Reviews

The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde

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le_corbeau_romantique's review

5.0

A wonderful mystery with our beloved nursery rhyme characters! Humpty Dumpty is found shattered under one of his favorite walls. It is up to the ridiculed NCD (Nursery Crime Department) and the very underestimated Jack Spratt to solve the puzzle. The author threw in many twists and turns that made this book a very interesting read. The New York Times described the story as very "Pythonesque," and I couldn't agree more. The characters were silly and it was fun to run into nursery characters. You will be laughing out loud with this book and screaming "NO WAY!" at the many surprises! I am looking for to reading the series' next installment about the Three Bears and Goldilocks.

readerette's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

I don't think I'll read the second, but this was pretty fun and quirky. A similar theme, world, and tone to the first Thursday Next book but better focused and with more relatable characters. It is pretty frothy overall; no real message/moral and a fairly cozy mystery plus lots of slice of life scenes with Jack's family.

It's overly long and there are about a half dozen twists, which may be great for some readers but mostly just makes me tired wondering if the book will ever end.

While I like Jack and Mary, Jack seems more than a little incompetent even though we're supposed to empathize with him as he tries to find the truth rather than focus on making a great crime story like some other detectives he knows. I also didn't know what to make of the pull of the beanstalk other than the emphasis that he's a nursery rhyme character, which was already clear in my opinion.