Reviews

A Million to One by Adiba Jaigirdar

danielap's review

Eu decidi não terminar este livro antes da trama começar, o que pode ser uma decisão prematura, simplesmente porque não sinto vontade de continuar. Se esta premissa fosse com personagens adultas eu estaria interessada em segui-las, mas sendo com crianças/adolescentes, eu não estou minimamente interessada em seguir as vidas delas...

fjreading's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

3.25

I liked this book for sure but certain aspects were disappointing. I’m not intense about historical accuracy so idc about those but the characters felt underdeveloped and so did the romance. Also I thought the survivors would be the opposite of those who survived. This book had great potential and I did find it really interesting but it just lacked something. Maybe it just needed to be a tiny bit longer? But then again I found the first 100 pages boring? 

jewelled_'s review

adventurous emotional hopeful 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

3.5

 Finished the last 30% of the story in one nervous sitting, it was great.

However, I do wish the relationship between the characters were more flushed out. 

emmaidc's review

4.0

idea was amazing execution was mid. im not ✨sure✨but i think violet has a brother in croatia. but im really not sure. might be my delusions.

hannahlsmith's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

me: very aware of what happens to the titanic
still me when it sinks: :0

okay but jesus christ they didn't have to kill off TWO of the four main characters though. like i admire the choice but i really thought it was going to be and they all escaped and lived happily ever after

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

rsk1315's review

adventurous emotional hopeful 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? No

3.5

gemstonejasper's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

This book was okay. It had a few really fun parts, but I wouldn't recommend it to everyone. But the ending is what really got me.

Violet and Hinnah deserved much better! It's a story about the Titanic, so I knew at least one of the main characters would die. That's not the point.  Josefa's character arc was around trusting her friends and telling the truth. I think it would make much more sense if she was the only one who survived or if she survived with Violet and/or Hinnah. But Emilie was her love interest. It just doesn't fit with her arc that they would both survive. It would have also worked if Josefa died. I don't know. I just didn't like that Josefa and Emilie were the survivors.

Violet clearly loved Josefa and I think they would have been much better together. I also think Hinnah ad Emilie would have made a better pair. I didn't really buy Josefa and Emilie's romance. It felt weird and rushed and I didn't understand why they would like each other. I wasn't a huge fan of Emilie in general. Part of the story was realizing how Emilie was important to the heist as well. But to be honest, I don't really see it. Sure, she could draw the maps. But other than that, she didn't do much and she seemed to get them in trouble more than her fair share. I don't know. I just didn't like the ending. Other than that, I think it was an okay read.

valetparkering's review against another edition

2.75

I'm not convinced the author had a plan for getting the Macguffin off of the ship because she knew it would be sinking. 

I know Josefa only managed to get a few of the gems out of the cover but they kept saying that they would "never have to worry about money again" so why did they run out so fast in the ending chapters?

The characters where fine. I think it's hard to do all these one on one interactions and development while also trying to build the relationship between Emily and Josefa.

The main thing that knocked this down was the lack of emotional intensity. Literally

Hinnah and Violet died

with extremely little fanfare. There was no tension when

Emily

was trapped in a locked room with the water rising.  The only time I felt any emotional weight was in the final confrontation with Josefa and August (which having the largest emotional beats involve a man in a sapphic book, crazy (mostly joking but still)).

izzys_internet_bookshelf's review against another edition

4.0

4/5

Really enjoyed reading this book! It was a fun blend of a heist with the setting of the Titanic. The ending was so bittersweet. Though, while reading the book I didn’t read any romance. Which I found to be odd.

jlamb44's review

tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

The fact that it takes place on the titanic takes away from the heist aspect of it. Would have been better as one or the other. Characters go through development and grow but it kind of comes out of nowhere, doesn't feel like genuine growth but something that just happens for the sake of character development. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death of parent, Death, and Violence