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3.08 AVERAGE
3.08 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Usually love Isabel Allende’s writing but was very disappointed by the transphobic trope used in this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage, Transphobia, Murder
Excellent book. Up until the end the unexpected happened. I am cynical and believe that I can figure out the end of stories, I really appreciate the ones where I am wrong.
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
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:
Yes
I usually love Isabel Allende, but this was a misfire.
Good character development, slow moving mystery. The last half could have been more elaborate with the first half being not as detailed which would have allowed for a better mystery development, as it stands it was fairly predictable. I'm glad I finished it but was pretty slow moving.
I'm very confused by this book.
I liked it, but... the killer didn't make sense for a couple of reasons. There's an age issue that I don't think is addressed very well.
This may be because of the translation, I don't know. I don't think so though. Everything else is well translated, and the "cultural moments" in this novel are used well. Some of those moments include the death of Whitney Houston, and the popularity of movies/books like Twilight. All the cultural references work well, but the reveal of the killer just... it doesn't track.
OK, so the killer and the fact that the killer does that is very confusing. If the choice made by the killer was easier to understand maybe that would help, but the killer isn't revealed until very close to the end, so you don't hear anything about the motive for a very long time. True, some of it you can put together if you can keep track of the 1,000,000,000 characters in this book, all of whom seem to have very normal names. Or maybe it was the fact that there would be sidetracks to the story which would then become flashbacks and then would have another sidetrack and then it would flash forward to a point that you hadn't reached yet, or so it felt.
However: I really liked the story telling style like that, but the descriptions of the characters at times was very vague. It's the kind of thing where the hair color of characters isn't repeated, so I'm not sure of what some characters looked like, which is really important when the killer is revealed.
I don't understand the weird homophobia that kind of pops up out of nowhere in this. Just one of the main characters gets into a big fight in a gay club and it comes out of basically nowhere. There's a history for the character, and it kind of makes sense. Sort of. But that portion of the book could have been removed completely and it wouldn't have changed anything.
Overall, a pretty good book, but I think the complexity and slight absurdity behind the killings just made it lose stars for me.
I liked it, but... the killer didn't make sense for a couple of reasons. There's an age issue that I don't think is addressed very well.
This may be because of the translation, I don't know. I don't think so though. Everything else is well translated, and the "cultural moments" in this novel are used well. Some of those moments include the death of Whitney Houston, and the popularity of movies/books like Twilight. All the cultural references work well, but the reveal of the killer just... it doesn't track.
OK, so the killer
Spoiler
is one of Indiana's Clients, but also her girlfriend that has cancerHowever: I really liked the story telling style like that, but the descriptions of the characters at times was very vague. It's the kind of thing where the hair color of characters isn't repeated, so I'm not sure of what some characters looked like, which is really important when the killer is revealed.
I don't understand the weird homophobia that kind of pops up out of nowhere in this. Just one of the main characters gets into a big fight in a gay club and it comes out of basically nowhere. There's a history for the character, and it kind of makes sense. Sort of. But that portion of the book could have been removed completely and it wouldn't have changed anything.
Overall, a pretty good book, but I think the complexity and slight absurdity behind the killings just made it lose stars for me.
dark
fast-paced
Was not quite into it at the beginning but loved the quirky characters by the end. Also loved the Bay Area locale... One of my favorite authors!
I listened to the audiobook which make the faults all the more visible.
How many times do we have to hear that Ryan Miller is an ex Navy SEAL. We get it.
And how about Amanda who is so smart but then only thinks about getting her so-called boyfriend back once she gets to MIT.
And Indiana is so annoying. And everyone was so unbelievable. I did enjoy the local color and learning about Winehaven.
It was also so obvious about Carol/Gary. They was just something so off.
Ms Allende should stick to the topics she knows. I loved her other books.
How many times do we have to hear that Ryan Miller is an ex Navy SEAL. We get it.
And how about Amanda who is so smart but then only thinks about getting her so-called boyfriend back once she gets to MIT.
And Indiana is so annoying. And everyone was so unbelievable. I did enjoy the local color and learning about Winehaven.
It was also so obvious about Carol/Gary. They was just something so off.
Ms Allende should stick to the topics she knows. I loved her other books.
I've enjoyed everything I've read of Isabel Allende's. I'm not generally a mystery reader, but I thought I'd give this one a chance, to see if Allende really is that versatile.
