engaging. I really enjoyed this book, and was happily surprised to be much more spooked (and later surprised by the murderer’s identity) than I expected to be as the suspense increased. I only wish there was more closure on the “how” of some of the weird behaviors of the different characters that are mentioned throughout as Amy attempts to scrutinize them. But true to the character of Amy, Willett isn’t concerned with the “how,” so much as the “what” and “why.”
mhall's review against another edition
3.0
"Amy was a bitter, peculiar person, aware at all times of her bitterness and peculiarity, but rarely did this bother her."
stressgirl70's review against another edition
4.0
You know why I love Book Soup? Because the people who work there actually read, and when I buy books based in their reviews, I get books I enjoy. This is the 2nd of many I got from them on my last visit (the first was The Family Fang) and I enjoyed it as much as the first. It's a mystery, but what I loved about it was the character development and the journey the main character goes through to learn about herself as the story progresses.
inthelunaseas's review against another edition
3.0
I was encouraged to read this book by a friend, who a value the opinion of very much. I was told this book would be good, and, having found this friend's opinion to be reliable in the past, I was looking forward to reading it.
And I would have liked to have enjoyed this book. The cover itself is quite witty, and a rather good reflection on the typical people you would find in a class.
Unfortunately, I felt the story fell flat. The characters were one-dimensional on the most part, and I felt the Sniper to be rather contrived. I couldn't find myself striving to connect with the main character, Amy, especially given her rather melodramatic, self-pitying monologue towards the end. The moment something interesting is revealed about a character (Dot, Edna, Carla, even Syl), they're immediately shoved away and they're never brought up in that context again. I felt at times the book just lumbered on, until two hundred pages in, the plot really started.
That's not to say it's poorly written, but I didn't get anything out of it. It would have worked better with the mystery starting earlier on and a deeper reflection on the characters. Disappointing.
And I would have liked to have enjoyed this book. The cover itself is quite witty, and a rather good reflection on the typical people you would find in a class.
Unfortunately, I felt the story fell flat. The characters were one-dimensional on the most part, and I felt the Sniper to be rather contrived. I couldn't find myself striving to connect with the main character, Amy, especially given her rather melodramatic, self-pitying monologue towards the end. The moment something interesting is revealed about a character (Dot, Edna, Carla, even Syl), they're immediately shoved away and they're never brought up in that context again. I felt at times the book just lumbered on, until two hundred pages in, the plot really started.
That's not to say it's poorly written, but I didn't get anything out of it. It would have worked better with the mystery starting earlier on and a deeper reflection on the characters. Disappointing.
jwmcoaching's review against another edition
1.0
This is a terrible book...undoubtedly, one of the worst I have ever read! I was so disappointed because I loved Willett's "Winner of the National Book Award", but this wasn't anywhere near that level of talent.
The plot is ridiculous and slow, the characters are pretty paper-thin, and the mystery at the heart of the novel is the only thing that kept me reading. When the reveal does occur, it's like all of the remaining air goes out of the novel and you just want to throw it in the trash.
The other odd thing about the whole thing is that some of the characters seem like they are completely out of touch with modern technology. Granted, this was published seven years ago, but it still seems like a bit of a stretch that a person living in San Diego county wouldn't know about JPEGs, especially since they know how to operate a blog.
What a bust!
The plot is ridiculous and slow, the characters are pretty paper-thin, and the mystery at the heart of the novel is the only thing that kept me reading. When the reveal does occur, it's like all of the remaining air goes out of the novel and you just want to throw it in the trash.
The other odd thing about the whole thing is that some of the characters seem like they are completely out of touch with modern technology. Granted, this was published seven years ago, but it still seems like a bit of a stretch that a person living in San Diego county wouldn't know about JPEGs, especially since they know how to operate a blog.
What a bust!
anc18's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book. It's interesting, and I was not expecting the development of the story. The story is much different than it seems in the beginning.
beadeeh's review against another edition
3.0
Plot, language and pov all good; characters a bit weak. Didn't particularly come to care about any of them... And I couldn't keep most of the male class members straight.good balance off un, creepy and sentimental.
the_discworldian's review against another edition
3.0
It's got to be hard to write a book around critique. You're practically begging for your own work to be dissected. I'm flashbacking to Fiction II.
Dear author:
What worked for me were the workshop bits. Dialogue felt real and I enjoyed the characters although some of them were a bit one-dimensional (still, I've been in classes with weirder groups, to the extent that no one would believe them on paper—and some of them had few discernible dimensions either). Although the culprit's identity was not a surprise, in some ways that was a good thing, because it felt consistent with what we already knew about the character.
What didn't work for me so well were the non-workshop bits. Descriptions of early crisis moments seemed particularly clumsy, and Amy's neuroses annoyed me and invited me not to care about her since she was so obviously doing these things to herself.
Oh, and I just love Chuck. Nothing too academic about it, just sayin'.
Overall, a solid draft, keep going!
Now I want to know what happened to my Fiction II class...
Dear author:
What worked for me were the workshop bits. Dialogue felt real and I enjoyed the characters although some of them were a bit one-dimensional (still, I've been in classes with weirder groups, to the extent that no one would believe them on paper—and some of them had few discernible dimensions either). Although the culprit's identity was not a surprise, in some ways that was a good thing, because it felt consistent with what we already knew about the character.
What didn't work for me so well were the non-workshop bits. Descriptions of early crisis moments seemed particularly clumsy, and Amy's neuroses annoyed me and invited me not to care about her since she was so obviously doing these things to herself.
Oh, and I just love Chuck. Nothing too academic about it, just sayin'.
Overall, a solid draft, keep going!
Now I want to know what happened to my Fiction II class...
yeah_yeah1's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0