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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
I tried another Jackson Brodie, despite being a bit neutral on the first book, and in some ways this was better, but it still has the same major problems as the first.
The main one is, despite getting the audiobook version with Jason Isaacs, I just don’t like Brodie as a character. Amazing to think, but he’s a worse version of Cormoran Strike - all the unpleasant middle-aged maleness, none of the redeeming pathos and charm.
In fact, I found all of the characters to be awful - annoying cliches and stock personalities - so all attempts at human drama kind of fall flat. I felt the interconnected mysteries and POVs worked better in this outing compared to the first, and after a slow start I flew through the middle of the book quite intrigued. However, while I appreciate the mystery wasn’t for once solved by the detective getting a random brainwave but by a logical following of available clues, it still felt pretty flimsy and random. Too rushed and too many handy coincidences to be satisfying.
The main one is, despite getting the audiobook version with Jason Isaacs, I just don’t like Brodie as a character. Amazing to think, but he’s a worse version of Cormoran Strike - all the unpleasant middle-aged maleness, none of the redeeming pathos and charm.
In fact, I found all of the characters to be awful - annoying cliches and stock personalities - so all attempts at human drama kind of fall flat. I felt the interconnected mysteries and POVs worked better in this outing compared to the first, and after a slow start I flew through the middle of the book quite intrigued. However, while I appreciate the mystery wasn’t for once solved by the detective getting a random brainwave but by a logical following of available clues, it still felt pretty flimsy and random. Too rushed and too many handy coincidences to be satisfying.
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Very satisfying read - character develop is rich. Mystery unfolds is unexpected ways.
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-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:
Complicated
Great book. Excellent writing, vivid details and characters who you actually care about even tho sometimes you'd like to shake them they are so aggravating. It made me think about judging people from looks alone and also how much a small kindness can mean to someone - or even change a life. Very highly recommended and looking forward to reading the next two in the series!
*When he stepped off the train in Waverley Station yesterday, he had been expecting the 50 percent of his genes that were Scottish to recognize their heritage. He thought perhaps he would discover and emotional link with a past he'd never known, walk down a street and the faces would feel familiar, turn a corner or climb a stair and there would be an ephiphany of sorts ...*
*It was strange how something you weren't expecting could, nonetheless, turn out to be no surprise at all.*
*He often thought about his dead sister, but she was usually an image in isolation (the idea of his sister). He rarely had a sharply focused picture of something that had actually occurred, and this sudden, unexpected memory of sitting next to Niamh on the bus - the smell of her violet cologne, the rustle of her petticoat, the feel of his arm resting next to hers - tied a tight knot in his heart.*
*And then they got a baby and a dishwasher, and Jackson continued on and didn't think again for a long time about the path he hadn't chosen, a way of life that had never been, yet that didn't stop him from aching for it in some confused place in his soul.*
*He wasn't a whiskey drinker by nature, yet he seemed to have drunk a lot of the stuff since arriving. It must have been in his Scottish blood all this time, calling to him.*
*When he stepped off the train in Waverley Station yesterday, he had been expecting the 50 percent of his genes that were Scottish to recognize their heritage. He thought perhaps he would discover and emotional link with a past he'd never known, walk down a street and the faces would feel familiar, turn a corner or climb a stair and there would be an ephiphany of sorts ...*
*It was strange how something you weren't expecting could, nonetheless, turn out to be no surprise at all.*
*He often thought about his dead sister, but she was usually an image in isolation (the idea of his sister). He rarely had a sharply focused picture of something that had actually occurred, and this sudden, unexpected memory of sitting next to Niamh on the bus - the smell of her violet cologne, the rustle of her petticoat, the feel of his arm resting next to hers - tied a tight knot in his heart.*
*And then they got a baby and a dishwasher, and Jackson continued on and didn't think again for a long time about the path he hadn't chosen, a way of life that had never been, yet that didn't stop him from aching for it in some confused place in his soul.*
*He wasn't a whiskey drinker by nature, yet he seemed to have drunk a lot of the stuff since arriving. It must have been in his Scottish blood all this time, calling to him.*