Amanda Martín is a teenager obsessed with true crime. She takes part in an online roleplaying game that starts off devoted to solving the Jack the Ripper mystery. It soon moves on to modern crimes. When her astrologist godmother predicts a "bloodbath" in San Francisco, Amanda turns her players' attention to finding a connection between recent unsolved murders. Meanwhile, her father, Bob Martín, investigates the murders in his capacity as detective. Indiana Jackson, Amanda's flaky mother, is all too happy to ignore the terrible crimes, until she becomes the target.
Much of the plot revolves around Ryan Miller, a Navy SEAL and war veteran who's missing one leg. He's friends with Indiana and her daughter, and is in love with Indiana. He becomes a target of the investigation after the murders hit close to home, and the narrative sows enough doubt that only a familiarity with the murder mystery formula eliminates suspicion.
The story has a slow build. It isn't until the last third of the book that the pieces come together and the tension really picks up. When it comes, the reader realizes why all these disparate pieces of information were dropped in. There's no time to pause to figure out where a person fits in the story once it really picks up.
The timeline is somewhat nonlinear. By that I mean, the core of the story progresses from January to April 2012, with frequent stops in the past. It flits around, often jumping entire decades from one paragraph to the next. I was sometimes lost in the narrative, unable to determine if we were in modern day or in the midst of another flashback. Eventually, the context would reveal it, but it could be disorienting.
This is no simple murder mystery. It's not unique in being a murder mystery with mystical elements, though they're subtly done. The book also explores topics like PTSD, online friendships, trust, the pitfalls of genius, war, guilt, with a few sly literary references tossed in. Blake Jackson, Amanda's grandfather, is talking about writing a book, and he discusses the process and research within the narrative.
I don't think I'm familiar enough with mystery novels to call this a success as a mystery. As a book, it's well-crafted. The ending hit me hard, but it was the ending this book needed.
I listened to this book on audio, narrated by Edoardo Ballerini. He has the sort of voice that suits a mystery novel, and a good familiarity with the accents the narrative called for, but he sounded strange, reading female dialogue. The audio quality sometimes turned sibilant sounds into a piercing whistle, which made turning up the volume a risky proposition.
Amanda Martín is a teenager obsessed with true crime. She takes part in an online roleplaying game that starts off devoted to solving the Jack the Ripper mystery. It soon moves on to modern crimes. When her astrologist godmother predicts a "bloodbath" in San Francisco, Amanda turns her players' attention to finding a connection between recent unsolved murders. Meanwhile, her father, Bob Martín, investigates the murders in his capacity as detective. Indiana Jackson, Amanda's flaky mother, is all too happy to ignore the terrible crimes, until she becomes the target.
Much of the plot revolves around Ryan Miller, a Navy SEAL and war veteran who's missing one leg. He's friends with Indiana and her daughter, and is in love with Indiana. He becomes a target of the investigation after the murders hit close to home, and the narrative sows enough doubt that only a familiarity with the murder mystery formula eliminates suspicion.
The story has a slow build. It isn't until the last third of the book that the pieces come together and the tension really picks up. When it comes, the reader realizes why all these disparate pieces of information were dropped in. There's no time to pause to figure out where a person fits in the story once it really picks up.
The timeline is somewhat nonlinear. By that I mean, the core of the story progresses from January to April 2012, with frequent stops in the past. It flits around, often jumping entire decades from one paragraph to the next. I was sometimes lost in the narrative, unable to determine if we were in modern day or in the midst of another flashback. Eventually, the context would reveal it, but it could be disorienting.
This is no simple murder mystery. It's not unique in being a murder mystery with mystical elements, though they're subtly done. The book also explores topics like PTSD, online friendships, trust, the pitfalls of genius, war, guilt, with a few sly literary references tossed in. Blake Jackson, Amanda's grandfather, is talking about writing a book, and he discusses the process and research within the narrative.
I don't think I'm familiar enough with mystery novels to call this a success as a mystery. As a book, it's well-crafted. The ending hit me hard, but it was the ending this book needed.
I listened to this book on audio, narrated by Edoardo Ballerini. He has the sort of voice that suits a mystery novel, and a good familiarity with the accents the narrative called for, but he sounded strange, reading female dialogue. The audio quality sometimes turned sibilant sounds into a piercing whistle, which made turning up the volume a risky proposition.