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kdahlo's review
3.0
Seemed like it should be right up my alley - little thriller with an unreliable narrator - but this guy was too unreliable for me. Not clear on anything that happened in this one. Did I miss the clues, or is it deliberately confusing to cover some loose threads? That's the main mystery of this book. Nice pieces, amusing, short.
etakloknok's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
babyruth510's review
3.0
An intriguing, mysterious little book that will leave you scratching your head as to what exactly was happening.
arcturiankhaos25's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
A reviewer compared this to David Lynch and I can see why, but it never feels like it goes anywhere.
purplemuskogee's review
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Nothing is clear in this Kafka-esque novella, where the narrator, a university clerk in San Francisco, investigates the death of his father and becomes haunted by signs and by hostile colleagues, while reality and dreams merge together. I loved the narrator's voice which captured the fussy character telling us his story, his loneliness and confusion and his growing instability. It was a quick but really enjoyable read.
k_wagner's review
3.0
Lots of loose strings never tied up, so that the end felt more like the author got tired of writing than wanting to finish in a manner that made any sense.
maralyons's review
4.0
I’m not sure what to make of this one! The Scapegoat by Sara Davis is a fast-paced, short, surreal mystery with an unreliable narrator. It is compulsively readable with short chapters, so I got through this one quickly. The narrator is investigating his father’s death, which keeps leading him to a strange hotel with a dark history and the University hospital where he works and his father previously worked. The narrator keeps finding clues which propel him back to the mysterious hotel again and again. Things keep changing and the narrator loses time, so it’s hard to know what’s really going on. It reminded me a little of The Night Film by Marisha Pessl. The story was very unsettling and strange, but very interesting.
Thank you Farrar, Straus, and Giroux and NetGalley for providing this ARC.
Thank you Farrar, Straus, and Giroux and NetGalley for providing this ARC.
0hxneybee's review against another edition
mysterious
fast-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
1.0
This was trying to be like American Psycho and it failed. The plot fell apart in the last 30 pages for absolutely no reason. Nothing got resolved or answered or anything. It only has one star because it had somewhat of a plot at the start.