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alidottie's review
4.0
4 and 1/2 stars
Louise Penny has delivered another relevant and thoughtful mystery with depth and breadth like so few others. She is a master.
Louise Penny has delivered another relevant and thoughtful mystery with depth and breadth like so few others. She is a master.
kimew2023's review
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
1.5
Very straight line narrative. The characters felt very unreal, written versions of cardboard cut outs.
The storyline was very far fetched .
The storyline was very far fetched .
kathleenguthriewoods's review
5.0
Louise Penny has done it again. You can read the synopsis to find out what this book is about and how timely it is. I'll just add that I read all 436 pages in one weekend and cried at the end. Thank you, Ms. Penny!
roseleaf24's review
4.0
This was really good, but not one of my favorites of the series. They kept going around and around the same theories without breaking quite enough new ground. I was still in suspense the whole time, though, and I liked the character building a lot. The story around the murder and the real life horrors discussed were definitely worth reading about, and I will be thinking about them for a long time. I hope we see more of Haniya.
leahgustafson's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I always look forward to returning to Three Pines. This series is such a comfort read for me. Unfortunately though, this was not my favorite Louise Penny.
•
It takes a really long time for the reader to figure out what exactly is going on in this one. I know this is intentional, and some element of confusion/suspense is exciting but, this took a little too long to get to the point.
•
Once I finally figured out what was going on, it felt like we were turning in circles. Gamache and the other investigators kept having the same conversations, the same speculations, and asking the same questions without really getting anywhere. Even the ending didn’t feel satisfying or “resolved” to me. I also question the inclusion or purpose of some of the characters in this one. However, I trust that Penny may have a plan for them in future books.
•
This one does have some trigger warnings that I was not aware of, and this caught me a little off guard. Definitely check into those so you go in knowing what to expect!
•
Even though this was not one of my favorites in the series, I still look forward to jumping back into Three Pines again in the future. If you’ve read this series, I’m curious which books are your favorites and which ones didn’t work as well for you?
•
Check out what I'm reading next on Instagram @LeahsLitReview!
•
It takes a really long time for the reader to figure out what exactly is going on in this one. I know this is intentional, and some element of confusion/suspense is exciting but, this took a little too long to get to the point.
•
Once I finally figured out what was going on, it felt like we were turning in circles. Gamache and the other investigators kept having the same conversations, the same speculations, and asking the same questions without really getting anywhere. Even the ending didn’t feel satisfying or “resolved” to me. I also question the inclusion or purpose of some of the characters in this one. However, I trust that Penny may have a plan for them in future books.
•
This one does have some trigger warnings that I was not aware of, and this caught me a little off guard. Definitely check into those so you go in knowing what to expect!
•
Even though this was not one of my favorites in the series, I still look forward to jumping back into Three Pines again in the future. If you’ve read this series, I’m curious which books are your favorites and which ones didn’t work as well for you?
•
Check out what I'm reading next on Instagram @LeahsLitReview!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Murder, and Abortion
Moderate: Rape, Child death, and Torture
ritajuanita's review against another edition
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
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
4.0
nikkissaw's review
3.0
I love all the Gamache series books and highly recommend them to everyone. The only one I didn’t love was The Long Way Home. I was so excited to read this book because it has been about a year since I finished the series. It started off strong, with an excellent, twisty mystery but a little over halfway through it became redundant. And honestly there were pieces to the mystery I felt they were missing, while focusing on other possibly insignificant facts. I don’t think I’ve read one of these books and felt that I saw the missing pieces before the inspector did. It felt as though they kept talking about and guessing at the same theories over and over and over and THEN! What pushed me over the edge was they don’t even solve the crime at the end! I loathe books that don’t have a final conclusion- that leave you to wonder. Penny is usually very good about closing out her stories, I don’t know what happened with this one. Although I didn’t loathe this book I was disappointed at the conclusion.
The other thing I didn’t like was how it was wrapped around the pandemic. It wasn’t a huge part of the story but it was included and let’s be honest, having lived it the past 2+ years it is really the last thing I want to read or hear about.
If she writes another I’ll definitely read it, I’ll read them all until she closes out the series.
And when the heck is this going to make it to TV? Would be a good long lasting series IMO.
The other thing I didn’t like was how it was wrapped around the pandemic. It wasn’t a huge part of the story but it was included and let’s be honest, having lived it the past 2+ years it is really the last thing I want to read or hear about.
If she writes another I’ll definitely read it, I’ll read them all until she closes out the series.
And when the heck is this going to make it to TV? Would be a good long lasting series IMO.