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hollowistheworld's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25
A solid enough mystery but the pacing was borked. Most mystery novels are primarily from one perspective - the detective. There's a reason for that. All the perspectives in this book muddied the plot, slowed the pace, and generally made me wish they'd get on with it, as it led to us constantly having to rehash things for the next character. I think the whole thing could have been written to be entirely from Emma's perspective and it would have streamlined the whole thing marvelously. I shouldn't be more than halfway through a book and still wondering what the hell the opening scene has to do with anything. The autism stuff too - I shouldn't be halfway through and going 'why are we spending so much time talking about this? What does this have to do with the plot?' Even at the end I was unconvinced so much of that was necessary. Mysteries, by virtue of their genre, typically need to be kept tight, and this was definitely not tight. It was a sizable bundle of plot ideas and glimpses of Ghana issues, but they connected poorly, when they connected at all. I could also write a sizable article about all the ways this book is an example of how men seem to be incapable of writing believable female characters. Men may stop paying attention to the creep staring at them at a party, but a woman who's recently escaped sexual assault? She's watching him like a hawk. Not quite a bad book - I wasn't longing for the end like with some I've read - but I wouldn't call it good either.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Ableism
wanderlustsleeping's review against another edition
Repetitive, and slow. Just couldn't keep my interest.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault
I also didn't appreciate the simplistic view of Autism.not_another_ana's review against another edition
Incredibly boring. And then I saw it was 421 pages long and decided I couldn't put myself through all that. Just in the initial 20% there were 7 or so POVs and we barely saw the supposed protagonist. I did like the way Ghana was described and the references to the country and its culture but that was it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, and Misogyny
devirnis's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Sexual assault
Moderate: Animal death
maedayx43's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This was a very engaging novel - a missing person story that exposes issues of class and corruption in modern day Ghana. Even though there were a lot of characters to keep track of, I had fun piecing together their interwoven stories. Some predictable twist and turns but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I was also happy to see some representation of autistic/intellectually disabled people in the story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Sexual assault, and Suicide
leniece94's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
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
The Missing American is a change of pace for me but I really enjoyed it. It did an amazing job of describing all of the characters in their own worlds and slowly pulling those characters together through history and circumstances.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide, Violence, and Sexual assault
sarah984's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
This book was okay. I liked the descriptions of life in Ghana and the mystery was interesting enough, but most of the characters felt pretty flat and the writing was in an overly clinical style that I didn't really enjoy. I also caught something that looked like an editor's note that didn't get deleted (seemed like a suggestion to alter some dialogue) but that might just be in the kindle edition.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault and Murder
Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Classism, Fatphobia, Grief, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual content, Violence, Death of parent, Death, and Drug use
Minor: Gun violence, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Suicide, and Vomit
ogokoo's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
My second read by Quartey, and unfortunately, the writing here is really lacking. Some of the plot was either too convoluted, or underwhelming. I enjoyed some of the main characters and I hope the next Emma Djan book is better.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault and Violence
Moderate: Misogyny
sarahholliday's review against another edition
Uneven construction of plot; the supposedly main character is sexually assaulted in order to move the story forward when literally ANY other plot device could have accomplished the same thing; descriptions of characters felt...uncomfortable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault and Gun violence
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